London Adventures
Horse Riding Paradise #1
Last weekend I went on the most amazing school trip ever: pony trekking in Wales! It was so absolutely fabulous, and I miss it so much ... :( Anyway, here's how the weekend went:
On Friday, Oct. 6, Alison, Katie-Coral, and I headed from Richmond U. to Paddington station to meet with the rest of our 'colleagues' who were going to Wales. We arrived at the station half an hour early, at ~8:30 a.m., and decided to kill time by stuffing ourselves with Krispy Kreme doughnuts. We bought a dozen of them because it was cheaper, so we had lots of food to share with the other people at the trip. The first person who showed up was Ben, the only boy at the trip and our official supervisor. After that, the four other girls from the Kensignton campus arrived at the station. I knew only two of them, Kim and Barbara, but I quickly got to know the other two through the magic bonding powers of the doughnuts - Lisa and Jacquelyn. Once everyone was there, we headed to our train. Can you imagine it was 5 times better and 8 times faster than trains in Bulgaria? Yep, it was. We travelled in Standard Class coaches and were able to walk around the train freely and talk to each other loudly (I felt sorry for the people around us). I had actually taken a whole bag of study materials, for I had two major essays due on Monday, but naturally, I didn't get a lot of studying done (wow). The train ride seemed very short; maybe that's cause I'm a train junkee. We had to transfer our train at Newport, and after that it was only a 25-minute ride to Abergavenny, our small Welsh town.
When we got off the train (which, believe me, was a bit of an issue since I had 2 backpacks, one hand bag, and a big box o' doughnuts), we were greeted by our personal minivan driver who drove us to the Llangorse activity center. Our first item on the trip agenda was a 2-hour trek. At that point I was already being hyper because I was so thrilled that I was going to ride again, after over a year of no riding. The two trainers who greeted us at the center were very sweet and provided shoes and helmets for everyone, gave a short lesson on how to ride (for the people who were novice riders), and then assigned us horses. My horse was Mowgly (not sure about spelling, but it's named after the boy from the Jungle Book. He was a brown, medium-sized horse with a black mane and a sense of humor. The rest of the horses were also great. Ben's horse, Wizzard (or aomething like Whizzer - I never really got which one it was), was one of the most impressive of the lot: huge, white with brown spots, and very majestically looking.
Once all the riders had taken their positions, we were off! The trek weaved through vast fields and farms, surrounded by sheep-covered hills. The horses moved in a perfect line like disciplined soldiers. Every once in a while, a pony would decide to take a break and chew on some plants, in which case the riders had to be extra persuasive so that the horse would go back in line. As we walked/trotted along the trail, we were 'lucky' enough to see the Welsh weather changing from perfectly sunny and calm, to cloudy and kind of windy, to rain all in two hours time. It was amazing, but also cold and wet... Despite the meteorological drawbacks, we had a wonderful ride which ended too soon.
It's always fun to watch people get off their horses and walk around like they're drunk, feeling kind of wobbly and in all sorts of pain between, along, and at the back of the legs. Ouch. I was laughing (internally) at myself while I was doing my best not to limp around while the blood was returning to my legs :) And I was smiling - oh, yes, I was on cloud nine - after the ride! Mowgly was such a good horse! We had a great time communicating in weird ways; I think we both knew what we were saying, though. He was a bit unhappy when Wizzard nibbled on Mowgly's butt, yet there's not much you can do when a horse decides to play around with another one.
After we took off our shoes and helmets, we were happy to sit down on something that wasn't moving below us - yay, chairs! Soon, our bus came, and we got on and arrived at the house we were staying at several minutes later.
--- THE COTTAGE ---
This house definitely deserves special recognition! It was the cutest, coziest, most fairy-tale-like house in the world! There are two stories, the top one being the 'guest bedroom zone' with 5 rooms that could accommodate around 15 people. Each room had its own name ('Blue Room,' 'Purple Room,' 'White Room') and a theme (which is basically what the name stands for). Everything in 'Blue Room,' for example, had shades of blue. The beds were the softest beds ever! And, oh, so comfortable... Mmmm... I get sleepy just from recalling the soft-feathered pillows and blankets... There were also numerous trinklets around the rooms, ranging from statues of cats and ducks to straw hats and big teddies. I had never walked into a home that was so passionately decorated, with attention to every single detail. We all felt like we were in a house from a fairy tale or in Frodo's little cottage in the Lord of the Rings.
