Hi all,
My website provider has been busy doing something to update the way it does its blogs on here, so the upshot is that I have had to create a new blog on this site. Please see the other tab called "Blog" on this site and save that where you need to in order to get the updates through to your google blog accounts. This particular blog will no longer be updated (functionality on the other one is much better!).
Thank you!
K xx
Ok so time to stop being lazy... 2 months since my last post, and first of the year. So Happy New Year and I hope the remaining 10 months treat you well!
Since my last post I have been back to England and then on to Amsterdam for an awesome New Year with Meils, who flew up from Italy to join in the celebrations. Will update on that trip a bit later. Also did a day trip to Frankfurt. Now when I checked out the travel time on google maps, it said about 2.5hours. I forgot that google maps, whilst travelling times are really quite accurate in New Zealand, they seem to factor in a particularly high speed travel time in Germany. Clearly this is much faster than I travel as it took me blimmnin 4 hours to get there! Google Maps will also tell you it only takes 2 hours to get from Paris to Calais. Don't believe it.
Today is the officially the first day of spring in Europe and I have been waiting for it for a long time. I am pretty sure this has been my coldest winter ever, with temperatures of up to -12 and a lot of snow! Fittingly there is blue sky and sunshine today and as it is my day off, I'm heading out to enjoy it very shortly. I'm super excited as it is 10 degrees outside, its almost sunbathing weather compared to the -2/-4 degree days that were common throughout January/February. Back home I would regard 20 degrees as a comfortable day. Now I am grateful when it is above zero
Lots happening here... my project horse Caps is going really well. After 5 months he is working about novice level, using his back well, good rhythm, nicely into outside hand etc. I have managed to fill in some cracks with my riding, have managed to straighten myself up and relax my body a bit and not be a complete passenger! As always with horses there is plenty more to work on but in general I am a lot more confident and happy with my system now.
Caps has been based at the stable down the road (5mins walk away) as there have been no spaces down at our barn. Well finally one has opened up and he moved here this week, which is super as it makes managing him a lot easier. Sad to leave the nice people down at the other stable, but times are changing down there also, with the barn owner asking a number of horses to leave as of March as she was downsizing and letting go the maintenance man so that all those who stay on had to start cleaning their own boxes. We were allowed to stay and are able to go back if needed, but since then 2 new horses have arrived and rumours that there are 15 more to come leave me a little confused! The cutest Norweign (sp?) pony arrived there a couple weeks ago. Think of a dun coloured Thelwell pony - it has the biggest mane ever and looks a bit like a cuddly lion.
Caps is such a monkey and so similar to his father Celebration. It is uncanny - the two have never 'lived' together to learn like habits, but they are so similar in mannerisms like being perky and friendly, wanting to eat everything (scarves, jackets, gloves, saddles, leadropes etc) and they both roll like a dog to get as absolutely filthy as possible. I have been riding Celebration a fair bit also lately - he is trained to Grand Prix, so I have been having fun playing with flying changes. Let's just say I can understand why people buy schoolmasters - it is a completely different feeling to the TB eventers I am used to riding.
Anne and I went up to check out a new tack shop this week and there she found a copy of a German dressage book that is chocka full of pictures of Doozer being trained as a 3 and 4 year old by this somewhat unconventional old guy (couldn't spell his name even if I can remember it). He has the horse (age 3) in piaffe posts (horse tied between 2 posts and made to piaffe) and jammed into long reins. Noice work - not. I didn't realise but Doozer was bought from Sven Rothenburger and Felix from Klaus Balkenhol, so because I have absolutely no hope of ever competing a dressage horse at such a high level, I feel very proud to lay claim that I have trotted and cantered on 2 horses ridden by 2 such famous trainers/riders! LOL
This week I was stoked to be offered a job working for the trainer - I will keep working for Anne, but will also be working for the barn and getting in more riding, which is just awesome as every horse is so different and the more you ride the more you learn. Also the horses are so responsive to the aids that I get to feel how movements should feel and so learning what quality I'm aiming for when I go back to training my own horses.
I'm excited about the season ahead. Anne has been talking about April for first shows but it really depends on horses staying sound and training going well. There is so much happening over here. There are indoor arenas by the bucketful - a mixture of schooling arenas and bigger flasher competition venues, which means they have competitions that go all weekend, and till late in the night. I went to a local jumping show (up to 1.25m), not a huge deal but the number of spectators there watching was amazing. In Germany and Holland, from what I have seen they definitely know how to provide entertainment to attract the spectators - and not just equestrian enthusiasts, but entire families. Steffi (main bereiter at the barn) is competing this weekend... there is no rest for the good.... Europe has a whole different level of dedication - she was working all weekend and then competing on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Next weekend I have a couple of friends coming over from London and we are heading over Amsterdam way for a dance party and a damn good blowout. The weekend after I have managed to get concert tickets to The Killers on Friday night, and Franz Ferdinand on the Saturday night. I can't wait! Both shows are sold out and I nearly cried when I thought I had missed out on Killers tickets!!! That whole next is the German Equitana which has a number of stars giving demos eg Klaus Balkenhol, Ingrid Klimke, Isabelle Werth. Gutted I can't yet understand German :-( Trying to figure out how I can become fluent in 3 weeks but given I am currently still on colours and counting to 10, this might be a longshot. The weekend after that I am hoping to get to the final of the European World Cup qualifiers where Isabelle and Anky face off... Salinero is currently scheduled to be there!
