SILVERSTONE CLASSIC CAR RACING

We went to Silverstone racing track to witness the 3 day classic racing car rally. Now this isn't my thing, but it was interesting.

Almost all the staff were volunteers and they were having a wonderful time. I spoke to some and they are definitely car nuts (Anoraks/ Fanatics). Many had taken annual leave just to stand and watch the cars go round and round.


I got a bit bored (don't tell the guys I went with) so I decided to get Mike to take some arty photos (above).

Now this is a hotted up mini.

Interesting in itself, however it is owned by Mr Death (oohhh yeah!). However, his last name is said De Ath. I myself would prefer DEATH. ;-)

Here we have the innards of a hotted up mini.
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Now, that I've thoroughly bored you; lets stop for lunch (and a pint).

On of us wanted to get back to the cars and didn't want to wait for the rest to finish.

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This is Mike's dream car....

The racing finished around 7pm so we wondered back to our campsite.

We decided not to cook so ordered pizza delivery.

Amazingly, they delivered to the reception of the camp ground.

:-)

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The sunset was glorious.

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In the morning we trekked across the paddocks to Silverstone entrance to watch more cars.

Now, Mr Death was racing in his hotted up mini. He went off. Like S**t off a shanghai.

Vroooooooommmm

As you can see sometimes the cars break down or crash. This truck is towing two very expensive cars with very expensive repairs.

Now a little quiz.

What are these blue things?

Have you guessed yet?

They are our seating!

Comfy or what?!

Not very. We ended up sitting on the cement behind the plastic.

I'm not quite sure why there's a slit in the middle. I'm not sure I want to know!

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Just before we left it got a bit windy but that didn't stop some of the guys from catching a few zzzz's.

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Three days, little sleep, lots of cars and some beer had caught up with us all. We gladly left having had a wonderful time.

WINDSOR WEDDING

My first friend in England got married and I was there to see it. :-)

As with any wedding everyone was taking photos; even the best man.

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This is the groom's family: my mate, his new wife, his sister (Lindsey) and her son (Max).

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I've known Max since he was born and I suspect he's going to be a charmer.

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Here's a posed photo for our parents.

The guests made their way (in the rain) from the ceremony venue to the lunch venue - a Thames river cruise boat.


Thank goodness the top deck was half covered so we could all enjoy the pre lunch tipple without getting too wet.

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And a couple of photos.

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This is the gang which we hung out with when we lived in Berkshire.

I never saw them so spiffy.

We headed up the river to Windsor Castle and saw some fantastic homes.

This is the largest brick built single span bridge in England. An engineering feat.

We also saw that the circus was in town and had set up in one of the only open areas of the river bank.

There are a lot of swans on this part of the river and they are cared for by the Queen's game keepers (well they are officially owned by the Queen even if she doesn't eat them). Here are a couple of her dutiful servants tending to one of her flocks.

When we reached Windsor Castle and the Royal Pier we turned around and headed back down the river.

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Throughout the journey we had to traverse 2 locks so the gang decided to ensure that everyone knew that our friend got married. As you can see they are a subtle bunch.

We all headed below deck to grab a spot of lunch and to toast to the happy couple.

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As with any good English wedding we headed to the pub for the remainder of the festivities.

I got alittle cool so Sir Mike (my knight in stunnning suit) draped his jacket over my sholders. A true gentleman.

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We were a tad concerned when we spotted this sign from the pub balcony.

I'm not sure what they are telling us. Maybe that if you drive off the edge there will be waves?

It's not exactly saying don't drive your car off the edge. I wonder how many people have done this to warrant a metal sign? A few more champaignes and we might see.

The sun went down so we encouraged the bride and groom to do their official first duty together by cutting the cake.

We caught the groom trying to have a piece of cake.

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Next was the first dance. As you can see I couldn't help gigling.