I was very excited to kick off the Arabian Horse Times and European Summer Tour of 2015 and, of course, I arrive in Frankfurt, Germany, only to encounter my first hurdle right off the bat. My flight to Brussels was cancelled. I had a big box full of Arabian Horse Times goodies and three very large pieces of luggage. Change of plans … the journey started with me learning the train system in Germany. I was on my way to Brussels, but things changed last minute and I got off in Aachen.
I was most impressed by the German hospitality toward an American traveling. I’m sure I was looking a bit jet lagged and overwhelmed by the amount of things I was carrying with me. People were absolutely wonderful in terms of helping me out. One young guy was amazing; he saw me struggling, said nothing, grabbed one of my bags and carried it to the top of the stairs for me. He then smiled, waved and walked on his way. I also met a young student during my train ride and we had a very positive conversation about America. After giving him my AHT business card, I woke up the next morning to a very kind email from him. My first evening in Aachen saw me picked up by Murilo Kammer and whisked off to Johanna Ulstrom and her husband Jeremy’s farm—Darby Farm—where I was treated like a traveling prince! We had a wonderful dinner, conversation and enjoyed each other’s company. After dinner I headed to a lovely Bed & Breakfast where I got my first night’s sleep.
—Jeff Wallace for AHT Abroad
