Day 4 - 5/20/11

Today was a good day. It began when I discovered that I will be undertaking riding lessons everyday (monday-friday) for the duration of my trip, except for when I'm in the cow and sheep barns! Wow! What another amazing opportunity! To ride as many horses as I can and under new instructors is great experience for my riding abilities. We started our work by cleaning stalls, checking feed and water, then put Ding in the Aqua-fit, and Madge on the treadmill. I was able to demonstrate my lunging skills on Roxy the welsh pony, and then I took Nero for a 10 minute walk and 10 minute graze - due to his colic recovery it is closely monitored. In the afternoon, Ding was put on the high-speed treadmill (HST) and did well outside of his bucking fits. Then Madge had her second workout on the HST. Today was also the day that I was expecting Sam and Grant! They showed up around 3:30 and so I gave them a brief tour of the therapy center and was allowed to leave work early to spend time with them because we were slow. This was very wonderful! We caught a bus into the local town of Gloucester and got them settle in the New Inn which was built in the 1400's!!! wow. Then, we wandered around the ancient streets and I got to see my first cathedral! It was beautiful beyond all measure. We entered it and toured around and were even able to participate in a mass and heard the boys choir! Cool!!! Then we finally found a place to sit down and eat some REAL fish and chips which were amazing! We found it very odd that after 4:00 PM all of England seem to shut down completely, stop serving food, and then Pubs will start back up again serving beverages around 9-10:00 PM. What do these people do during those times then?!?! It is very odd. The travelling Americans with their packs!!!

Gloucester Cathedral is where they filmed Harry Potter during his stay at Hogwarts!

Such detail and beautiful stained glass!!!

The spires!

GARGOYLES!!!!

Huge stone pillars. The cathedral was built in 1100.

The ceiling

One of the many corridors

a Blue door!!! I wonder if I can find one of every color!?

The houses are so authentic!

At the pub, allowing our fish and chips to digest

My FIRST red telephone booth!!!

Nevertheless, the cute little pub we found that did serve food was called the Dick Whittington. We tried some of the local brews, including a Pimms like the lady in the airport told me too, and chatted for a few hours before meandering back to the hotel. At the hotel, we were able to call home and talk to mom and dad. Then I realized that I missed the last bus to take me back to school so I ended up spending the night with Sam, Grant, and Sabrina. They are here until Monday morning, so maybe we can have some adventures in the mean time!