We have arrived. The trip was uneventful, which is an excellent quality for a transatlantic journey to have. The setting (peaceful, wooded, hilly) is pretty enough in the snow, but I suspect it is full-on beautiful in the spring and summer. I knew that Lipica was close to the Slovenia/Italy border, but I didn't realize that it is literally right on the border. The nearest town is 5km away, which will make for a decent afternoon walk once I get my riding schedule down.
This is definitely the off-season. We are possibly the only hotel guests. I am the only tourist listed on the board for riding lessons. Which is perfectly fine by me - I might give myself a couple of days to settle into the twice a day riding routine and then see if I can schedule in a couple of extra lunge lessons on the side. (That may be overly ambitious, but when else am I going to get the chance?)
I have yet to see an actual horse, although I did find a gray tail-hair in the closet when I was unpacking (which I am taking as a good omen.) We took a walk around the grounds this afternoon and located the gated entrance to the stud farm. At some point we get to take a guided tour of it, but there's no point in using up all of our entertainment options at once. The hotel cafe and the gym seem to be popular with the locals. It wasn't until I noticed the casino on one end of the hotel complex that the full parking lot made sense.
Towels with horses on them! Why didn't I think of that?
Otherwise, nothing eventful so far. First riding lesson at 9am! (meep!) Too excited to sleep!
-Beth
LIPIZZAN TOWELS! TOWELS WITH LIPIZZANS! LIPIZZAN TAIL HAIRS IN CLOSETS!
ReplyDeleteI think you are in heaven.