The End is No Longer Nigh, It's Here!!

So this is my last post from Cyprus. Back to America Joey and I go tomorrow morning nice and early.  As I sit here thinking about our good times I know I will miss it here, all the fun adventures we had and people we met.  I definitely will miss 350+ days of sunshine a year.  I do look forward to new and exciting things to come like buying a new house (and HORSE!!), visiting with friends and family a lot more easily and often, and making new friends. Adjusting to life back in the states will be tough but the blessings will outweigh the frustrations (right?!).   We've loved being here and are very sad to go but great new things await us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a sneak from Jordan's pictures-Dead Sea mud was so invigorating!

 

Happy trails!! On camels! And isn't it typical? I'm following Matt into the unknown!

The End is Nigh.....

So, this is what our house looks like at the moment.....

 

 

 

yes...those are boxes....

 

and boxes and boxes.....

 

and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles on the TV (it's my traditional Thanksgiving movie!).

 

What does this mean you ask?? Well, the end is nigh.  We're moving. Back to the states. By the end of the month!! WHAT??

 

It's been a crazy, hectic ride that has been too slow and too fast all at the same time.  It started in August when Matt was asked to transfer somewhere in Asia. We didn't want to go but they also asked for a 2-3 year commitment to go there. Matt said he didn't want to be in this job in even 1 year so thanks but no thanks.  So they said ok, go for 1 year then.  We said fine but that he would start looking for a new job asap. Let the resume flood begin! He sent them to everyone we know and then some. And he started to apply to any and every job that appealed to him. (Also during this time we're told we're going to New Mexico now, not Asia which we liked a little better).  Weeks go by without much happening and then BAM! The interviews start rolling until finally offers are made, negotiations happen, and one was accepted.

 

So where are we going you ask? Back home of course! The best location for Matt's job field is in SO MD where we grew up so that's where he looked the hardest and found the best jobs.  Now I know I've always said I didn't want to go back there, I moved away on purpose right? But I've also always said that I would never stand in the way for Matt to get the job that he wants and that if the Lord has us going back, there's nothing I can do to stop it.

 

So here I am, packing and packing and packing more.  I can't believe our time here is over.  3 years went by so quickly, it feels like a blink. I was planning on doing a final blog from here showcasing all the places we visited but I haven't even been able to go through our photos from our last trip from here (Jordan!) to put on here. That was an amazing trip and I WILL get around to putting it up, just AFTER the move and getting our stuff back, so in a few months.

 

This is also the explanation for putting Harley down. With no one to take him on here and us not being able to take him home, it was the best option for his well being. It's not even been a week yet and I still think every morning that I need to go down to ride and see him.  It's getting better but it's still so tough to not be able to see him and spend time with him. 

 

SO look out America! We're coming back!

Goodbye My Friend

 

So I have loved many aspects of being here in Cyprus. The thing I have hated most is the rampant animal abuse that occurs. Yes, there are people here who have been working very hard to try and stop this. But sadly this is a cultural aspect that is somewhat ingrained into people and is very difficult to combat.  Now when I say animal abuse I don't just mean people beating their pets (although that is very common), I also mean neglect. Animals are chained outside without adequate food and water, which is a real problem when it's 110+ degrees outside in the baking sun.  Honestly, a lot of people just don't know proper care and maintenance of their animals, especially horses.  There are some vets and government officials in place who are trying to educate people but it is met with lots of resistance-change is hard and people don't really care that much. 

 

What does this have to do with you and Harley you may ask.  Well Harley was a product of this environment.  I'm pretty sure he never raced but he did do race training and the racing yards are some of the worst offenders when it comes to the abuse. Again, I'll reiterate that there are some places where the horses are treated well and have good lives but they are sadly the exception here.  He bore the tell-tale signs of abuse physically as well as mentally. But despite that I still loved him ferociously.

 

Matt and I are moving back to the states at the end of the month. We've known this day would come and it was something we thought about when we bought Harley. At that point I truly thought I would be able to find someone who would be able to buy him and continue on with him like I had. But then I started thinking, what about when they leave? Will they put the care into finding him a good home? Or what if they get into it and decide they can't handle him or don't want to anymore? Would he just get passed around from person to person to eventually end up emaciate, beaten, and alone again?

