Hannover Horse Expo

Yesterday, Dagmar, Larissa, & I drove the 2.5 hours to Hannover to go to a horse expo (think of Equitana for all you horse people out there who have been to it). Getting there at 10am, we shopped until 5pm. It was certainly a long day! Dagmar got a lot of the items that she was looking for, namely new helmets & winter riding jackets for the girls, riding boots for Larissa, & a saddle blanket for Holly.

We also went to see Tanja, our riding instructor, perform. Her stallion is one of the top 5 in our area, so she was asked to perform with a group. Before she came on, we got to watch some show jumping & Baroque style dressage (with Spanish horses, Lippizans, a French Pyrennes horse, & Friesians). After those competitions finished, then they had something like a symphony of horses. They brought in some western horses, some Welsh ponies, & a kids' group. Then the ASBs came in (yay!) with 5 horses - 4 gaited horses & a country pleasure horse. Two of the gaited horses were really nice! They also had a Dutch Harness Horness which is bred in the Netherlands. I think I found my next horse! He was AMAZING!

After the ASBs left, Tanja came in with a group of 15 horses. She rides a chestnut with a stripe. He looks really cute! We were worried we wouldn't be able to pick Tanja out of the group, but as soon as she came in, we knew it was her by the way she was riding ... and I have never seen her ride! The best part was when she came around the corner & happened to look straight at us. So I took her picture (which of course didn't turn out) & we all waved. She couldn't help but smile. :-)

Once she finished her performance, we decided to grab some dinner & head home since it was already 5pm. I was thoroughly worn out by the end of the day as I am not used to all day shopping ... & it was loads of "fun" because of all the people there. I was getting claustrophobic!

Larissa had a great time as well because of the kids section where you could ride a bucking bronco, make a horse shoe, ride a stick horse over jumps, & pet the animals (goats, sheep, pigs, etc.)

Can you pass the yellow stuff & the bread?

"Can you pass the yellow stuff & the bread?" That's what Jurgen asked on Thanksgiving, after he had already had his first helping. Obviously, the Cheese Grits & the Cornbread Dressing were hits with the Germans.

The week before Thanksgiving, I informed Dagmar that I wanted to celebrate with turkey & dressing. Really it was just a good excuse to make Derby pie & eat dressing. So Dagmar found me a 7lb turkey, mom sent me recipes, & off I wen to the grocery to buy everything I needed.

I baked the turkey, basting my little heart out. Of course I had to take out the "yucky" parts, i.e. the neck, heart, liver, & something else. Mom told me to use all but the liver in my gravy, but I didn't know what was what! So I decided against guessing & made the gravy from the drippings.

I made cheese grits, without my Kraft garlic cheese. So I had to guess as to what cheese would work (I chose middle aged gouda) & garlic. I put a little too much garlic, but oh well. It was still yummy!

The cornbread dressing was to die for! I wish I could eat it everyday! And with the gravy on top ... even better!

The girls helped me make Derby pie. My pie crusts were a bust - I think I prefer pre-made pie crusts, though they are not available in Germany (stupid Germans). The Derby pies were really good ... the dog thought so as well since she ATE more than HALF of one! Damn dog. I was SO mad at her. She didn't even get sick from eating all the chocolate!

But in the end, Thanksgiving was great. We had leftovers for dinner that night & some for lunch on Friday. And the girls loved the pies, though Jurgen said they were too sweet. Oh well, more for us!

Back to the Island

Ya know ... I never thought I would EVER say I would glad to go back to the UK. I really did! When I left Swansea, I hardly looked back ... sure I would miss my friends there ... Zoe, Lucy, Chris ... but I certainly didn't think I would miss the country. Maybe it was the Welsh rain that was such a big turn off ... or the completely unappealing British diet. But I was wrong ... really wrong ...

I missed the UK. I missed speaking English. I REALLY missed the accent. I missed knowing where I was going & knowing how to get there. I missed it all ... even the rain sometimes.

