Not the elementary basketball challenge, but fulfledged professional polo was the name of the game for a recent weekend spent in the Cotswold region of England. Our friends Sarah and Mark invited us over for a relaxing weekend of polo, tours of the English countryside and a horse-barn bbq. We visited Mark and Sarah several years ago, so it was great to get to catch up since they got married and purchased a traditional Cotswold stone home in a quaint village outside of Bristol. 
Lou and I had never seen a live polo match before so we were fascinated by the sport. Luckily, Mark (Sarah, too!) is a bit of an expert as a player and because his family is intertwined with the start of polo in Argentina. Each player needs between 4-6 horses each per game and usually changes horses at the end of each chaukre (quarter). Each player also has a range of mallets, as every horse is a different height. The mallets are made of bamboo.
On Saturday morning while Mark tended to his horses ahead of a match and Sarah got a picnic ready, Lou and I wondered around the charming little village they lived in including the church they were married in, local wildlife and an old phone booth.
Lou and I had never seen a live polo match before so we were fascinated by the sport. Luckily, Mark (Sarah, too!) is a bit of an expert as a player and because his family is intertwined with the start of polo in Argentina. Each player needs between 4-6 horses each per game and usually changes horses at the end of each chaukre (quarter). Each player also has a range of mallets, as every horse is a different height. The mallets are made of bamboo.On Saturday morning while Mark tended to his horses ahead of a match and Sarah got a picnic ready, Lou and I wondered around the charming little village they lived in including the church they were married in, local wildlife and an old phone booth.
During the day on Saturday, Lou and I explored the city of Cheltenham. It was a nice day to walk around, but the city itself was pretty lackluster compared to others we have visited so after a little bit of exploring we laid down in a park and took a little nap before Sarah and Mark picked us up to head to a bbq.
This was not the typical bbq. First off, the locale was a change from the standard deckside/driveway grilling as we were in a real, fully-functional horse barn. And instead of the traditional hamburgers and hot dogs, we grilled a massive peice of lamb. It was delicious. The following day (photos at top of post) we attended a professional polo match and had a picnic on the lawn with Sarah, Mark and their friends, capping off a wonderful weekend away.
No comments:
Post a Comment