 

I did talk with some ladies that I know that do live here permanently if they would be interested in taking him. They did want him, very much. However they have stressful jobs that are a long commute away and so they could not commit the time needed to him.  That's totally understandable and I appreciate their honesty in their situation. So what was I to do with my beloved boy?

I came to the difficult decision that the best thing for him (and my sanity if I'm really honest) was to put him down.  Now I know some of you may decry "Wait! You should've tried harder! Had more people try him! Isn't there a place where he can just be put out to pasture?! Surely there must be SOMEONE who can take him on! What about taking him home? Really, was this the BEST and ONLY option you saw?" I got those questions from people who know the situation here.  And I thought long and hard about each and every one. No, there is no where safe to put him out to pasture. No, I wouldn't stress him out by having person after person bounce around on his sensitive back just for me to decide they weren't suitable. I'm sure there was someone out there who could care for and ride him as I have for these last 2 years, but who's to say that they would want him?  As for taking him home, he doesn't travel well and I'm convinced that the trip would've killed him (as did his previous owner which is why she didn't take him back the UK with her).  Although it is hard and heartbreaking, the best option for him was to put him to sleep rather than having even the slightest chance of him falling into the wrong hands.  We are responsible for our horses well being, even after they are no longer ours.  Sometimes you can trust that the person you pass your horse onto will take the utmost care of them; will love them as you have. But what if you can't trust, knowing that it is so easy to pass a horse along like a secondhand item, used and abused to satisfy their need then kicked to the curb when something is wrong.  

  

Harley represents a lot of unknowns and firsts for me. I never thought I'd own a TB, let a lone a race trained one.  I never thought I'd take on something with so many emotional and mental issues, something to the point that others thought he was dangerous (which I never thought he was).  I'd never thought I'd put down a physically fit and healthy horse because the attitude of the people where I am is so unpredictable and unstable that I couldn't guarantee that they would be safe.  If this situation was in the states, he would've lived with me until he was old and gray, happily munching on grass in a big field.  But that's not the case.

 

This has been one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. I would take him on, love him, teach him, have him teach me, and make the same decision in the end because that is how much I love him and have gotten from him in such a short amount of time. 

 

So in his last minutes, I told him how much I love him. That I only wanted what was best for him. That he has made me a better rider and horsewoman, and that I will be eternally grateful to him. So with a very tearful hug and kiss, I said "goodbye my friend."     

5 Year Anniversary Trip Stop 3: Cinque Terre

So the next stop on our trip was the Cinque Terre, or "The Five Lands." This is a spot that I had wanted to see for a long time so it was part of my "must see" for this trip.  For those of you who don't know much about this area, it was, and still is, a fishing and boating area.  There are vineyards as well that are carved into the hillside, along with homes. It is now also a very popular tourist destination because it was virtually unheard of for many centuries. They are also a National Park and on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

These lovely and dramatic villages are definitely worth a visit but beware-they are tough to get around if you're not in shape!! There are only two ways to go, up and down! Another big attraction to this area is the hiking trails, which is what we were interested in.  We wanted to take the easy coastal trail to all the villages, which would have taken all day but would have been doable for the two of us since we weren't in the best shape.  Unfortunately there were some terrible floods in 2012 and part of the trail was inaccessible which gave us three options. 1. Take the train to each town to look around that way. 2. Take a boat. 3. Hike the "panoramic" vista trail. We (in a moment of insanity) chose option 3.  So instead a few mile trek along the coast we headed straight up the side of the hill to a 4-5 mile HIKE.  To give you an idea of what we did here is a map: we wanted to take the blue trail.  We did from Manarola section 6, 6d to Corniglia. Now I know that doesn't look to tough. The first 1/2-3/4 was all up hill. We are fatties. It was tough!

 

BUT, we survived!! And it was TOTALLY worth it! We got some of the most amazing photos on this hike- some of the best from the whole trip.  And it was great proof that no matter where you are in the world, hikers ban together and are always friendly and will give you a wave or "hello."  The great thing about a killer hike is the descent down to a yummy meal, complete with beer (for Matt) and a Limoncello for me! I even got to try a local variety which was SO GOOD that I was on a quest the rest of the trip to find a bottle, which I did our last night in Florence!

 

Our first night walking around Riomaggiore (where our B&B was)

 

 



The beginning of stunning coastal views

 

There were these beautiful flowers growing on an old stone wall-so Italian!