So after my 5 days in France, I headed north to a country that I am becoming fond of. I flew into London Gatwick, which is SO much better than flying into Heathrow, Stansted, or Luton. The Gatwick Express makes London bearable as it gets you to London Victoria station in 30 minutes. Though I did not have time to run to Kensington to pick up my tea, I did make it to the bus station in time. Once there, I had the sudden realization that the bus I had originally booked was NOT going where I really wanted to go. Initially, Zoe & I thought I would just go to Newport where she would pick me up. Typically, buses to Newport stop in Bristol as well. So we figured we had our bases covered in case I needed to go to Bristol instead. Sure enough, I needed to go to Bristol as Zoe had moved there for the school year. Realizing my bus was going straight to Newport, I had to purchase another ticket before the bus left in 30 minutes. Luckily, I managed to do that.

So I called Zoe & informed her of the latest. Then I had to call her again once I was on the bus ... there was a major accident on the M4 & the police were diverting traffic around it. So now we would arrive in Bristol 30 minutes later. So FINALLY, at 9:45pm, I made it to Bristol & was greeted by a very happy Zoe!

Man was it good to see her! We stayed up & talked until midnight, trying to get caught up on everything that happened since July. The next day, we headed into Bristol city centre for shopping where I did some major damage on the cash - good thing mom sent me my British debit card in time! I think I spent 100 GBP ($200) by the time I left the country! I bought chocolates & colouring books (for the girls). Even bought a pair of shoes! Zoe & I had the best time in the kids' stores as we were looking for Christmas & Christening presents for her niece & nephew.

On Friday, we drove to Wales, getting away from those "blasted" English. We went to Pontypool where I got to see Zoe's family whom I dearly love. After dropping our things at her parents' house, Zoe, Wendy (her mom), & I headed to Abby's house. Abby is Zoe's older sister who has a son, Dylan who is about 6, & a daughter, Poppy who is 2). I LOVE Poppy! I cannot tell you how much I love this little girl. She is SO much fun to play with. And apparently when she found I was coming over, she kept calling for me. Plus I love her & Dylan's Welsh accent. :-) We all went to lunch with the kids & did a little shopping. Then Zoe, Wendy, & I went to Jason & Elaine's house. Jason is Zoe's older brother - he & Elaine have a son & daughter as well - Geraint & Becky. Geraint is 15, I think, & Becky is almost 13. Becky is a very talented dancer (ballet) & a little shy. Both kids are very well behaved. They made us tea when we arrived, which I thought was quite cute. After visiting with them for awhile, we headed back to Zoe's house where Zoe's dad Collin had arrived from work. He, of course, had a wonderful greeting for "George's baby" as he likes to call me.

Seb, Zoe's boyfriend, was coming in from Swansea. He, Zoe, Wendy, & I were to go to Cardiff to the comedy club that night. Once he arrived, we headed to Cardiff for some laughs. I really do like the Glee Club, especially when Zoe does not point out to the comedians that I am American. :-) The first act was a Canadian guy who was really quite crude. None of us particularly cared for him. The second guy was hilarious, we thought! Though the crowd did not seem to agree! The best part was that he was talking about the US & about a little town in KY called Beaver Dam. Now I really wonder how true his stories/jokes were because he was talking about how he was in BD at Christmas & it is a dry county. I'm actually not sure if BD is dry, but he was explaining how he couldn't get a drop alcohol & it was Christmas after all. Whereas in the UK, people use anything as an excuse to drink. His jokes were not the least bit crude which is why I think most people did not like him. But our party did ... The third guy was pretty good ... I don't remember much of his content, but I do remember that it was better than the first guys!

We returned from Cardiff about midnight & immediately headed to bed. Seb was staying the night as well as he had to drive to Windsor the next day (where his family lives).

The next morning, we were roused by Zoe's parents around 9:30am. Seb was awoken to "Come on you Englishman! Get up!" (Collin loves to harrass those of us who are not Welsh). Zoe's mom woke her up by having a conversation with her that Zoe does not remember at all. And I awoke on my own, thankfully.

