Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

from Dinah-
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Aug 12
It was a rainy day in Aachen. The riders were caught in a 
downpour/lightening and thunder. They huddled under trees till it 
passed, and the sun came out, then it rained again. It reminds me of 
home. The horses got a fair amount of exercise being put out and 
brought in from the paddocks, along with repeatedly being blanketed and 
unblanketed. I think a lot of people are looking forward to a hot bath 
this evening. Diane Woodward shopped for new long pants and even 
Downeaster (Maine) Stanley Downs was in a sweater today. But I was very 
impressed by Jennifer N. and Ruth W., who were still in their shorts, 
while I was chilly and bundled up in polar fleece and a raincoat. Those 
California girls are tough!
We had our first organizational meeting after lunch, led by Val and 
Suzanne Hayes. Then the riders explored the trail with Valerie, and the 
crews explored the holds with Larry Kanavy. The city of Aachen became 
less confusing when we realized street names change at every major 
intersection and the important roads are all circles around the city. 
Between thunderstorms one group of us checked out the local tack/feed 
stores and downtown Aachen.

Saturday was a fairly quiet day with only a little rain. We started 
with trot outs in the morning and checking out the away hold. Then 
there were tack shops to visit and WEG hirts to buy. The afternoon 
entertainment was the hordes of Dressage riders, some of them were 
superb, in the indoor. Tonight there was a food festival by the casino 
and the champagne flowed. We eve got to try an honest-to-goodness 
right-out-of-the-ground truffle! Christoph's mother and sister are here 
visiting and it was a lot of fun trying to comunicate through food. It 
worked and we were hugging and kissing by the end of the evening.
We are all staying at the Buschhauen Hotel, a smallish family run 
place, with the most amazing staff and ownership. They saw us walking 
by their booth at the food fair and whipped out a bunch of bottles of 
champagne and outrageous desserts of chocolate and strawberries and 
mint clouds. There was some guy all dressed in blue, including the 
face, on stilts wandering around the fair, along with mstly naked 
dancers and 25 or so drummers. Just another boring day in Aachen
Dinah