 

You can see the village built up into the hillside and the vineyards beyond that! Along with some wispy rain clouds.

 

Great scenery. Even more handsome subject!

 

Starting off in Manarola to hike the coast.

 

Manarola village, no beaches here!

 

Uh oh! Trail is closed! No going on the coastal road!

 



 

That's OK! We'll just trek up the side of a freakin' mountain! No biggie right? Yes, we were all the way down at the bottom before.

 

Endless stairs and uphill. It was almost more difficult because it was all stairs!

 

We can glimpse the next village through the hillside and vineyard.

 

On the way down and am SO happy!

 

A well deserved limoncello and pizza lunch for our efforts.  The scenery was amazing as well.

 

You can barely see the furthest village on that point all the way to the left. We took the train from here.

 

Matt likes to make me look directly into the sun while taking pictures.  It's painful.  And we had just witnessed a couple making out very inappropriately below us so my eyes were already hurting.

 

We also played with the miniature affect with the camera. Oh boy was that fun! And this was the perfect setting for it.

 

 

All in all it was a wonderful 2 nights.  I wish we had been able to take the coastal trail or go on a boat ride to see them all from the sea but we can always revisit one day.  Again I would highly recommend coming here for a few days away. It was actually quite quiet since it's hard to get a car around these villages, and they are closed to cars in the evening too! Just make sure to bring your walking shoes ;)

5 Year Anniversary Trip Stop 2: Venice

 

So there is a reason why people always suggest going to Venice if you are to ever visit Italy. BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME!! Sorry for the yelling, I just get excited easily! This was the 1 place Matt emphatically said, "we ARE going", when we said back to Italy.  He didn't care where else we went. Only Venice was on his agenda. So I then gave him the reins to book a place and figure out what he wanted to do. Only part of that happened. but oh well, it was a good combo effort! He did book a beautiful old palace for our hotel (and broke the budget BIG time! I guess that's allowed when you make the big bucks :0  ) and it was in good walking distance to the major sites. Although we have said if we are to ever go back we're going to stay in another part of the city, on the other end really, so we can explore there better.  But here's a MAJOR heads up everyone: in case you didn't know, Venice is CRAZY expensive! So make sure you budget for everything-I think the cheapest thing we got was the umbrella at the kiosk for 4 euros.  Sure you can buy really crappy knock-off plastic masks for 2 euros but that's not what I'm talking about, and we didn't get those cheapos anyway.  Thankfully we went when it wasn't too hot so it wasn't stinky at all. Sadly, it did rain a little bit but not so much it deterred us from walking around. And Matt lucked out in that we didn't go see any art museums. I would have loved to go to the Academia or the Peggy Guggenheim Museum (I've been before and it's amazing!) but I knew the poor guy would get more later in the trip so I used my museum card sparingly ;)

 

 

 

Taking in the sites on the water taxi.

 

 

St. Mark's square was intermittently busy, depending on the rain situation.  It took a few tries to NOT get people right next to us. 

Gross. Don't people know pigeons are basically rats with wings. We saw people feeding them and letting holding them. Again, gross.

 

So handsome!

 

Inside the basilica.  Again, mosaics and gold plating everywhere. It's kind of overwhelming at times. 



Of course everywhere you look in the canals you see gondolas.  They are pretty looking but not the most efficient way to see things!

 

 

On the Rialto Bridge. That place was PACKED! And the wears were even more expensive!

 

The Bridge of Sighs.  Very interesting history and we've seen it's replica in Bath!

 

We went to a classical music concert which was very nice. The music was great!

 

On a taxi headed to Murano Island!

 

Seeing a glass blowing demonstration on Murano. He made that horse in no time! 

 

Rialto Bridge-it was a cool building/bridge!

 

A beautiful old clock-look how interesting it is!

 

Back inside St. Mark's Basilica. So much gold!

 

I feel this sums up Venice perfectly, canals, gondolas, and churches.

 

Classic Venice!

 

Such a stud!

 

Having so much fun on the boat tour!

 

View from our hotel room. Loved seeing the hanging flowers!

 

The architecture of this city is truly amazing!

 

 

This is one city you could spend days just wandering around, getting a little lost, and seeing some really beautiful old buildings.  The history of it is fascinating as well.  Even if you only have a few days, Venice is very much worth a visit!