Abby brought Dylan & Poppy over so she & Warren could do some shopping. Dylan was thrilled that Seb was there, as were Zoe & I because he played with Dylan while we entertained Poppy. We had races around the yard, threw paper airplanes, played with legos.

Around 12:30, Zoe & I had to head back to Bristol so we could meet Lucy at the movies. We had opted to go see Elizabeth: The Golden Age which was a really good movie. Plus I love Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth. Afterwards, Lucy invited us to dine at the pub where she works (& where her boyfriend is the managed). So we went & got to talk to Lucy while she was not busy as hostess. Zoe & I headed back to her place so I could repack & get some sleep as my bus to the airport was leaving at 5:30am.

At 5am we were out the door & on our way to the bus station. The bus arrived & I sadly said good-bye to Zoe. I wasn't ready to go back to Germany. I really would have preferred to head south again to France, but instead, I had to fly east. I got to Stansted airport in plenty of time to do some shopping (never a good thing) & then flew to Bremen where Dagmar picked me up.

We went back to Osterbruch. I was glad to see the girls when I got home, but a part of me was (& still is) on vacation ... in the UK & in France. I miss friends & I really wish I could see them more often ... especially the ones in the UK. Chris was unable to meet up while I was in town because he was at a job interview. I won't see my UK friends again until graduation in July & then I don't know when I will see them next ... hopefully they can plan a trip to visit in the summer. I'm still trying to convince Zoe to come to the US for a few months, but it's all dependent on money ...

Marseille

I love Marseille ... I really do ... despite the mountain Ashley made me climb.

At 8:20pm, we arrived at our hotel after walking through a "sketchy" section of Marseille. As our luck would have it, the hotel was closed. We're standing around, debating on what we should do when another guy walks up & starts pushing a buzzer. Luckily the night porter unlocked the doors & allowed us in. We explained our situation - we had a reservation & our train ran 40 minutes late. Instead of arriving at 8:20pm, we should have arrived at 20 minutes to 8. The guy found our paperwork & key & allowed us to check in. On the way to the hotel we had noticed a McDonald's up the street. After much debate about going out & looking for a decent meal, we decided to bite our tongues & eat at McD's. Ashley & I weren't exactly thrilled ... but that was our only option as neither of us seemed too enthused to go searching for an actual restaurant in an unfamiliar city. After hot showers & some BBC tv, we crashed into bed ...

We awoke at 9am, got ready for bed, & headed downstairs to the lobby to see if we could check out at noon instead of 11am. The receptionist informed us we could not, but that we could store our bags while we walked around & pick them up before we headed to the bus station. Ashley & I were sold, so off we went upstairs to collect ours bags & head towards town.

Marseille is an old city ... so old that we found a 5th century abbey. Anyway, it used to be a huge shipping port, so the vielle porte, or old port, still stands & maintains some interesting French sites. First off ... loads of boats ... mostly sail boats ... & how we wished we could be on one that day! It was a perfect day for a sail. Much to our despair, the port still hosts a nice little fish market ... with most of the fish flopping around in water, barely alive. And of course the stench is quite strong. We immediately hurried past the fish & gazed towards the small "mountain" we decided to climb. At the top of this "mountain," is a church called Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde which is absolutely breathtaking, both in view & interior.

From the church grounds, you can look out over all of Marseille. The early morning fog still lay nestled on the mountain peaks & it was quiet as most tourists were not up as early as we were.
You could see Chateau d'Iffi (where the Count of Monte Cristo was filmed) in the waters, beckoning boaters to visit. You could see the old forts guarding the entrance to the port.
It presented a picture of a city that you couldn't help but fall in love with.

(yes, I know this photo is blurry ... most of the interior pics are for some reason. :-()

Following our excursion inside the basilica which presented very impressive artwork & typified the costliness of the Catholic church, we headed south ... down the mountain. Needless to say, the walk DOWN the mountain was a lot easier than the walk up! We had every intention of visiting the old forts, but instead found ourselves at the entrance of an impressive 5th century abbey.
The abbey's simplicity, noticeably in its vaulted ceilings & stone interior, made you feel as if you were back in the 5th century awaiting mass. The abbey also housed many relics from various saints. It is amazing to see where reliquaries turn up.