I have found a Cinema in Dusseldorf that plays Original Version movies (ie not the original pictures with a German voicetrack over the top!) so have managed to keep up with the good movies - Seven Pounds (made me cry), Benjamin Button (a little tear), Australian (oh, so now I agree Hugh Jackman certainly IS hot) and last night The Reader. It was a very engaging film based on what happened in some of the concentration camps back in the day. Got me to thinking about what an odd country Germany can be. They are so knowledgeable on the sciences, buildings and build the strongest cars in the world, yet they drive at a million miles an hour and cut you off to get on the off-ramps on motorways. I mean seriously. WTF? Perhaps you could just go 120kph and wait behind me for 2secs instead of going 180kph in order to get in front of me before you turn off!!! And ironically, while the majority of NZers now tow their floats with nothing but a 4WD or maybe a Ford/Holden, the Germans are perfectly happy to tow their double floats with flimsy cars, maybe the odd Audi stationwagon.
They are modern in some things, yet still very traditional in other ways. I haven't been able to figure out parking rules, as they just seem to randomly park all over footpaths, yet they can be very strict on policing other laws. Shops and supermarkets are not open on Sundays. If I want to go shopping, I have to travel 40mins to Belgium or Holland! Yet I'm loving that shops are open till 7 or 8pm during the week.
I have met a large number of really lovely people over here, and am really enjoying the country. Yet we had hunters walking through the farm a couple months back, all in uniform and shooting off guns. Perhaps rather unforgiving of me, but I immediately thought of the Nazis. The subject is a little taboo over here, but I guess its fair enough they do not want to be reminded of the awful things that went on in this country not all that many years ago.
And Germany really knows how to celebrate. They have just had Karneval - which is basically a 5 day public holiday in the county of Rheinland and incorporates the cities of Cologne, Neuss, Dusseldorf (and a couple others) - its an excuse to dress up for 5 days, get a free pass to kiss strangers, make big parades with lots of opinionated floats (some addressing political issues etc) and drink a whole lot!
Photos coming soon (when I locate my camera). Hope you are all keeping well. Keep in touch!
Kyleigh xx
Paris is damn cold!
Before I start, there are no photos in this post. You will need to wait a week till I get home and can upload them onto the net.
So to continue, Paris might be cold (I've been wearing a hat, gloves, thermals and 3 layers under my long wool jacket and I'm still getting sick :-( ) but it is oh so beautiful.... stunning buildings and OMG did the french know how to spend money in an extravagent way. Over the last few days I have been learning how King Louis and Marie Antoinette spend the enormous amounts of dosh they gleaned from taxpayers (the rate was 80% back then). Well I can say it was spent on the most lavishly decorated items I have ever seen.... a palace in Versailles with the most incredible gardens and adornments on the inside, statues for Africa and even a separate mini palace for Marie Antionette herself. The bedrooms were absolutely massive, and then there were another 5 rooms for each of the kings and queens apartments for them to do their own thing. The beds are all canopied and the beds themselves huge, and high off the ground - I'm sure some would need a ladder to climb up! Versailles main palace was rather lacking in furniture, although there was a number of original pieces (apparently Marie Antoinette's palace is well decorated but I didn't make it around that far before it shut, so I will be back to complete it!). I really could imagine a king/queen and all the servants strolling around in there. High points were definitely the reception hall of mirrors - there is nothing to describe it. Imagine 19 chandaliers to reflect off each of the 19 windows running down the length of the roo, and then mirrors all the way along the other side. The room has seen a number of balls and it just must have been so incredible to have been invited to one of those parties! Another highlight was seeing the Apollo water statue in person. This is a big round pond sitting in the centre front of the palace gardens with horses and carriages bursting out of the water. I've admired it in books before and to see it was quite something. A definite low point, and honestly France I was quite appalled..... they decided to exhibit the 'art' work of some guy called John throughout the main palace. There is no other word for his 'art' than cheap crap to be honest! Imagine balloon animals and those 'i love you' valentines helium ballons.... they were giant versions of that!!!! And cheap Americanised characatures such as the pink panter. YUCK!!!! Honestly France, what were you thinking? What a way to tarnish an all-time masterpiece of a building.
My favourite part of the Louvre has to be Napolean's apartments. In contrast to Versailles, his apartments are very well decorated. I couldn't believe the extravagent furniture, and the quantity of it. His house was clearly designed to house a lot of people! If visiting the Louvre I strongly recommend you visit this area. I was there for 4 or 5 hours yesterday and only made it around about 1/3 of everything before getting a bit sick of it (sore back and feet and I was starting to not be nice anymore and let people bump into me as they carelessly puch through).