The ground floor contained the kitchen, dining room, and sitting room. That was the 'delicious' floor. Every day we would get breakfast, tea in the afternoon, and a royal dinner. The dining table was very long and placed across from a warm fire place. Of course, the walls were decorated with plates and ornaments - as if they were taken from a collector's shop. The sitting room also had a fire place and comfy couches. We sat there every night, chatting in front of the fire. We also saw Titanic one evening.
I only went inside the kitchen two times. It's a medium-sized place that smells like the most tasty homecooked meals. The kitchen is linked to a side room with a TV, a small table, and three border collies listening to classic music. It's true, they were classic-freaks! :D
And now's the time to tell you about our hosts, Diana and Nigel. They were the two most adorable people ever! Diana was born in London, but has lived in Wales for over 15 years. She was peculiar in a most amusing way. She'd scoff at people when they a) asked for ketchup to go with the baked potatoes she made, b) used cushions on the floor, c) didn't eat all the food on the table - and it was a LOT of food, d) did anything else she thought wasn't appropriate. Poor Ben; he was the one she picked on most often... maybe cause he was the only boy. Diana told us many stories about Wales, the cottage we were in, the area, the history of England, and pretty much anything else we asked her about. Her favorite word was, undoubtedly, ghastly. She'd also say 'Not now, dahling, I'm cooking now, and that's my duty, to feed you. I can't tell you about the house now, dahling.' I really liked her. Nigel, on the other hand, was never scoffing anyone. His special ability was to imitate Donald Duck. He was a sweetheart. Well, he was also a bit of a playboy, as he made comments such as, 'You make me wanna be a teenager again' to Jacquelyn. Nigel was funny; he made us laugh a lot. We were wondering whether the two of them were married, but as it turned out later, they weren't. They treated us like we were their children - caring, loving, worrying when we weren't home on time... Our stay definitely wouldn't have been as pleasant had those two not been our hosts.
On Friday, Oct. 6, Alison, Katie-Coral, and I headed from Richmond U. to Paddington station to meet with the rest of our 'colleagues' who were going to Wales. We arrived at the station half an hour early, at ~8:30 a.m., and decided to kill time by stuffing ourselves with Krispy Kreme doughnuts. We bought a dozen of them because it was cheaper, so we had lots of food to share with the other people at the trip. The first person who showed up was Ben, the only boy at the trip and our official supervisor. After that, the four other girls from the Kensignton campus arrived at the station. I knew only two of them, Kim and Barbara, but I quickly got to know the other two through the magic bonding powers of the doughnuts - Lisa and Jacquelyn. Once everyone was there, we headed to our train. Can you imagine it was 5 times better and 8 times faster than trains in Bulgaria? Yep, it was. We travelled in Standard Class coaches and were able to walk around the train freely and talk to each other loudly (I felt sorry for the people around us). I had actually taken a whole bag of study materials, for I had two major essays due on Monday, but naturally, I didn't get a lot of studying done (wow). The train ride seemed very short; maybe that's cause I'm a train junkee. We had to transfer our train at Newport, and after that it was only a 25-minute ride to Abergavenny, our small Welsh town.
When we got off the train (which, believe me, was a bit of an issue since I had 2 backpacks, one hand bag, and a big box o' doughnuts), we were greeted by our personal minivan driver who drove us to the Llangorse activity center. Our first item on the trip agenda was a 2-hour trek. At that point I was already being hyper because I was so thrilled that I was going to ride again, after over a year of no riding. The two trainers who greeted us at the center were very sweet and provided shoes and helmets for everyone, gave a short lesson on how to ride (for the people who were novice riders), and then assigned us horses. My horse was Mowgly (not sure about spelling, but it's named after the boy from the Jungle Book. He was a brown, medium-sized horse with a black mane and a sense of humor. The rest of the horses were also great. Ben's horse, Wizzard (or aomething like Whizzer - I never really got which one it was), was one of the most impressive of the lot: huge, white with brown spots, and very majestically looking.