After our visit to the abbey, we realized we needed to head back to the hotel to collect our baggage so we could get me to the bus station in time to catch the bus to the airport.

It was certainly hard to say goodbye to Ashley & to France ... Ashley & I promised to stay in touch & she promised to visit soon. We had already made plans to go to Paris for New Year's together.

It was disappointing to leave France because I love the country. I love the food, the culture, even the language. It was nice to go to a country where I could speak the language a little bit & could understand what people said to me (for the most part). Plus, I do enjoy the French men (I hope dad isn't reading this! :-D) But I really do love the country. I can't understand why some people don't like it ... they say it's because France doesn't know how to fight wars or that they are more worried about preserving their art & culture & are stuck up & snobby. Granted, you will run into rude people, but that is anywhere - NY, London, Paris, Berlin, Rome. Don't condemn the country because you had a bad experience with one of her people ... & don't condemn a country you have never been to.

The Camargue ...

I don't know how to describe the Camargue region of France to be honest. Every word I can think of does not adequately create a picture of this little part of France that I (& Ashley) have fallen in love with. Beautiful ... Stunning ... Addictive ... Hot (in more than one sense) ... Breath taking ... None of these really describe this place.

The Camargue, or more specifically Saintes Maries de la Mer, lies on the southern coast of France. It is home to hot French "cowboys" (gardians in French), "white" horses, black bulls, white sandy beaches, & pink flamingos. Stes Maries is like a little island ... it doesn't take long to walk it ... in October there are very few tourists & it is so peaceful, though nothing seemed to be open.

Because Ashley & I are great at finding water & horses, you can imagine where we headed first ... to the beach.
We had to play in the Mediterannean despite how cold it might be that October day. It was cold ... very cold ... despite the freezing toes, we enjoyed every minute of standing at the water's edge, watching it lap against our feet.
Ashley went so far as to take a little barefoot jog along the water's edge.
After our adventure in the water, we decided to find the tourist office to see if they had suggestions on horseback riding. Both of us have ridden, so we wanted some place that would allow us to do more than just go along at a nice little walk. At the office, we were handed a pamphlet of every riding facility on the island & a map. We started walking & immediately decided that the first facility we came across would be the "one." We found a great little hotel right as we walked out of the centre of town & chatted with the receptionist. For an hour & a half & for 20 euros, we could go for a ride through the marshes. We immediately said yes, explained our riding background, & often we went to wait 30 minutes for the other members of the group to show. All in all, we had about 13 riders & 3 hotel staff/wranglers/cowboys. Of the 13 riders, only 5 of us had ridden before, so at one point the 5 of us were allowed to break off from the group & go for a gallop across the marshes. However, we had to pull up quite quickly as the remaining riders, well, all but 2, had fallen off their horses! Once the horses were caught & the riders reassembled, off we went again for an exhilarting canter on a slightly uncomfortable saddle (it was like a leather seat & stirrups - no skirt to the saddle which hurt because the stirrup leathers pinched my knees, but oh well).

On the way back to the hotel, Ashley & I pulled our horses along side one another as best we could because our horses did not care for one another & proceeded to ogle over our "cowboy." I wish we had gotten a picture of him ... but needless to say, he certainly made the ride very enjoyable. :-D (I know, we're horrible, but we can't help it ... we appreciate men who can wear tight riding jods & handle his unruly horse.)

After saying good-bye to our horses & favourite gardian, Ashley & I decided to walk around a bit as we had time before the bus came to take us back to Arles. We found a wonderful leather shop that had some very finely made western saddles, a few hunt saddles, & some wonderful purses & boots. We certainly enjoyed smelling all the leather. Some people probably thought we were a little crazy, but oh well ... we enjoyed it.
We headed back to Arles around 5pm so we could make it to Marseille to check-in to our hotel by 8pm ...