Saw the Mona Lisa and found out why it is so important.... because in the period she was painted, compositions were done with a kind of barrier between the audience and the subject - whether it be the subject looking away, or being physically distant in the painting, and certainly never smiling. She is famously perhaps the first portrait to be painted with a warm and inviting pose. The stories I'd heard about the Mona Lisa were basically disappointment at how small she is - the legend is she is only A4 size. Well that is bollocks - she is bigger than A3 and well worth seeing. Saw some other Leonardo's and some Raphael's, and the Venus de Milo. Now I'm really not sure why that is so famous - n my humble opinion there are a number of far more interesting sculptures in the Louvre.
I was so excited to see the Eiffel Tower. I don't know why - maybe because it is instantly associated in ones mind of being in Paris. Its a city/country I have wanted to visit for many years and normally I am quite laid back about these things, but once we saw it (and went up) it certainly did not disappoint! It is currently lit blue with stars on the front because France are currently the head of the EU (and the EU flag is blue with stars) so we were informed this was a limited edition tour LOL. I have lots of pics. I wasn't super enthused about being right up the top outside tho - it felt like the antartic surely must - super cold and high speed winds.... BRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
I've also seen the Notre Dam, tho I haven't been inside (am doing that in the morning, plus the Musee du O'rsay before I head to London), a super romantic looking hotel which had ice skating out the front and marvellously lit up against the night sky, Picassos hangout and squat, Van Gogh's apartment, walked down Champs de E'lysses (sp?) and went to the Arc de Triomphe (big and small). Saw the most amazing new cars in the Peugot (sp?) showroom - and another even more stunning car... I THINK it was the new Lamborgini (I need to confirm but it was in the same place as Sebastian Leob's rally car so maybe someone can correct me). They were onshow inside a shop decorated with disco balls and displayed these cars like they were the latest perfume!
PS, I've not seen a single sales item in Paris!!! I guess the French don't do Xmas sales!
I was also super excited to see the Moulin Rouge but it was really disappointing!!! A small windmill and just set in amongst ordinary shops. We did however find the red light district quite amusing.
Took a walk around the Latin Quarter - lots of bars and narrower streets, souvineir shops, crepe stands - I love crepes! OMG the Parisian food is super - crepes with a variety of toppings (made from scratch on hot plates in front of you). It blows me away how commonly used Nutella is here (and in Germany too) - it is in every shop used as a crepe and waffle topping. As expected there are the pastry shops full of devine sweets, chocolates, pastries and other sweet goodies that I have never seen anywhere else. I have certainly never seen chocolate worth 84 EUROS PER KILO!!! I kid you not. I'm not sure what this tastes like but for that price, it best be damn good!
Some of you will know I do not drink coffee, but am a firm hot chocolate fan. So I have been sampling the various options. The winner thus far goes to the restaurant at Chateaux Versailles. I got a separate cup, the hot chocolate came premixed in a stainless jug so that is stayed piping hot (its rare to get a nice HOT hot chocolate). It was DEVINE. It tasted like actual smooth melted chocolate. Officially the best ever :-) 2nd best goes to a cute restaurant on Champs de E'lysses where I got a cup of hot milk and a solid block of chocolate to melt in there myself. I've had one similar in NZ, but this was better. Go Paris :-)
The Christmas twinkly lights are still up in the streets - making for a beautiful atmostphere, but that is the only trace of Xmas I have seen - no sales or half price decorations in sight (sorry mum!). There were still Xmas markets, but nothing worth buying.
Been learning lots of stories - like how Picasso squatted in a flat with a number of other artists in the suburb Montmatre and for the first month he lived there went to the local cafe and in turn by day, managed to talk each of the waiters there into giving him a free meal in return for a sketch. Eventually management had to draw the line and said they would feed him for free every night as long as he painted them one painting per month. Because Picasso actually did become famous in his own lifetime (unlike Van Gogh), the owner did very well!
Van Gogh lived in an apartment with his brother the art-dealer (just down the hill a little from where Picasso lived) and never had a successful life all; he tried life as a priest-in-training and after he was told he was a terrible public speaker, tried his hand as a politian. Attempting suicide twice before chopping his ear off (as he is also famous for) and sending it to his ex in the mail. He finally died after shooting himself not in the head, but in the stomach in a field where he lay dying for 2 days before he was found by his brother. His last words were 'the sadness will last forever'.
Revolting story about the guy who (after 24 assasination attempts by various people) suceeded in killing the emporer outside the royal residence.... they caught him and tortured him by cutting his arms and legs open to the bone and then pouring acid in there, making the skin boil before disembowling him (and making him eat his own insides) and then tying a horse to each arm and leg, pulling from each direction until he came apart. Ew. The things we used to do huh.
Watch this space next week for 'Ky hits Amsterdam'.
