Horses and Ballet
Willow loves horses, and had really liked the times when we went to do pony rides. My department chair, Zsuzsa, has a daughter Zoey’s age that takes horseback riding lessons on Sunday mornings. They invited us to come with them, so of course I said yes. The instructor lives about 30 minutes outside of Budapest in the village of Páty. We all rode in a car together, and Zsuzsa said that she only uses the car on weekends when going out of town. It is much easier getting to some of the more remote areas with a car than trying to piece together public transportation. While we went to ride horses JonPaul and Ronin got to go to the movies to see the new 007 movie, so everyone had something special to do today.
While my Zsuzsa’s daughter did her lessons for the full hour, Zoey and Willow got to split the time between them. There were two horses and a pony, but one horse was injured and the other was sick, so Willow and Zoey rode the pony. We started with Willow, who at first had her hands on the saddle, then practiced with her hands out to the side to keep balance. She was then given the actual reins and was beginning to learn how to lead the horse herself. It would have helped if she knew her right from her left! The instructor was holding on the entire time, but Willow loved every minute of her lesson. I will definitely bring her back, but horseback riding gets expensive (especially on top of gymnastics!).
Next it was Zoey’s turn. She started on the pony, but was just too big for it to be comfortable. She got to have a chance on the horse, and really liked it too. I think she would come back every week if she could!
There were three little foals running around, and they were so adorable! We got the chance to pet them, and they spent the time running around chasing each other. This was such a treat for Zoey and Willow, and I hope we get to join Zsuzsa and her daughter at least once or twice more before we leave. Good thing there are plenty of farms in Kentucky, because I think I have created a horseback-riding monster!
The Hungarian Ballet was performing Giselle, and tonight was the last performance, so I made a quick decision to go. Zoey wanted to come, so we made a girl’s night of it. We had good seats and stopped for an opera cake and some wine before the show started. It was Zoey’s first ballet, and she loved it. I don’t think she is ready to be a ballerina, but she said she wants to go see another ballet. The dancers were very good, and it really made me miss dancing.
On Monday after gymnastics, Zoey and I went shopping. There are several thrift stores in Budapest, and we got a few items that we forgot to bring with us.
One of the thrift stores had new items, and this huge unicorn was in there. Zoey begged to get it, and I told her if it was less than $10 we could get it. It ended up being $11, so I reluctantly said okay. I don’t know what we are going to do with it in four months! It may end up staying here, particularly since it is shedding white fur everywhere! With the amount of fur and fuzz all over the place you would think we had a white dog. We may be rehoming this unicorn sooner rather than later…