Once all the riders had taken their positions, we were off! The trek weaved through vast fields and farms, surrounded by sheep-covered hills. The horses moved in a perfect line like disciplined soldiers. Every once in a while, a pony would decide to take a break and chew on some plants, in which case the riders had to be extra persuasive so that the horse would go back in line. As we walked/trotted along the trail, we were 'lucky' enough to see the Welsh weather changing from perfectly sunny and calm, to cloudy and kind of windy, to rain all in two hours time. It was amazing, but also cold and wet... Despite the meteorological drawbacks, we had a wonderful ride which ended too soon.
It's always fun to watch people get off their horses and walk around like they're drunk, feeling kind of wobbly and in all sorts of pain between, along, and at the back of the legs. Ouch. I was laughing (internally) at myself while I was doing my best not to limp around while the blood was returning to my legs :) And I was smiling - oh, yes, I was on cloud nine - after the ride! Mowgly was such a good horse! We had a great time communicating in weird ways; I think we both knew what we were saying, though. He was a bit unhappy when Wizzard nibbled on Mowgly's butt, yet there's not much you can do when a horse decides to play around with another one.
After we took off our shoes and helmets, we were happy to sit down on something that wasn't moving below us - yay, chairs! Soon, our bus came, and we got on and arrived at the house we were staying at several minutes later.
--- THE COTTAGE ---
This house definitely deserves special recognition! It was the cutest, coziest, most fairy-tale-like house in the world! There are two stories, the top one being the 'guest bedroom zone' with 5 rooms that could accommodate around 15 people. Each room had its own name ('Blue Room,' 'Purple Room,' 'White Room') and a theme (which is basically what the name stands for). Everything in 'Blue Room,' for example, had shades of blue. The beds were the softest beds ever! And, oh, so comfortable... Mmmm... I get sleepy just from recalling the soft-feathered pillows and blankets... There were also numerous trinklets around the rooms, ranging from statues of cats and ducks to straw hats and big teddies. I had never walked into a home that was so passionately decorated, with attention to every single detail. We all felt like we were in a house from a fairy tale or in Frodo's little cottage in the Lord of the Rings.
The ground floor contained the kitchen, dining room, and sitting room. That was the 'delicious' floor. Every day we would get breakfast, tea in the afternoon, and a royal dinner. The dining table was very long and placed across from a warm fire place. Of course, the walls were decorated with plates and ornaments - as if they were taken from a collector's shop. The sitting room also had a fire place and comfy couches. We sat there every night, chatting in front of the fire. We also saw Titanic one evening.
I only went inside the kitchen two times. It's a medium-sized place that smells like the most tasty homecooked meals. The kitchen is linked to a side room with a TV, a small table, and three border collies listening to classic music. It's true, they were classic-freaks! :D
And now's the time to tell you about our hosts, Diana and Nigel. They were the two most adorable people ever! Diana was born in London, but has lived in Wales for over 15 years. She was peculiar in a most amusing way. She'd scoff at people when they a) asked for ketchup to go with the baked potatoes she made, b) used cushions on the floor, c) didn't eat all the food on the table - and it was a LOT of food, d) did anything else she thought wasn't appropriate. Poor Ben; he was the one she picked on most often... maybe cause he was the only boy. Diana told us many stories about Wales, the cottage we were in, the area, the history of England, and pretty much anything else we asked her about. Her favorite word was, undoubtedly, ghastly. She'd also say 'Not now, dahling, I'm cooking now, and that's my duty, to feed you. I can't tell you about the house now, dahling.' I really liked her. Nigel, on the other hand, was never scoffing anyone. His special ability was to imitate Donald Duck. He was a sweetheart. Well, he was also a bit of a playboy, as he made comments such as, 'You make me wanna be a teenager again' to Jacquelyn. Nigel was funny; he made us laugh a lot. We were wondering whether the two of them were married, but as it turned out later, they weren't. They treated us like we were their children - caring, loving, worrying when we weren't home on time... Our stay definitely wouldn't have been as pleasant had those two not been our hosts.
posted by Marty Nikolova at
7:30 AM
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