Hard to keep up...

We have been so busy that I have had little time to write. I will try to catch up at a later date. We arrived at Kecskemet on Tuesday afternoon after a glorious stay in Bratislava. Les and I definitely plan on going back to Bratislava because it is such a charming and friendly city.
The journey to Kecskemet was easy and about three hours. Our trusty GPS, Hilda, got us to the right spot and the idiots operating it JUST couldn't figure out THAT we had reached the hotel . After another go round, we finally saw the sign for Hotel Harom Gunar. We pulled into the special garden parking and checked in. We were a tad disappointed in the room they gave us (tiny, tiny) BUT the air conditioning worked great. NO bath tub which was another disappointment. The kind people did say that they would try to find another room for us with a bath tub.
ONE huge thing did get resolved was my ailing Blackberry. Vodophone was almost NO help but on my other global phone (Hungarian sim), I was able to call Blackberry support in the States. After removing the battery and resetting the little darling, it worked. This has made my life much easier.
Wednesday was vet check and opening ceremony day. Vet check started at ten am and we were there. As it turns out, the US was last to go. As Switzerland was coming in, Natasha and Christine arrived. IT was so nice to see them and we exchanged big hugs. More than a few horses went through the vet check and THEN the American team. Larry did his usual awesome job and all three horses passed without a problem. Natasha, Christine, Les and I walk back to the stable area just as Larry was walking out. It was great to give him a BIG hug! Christine and Larry were off to some lunch and we headed back to hotel and some walking around the city.
The opening ceremony was scheduled to start at 7pm. We left about 6pm and it was a VERY good thing that we did because it was minor madness.
Sadly IF you are not a VIP, parking is at the side of the road. We had to go a LONG, long way down a little side road to park. We walked back to the stadium to find our seats in the covered areana that are for the whole event. First they had all the flag of the each of the countries parachuted in. This took about 30 minutes with once again the States being last. THEN the fun started with incredible displays of Hungarian horsemenship. They had Roman chariots, riders shooting arrow into moving targets, a peasant display of farm wagons being pulled, and the incredible five in hands with rider standing up on the back of two horses. As three four in hands came into the stadium with the FEI officals, the light went out. Finally, they came back on and the pair came in with a Maygar soldier in dress uniform carrying the flag of each country.
SINCE the stadium was packed and it was getting very dark, Les and I snuck out to find our car. I didn't want to madness of the exodus that I knew saw going to happen.
Got to go. Back to the stadium to two of the dressage test of part of the American Team. Looks like we will have to visit the California Coffee House (free Internet) again real soon. Yours, Claudia