Polo in the Park

Have you ever been to a Polo match?

Me neither. So when I received an invitation to attend Chestertons Polo in the Park, I got very excited.

Despite the sun being stubborn and hiding behind the clouds, it was a warm and beautiful day without a drop of rain. Cheers to that.

What is Polo?

Two teams race around the field on horseback hitting a small ball with handled mallets. The game is divided up into seven-minute chukkas, each game consisting of 4-8 chukkas in length. The teams change ends after each goal scored by the ball crossing the line between the posts. Naturally, the team with the most goals wins.

Polo in the Park is the largest polo tournament in Europe held at the Hurlingham Park in Putney spread over three days.

I went on Saturday and there were four teams playing - London, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Marrakech.

Halftime brings the tradition of divot stomping, where the turf kicked up by the ponies is put back into the place by the crowd.

There were so many great shops and most importantly, endless choices of bars and street food.

Champers anyone?

Or perhaps Piña Colada?

How about Pimm's? There's no summer without a Pimm's. Or three.

For food, I went to my favorite Eastern Mediterranean restaurant - Ceru. I did a review of their pop up in London Bridge in the past so I was delighted to try their Levantine dishes again.

Their food is fresh, healthy and vibrant, full of beautiful flavors. That watermelon juice was so good I had two.

They are settling down and opening a permanent restaurant in September which I am very excited about. For now, they cover lots of upcoming summer events and festivals, so try them out if you are attending one of these events.

These little fruity kisses by Meringue Girls were to die for. Almost too good to eat. Almost!

A sweet ending to a perfect day.

PS: Congratulations to Team Hong Kong, the ultimate champions!

Thank you Ceru Restaurant for inviting me. All photos and opinions my own.