[RC] Goodbye to Germany.. WEG 2006 - LUCIE HESSToday I'm leaving for Frankfurt to go to the airport. My flight is early in the am, and I'm hearing I have to be there many hours early. So off I go. Yesterday, I was the recipient of great generosity. A friend of one of the local women (who boards at the barn and who has gotten friendly with us), gave me a ticket to the Cross country, came by and picked me up and took me to the Stadium with her family. She didn't even know me! I can never repay such kindness. I had planned on taking a taxi and paying for the ticket. This was a huge money saver as the ticket itself was 25 Euros. It was fun hanging out with the local folks, after awhile I left and moved around on my own. There is a great deal of excitement that the WEG will be held in Kentucky in 2010. The cross country was very long and the jumps were huge and hard. There seemed to be multiple refusals and falls. Some folks just plain didn't start. There were several riders who chose to take the long way around and get the time penalties, if they couldn't go fast enough on the straightaways. I think the optimum time was around 11 minutes or so. At finish of the CC course, Amy Tryon from the US sat in 2nd. I didn't hear the team standings. Last night as I was packing around 9 or so, I turned on the TV to watch CNN, you know catch up on the news I've missed while I've been gone? Luckily, before I found CNN, I was surprised to find the KUR (freestyle) event that started at 8:00 pm being televised live. The rides were phenomenal! I can't believe that dressage is treated like a football or baseball game, on National TV and LIVE! It was remarkable. I don't follow all of the riders and only know names if I see them, but I think Isabelle Werth ? from Germany was 1st. My.. I stopped packing and stood still while that ride was going on. Steffan Peters was 6th and another American was 13th or so. Yesterday was a cloudy, but rainless day, today it is raining HARD, a farewell from Aachen. The local folks say they are "having Spring" instead of August. They reassured me (often) that this is very unusual weather for them, it is usually sunny and warm. So, this is my last post to Ridecamp, regarding the WEG. If there is something you had questions about, email me privately.. if I can I'll try to answer as best as I can. I've read all of the kind words about my little travel blogs. Thanks so much. I've had great fun writing and sharing what I can of the experience here. It's great fun, believe me. Until the next adventure.. Lucie Columbia, Missouri Region 6 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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