They put me on Ardiemus, a Bavarian Warmblood that was well over 17 hands (for all you non-horse people: he was massively tall). After proving that I could put him through the paces, the trainer let me join in on the lesson. As luck would have it there was only one other person riding with me, so I got a good amount of one-on-one time and the trainer explained things to me in English, then would teach me the German terms (of which I only remember about three). Ardiemus was also great. Obviously a beginner horse because they had never seen me ride and wanted to be on the safe side, but he was quiet, responsive, and had great walk to canter transitions. The facilities were good, the trainer was good, everyone I met there was really friendly, the horses were definitely lesson horses, but pretty good for lesson horses I would say, and the class sizes ranged from 2 to 7 riders per lesson, all the same price. All good, right? But I don't think this is going to be the barn I settle on. Actually, I know it's not. Perhaps this will be an issue everywhere, but it seemed that all of the really good riders are on their own horses, so the people left taking lessons are just weekend warriors. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I want to be in lessons to train, not just go out to enjoy a pleasant ride for an hour. Also, the lesson setup was very strange to me. You signed up by what time worked best for you, but there was no consideration of putting riders of similar levels together. The coach then catered what was being done to each rider, so that everyone was doing a variation of the same thing. But to me that's just really inefficient for all involved. However one of the women told me about another barn that's close to Bisamberg that has a lot of riders who do show jumping internationally. I may not be good enough to ride there, but if I could take lessons somewhere like that... I hope to hear back from them today so I can go check it out this week.
Also on my weekend agenda were parent-teacher conferences for the daughter on Friday, dinner with Raffi (the woman who helped me get a deal on my bike) and Joe and family on Saturday, Palais Eschenbachgasse Saturday night, and a furniture exhibition at the Hofburg on Sunday, also with Raffi.
After I watched the riding lesson on Saturday I went over with Joe to have dinner with Raffi, her husband Thomas, their son Manuel, Joe's sister Christina, and her boyfriend Alexis. I didn't have time to pick up a small thank-you-for-dinner gift, but Günter had informed me that in Austria it would typically be flowers, or possibly sweets, for the lady, and wine, or another drink if you know their preference, for the man. If there's a next time I'll certainly be doing that! It was such a great evening! Really good hors d'oeuvre of mozzarella caprese, a good selection of meats and cheeses, and some great Austrian bread, pasta with clams for the main course, all followed by some delectable chocolate and cake. I'm also trying to learn more about Austrian wines, so I made note of the one I was served: a 2008 Zweigelt from Bioweinbau Mandl in Weinland, Austria. Zweigelts, originally a cross of Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent, are now the most widely grown red grape variety in Austria. What a night! Seriously, as good as the food was, the company way surpassed it. It was such a great atmosphere with lots of laughing and good conversation, and they taught me all sorts of tidbits about Austria and Germany. I'm so glad I was invited!
Afterwards Joe, Alexis, and I went to Café/Restaurant/Bar Aumann to get a drink with Joe's friend Nikolai, then we made our way to Palais Eschenbachgasse near the Kunsthistorisches Museum. It was a really classy venue that his university had rented out for the night, thus it was packed. Good music, though. We left around 3:00 am.
Up and riding on Sunday, ate a quick lunch with Joe, then met with Raffi for a furniture exhibition that was going on at the Hofburg Palace. She had two free tickets because she had recently purchased some pieces from a maker who had some things on display there. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I can sum it up very easily in one word: Modern. Or perhaps Contemporary. Mia tried to teach me once, but I can never remember the difference between the two terms as far as art and such goes. Anyway, anything you've ever thought about Vienna being all about tradition and hating change of any kind - chuck that out the window. This was about as modern as modern interior design gets. Not my taste, but it was really fascinating walking through. And, being in the Hofburg, it was obviously fabulous in every way possible.
The exhibition seemed pretty extensive to me, though Raffi said it felt a lot smaller than last year's. She was also telling me that we were in one of the sections of the Hofburg where they hold a lot of balls, in particular the Doctor's Ball is there annually. I really wouldn't mind going to that. Or just going back to that part of the Hofburg sometime.
Afterwards we walked up Kohlmarkt doing some window shopping, then went our separate ways - her home for dinner and me to Café Mozart to study for my German quiz the next day. Although the temperature was starting to drop for the night, it was just gloaming out and a really pretty time of day to be walking through Vienna (well, I suppose that's true of just about anywhere, not just Vienna).
Also, concerning my German classes - 153 with Günter at my alma matter and an intro course at University of Vienna (Uni Wien) that the family signed me up for - they're good, but I'm not quite at the right level for either. The intermediate class is just a little over my head, especially since I started after they had been in class for a month, and the intro class is, well, an intro class. It can only help to review everything I already know, though. But I was disappointed to discover that the Uni Wien class of 16 is mostly women in their 40s or so; I had hoped to make some friends in there. Between those two classes, each twice a week, my free time before picking up the kids from school has diminished considerably, but hey, I'd rather do intensive German now; the sooner I'm fluent, the better.
Tschau! (Deutsch 'Ciao!')
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