The Royal Cavalry Horse Show

Wow, what a wonderful afternoon! I was told it would be a super thing to witness and I was not disappointed. I thought it would be a great experience for Bear and we got to see it together. 

We arrived in plenty of time and found parking straight away in extra bays laid on for this event. Then the buses were regular enough that we just hopped on one and headed in to the Royal Cavalry barracks. Bear had her little camera and with a little persuasion, she found the confidence to start clicking away.

We had a little wander and saw where we would be sitting; although three-quarters of the seating had plush comfy covers and the remainder were the plastic garden chairs! We thought we’d head to the comfy end to grab a seat…then I read the tickets again and I’m very glad I recognise Arabic letters as we were seated in آ/A, aka comfy cushions, yay!

I won’t bother recounting the frustrating step by step procedure required to actually get to our seats but I will say that even the debacle with the checking of cameras did nothing to spoil the day! I will say that the only thing that really did spoil it was the amount of litter on the ground, even hours before everyone had arrived. Royalty were attending for goodness sake!!! It has always been one of the very, VERY few things that I do not like about this country, and all it could take is a couple of seconds to find the nearest rubbish bin or keep hold of it and take it home. Grrrr…ok, off the soap box…

We saw we were quite close to the Royal Stand and would have a pretty good view of everything!

On recommendation, what I was looking forward to were the horsewomen, both jockeys and display. You weren’t wrong, OPNO and Noora. S.! I’m very glad that Omani women are free to become horseriders because they were a highlight of the day!

Even when they couldn’t stand up on the horse or when the horse refused to ‘curtsey’ to the Queen and the Sultan, seeing a smile and an obvious giggle made it all ok! All the displays were amazing and some breathtaking, the skills was incredible – I loved the tent-pegging!

Some random photos from the day:

A lady's gorgeous Chinoiserie fan

I’m going to try and get to see a few more shows and races, now I know where I find the racing schedule – thanks again, OPNO.

Music update and Sultanate celebrations

I still haven’t come up with a solution to my musical demands. I’m downloading podcasts but forgetting to listen to them!  I need to get in to the habit I think! Maybe that would be one benfit (read: THE SOLE benefit) of having a Mac; access to iTunes…I would be always downloading though!

Anyway, a new musical discovery to delight my discontented ears! One of the radio shows I found whilst listening to Zane Lowe was ‘Mumford and Sons and Friends’. It looks like it is not available anymore but some clips are available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v4srp#clips

It was a two hour concert hosted by 'new acoustic heroes Mumford and Sons, performing alongside their contemporaries Laura Marling, The Maccabees and Bombay Bicycle Club'. 

Laura Marling and Mumford and Sons

Laura Marling has a superb voice and, like Mumford and Sons and Admiral Fallow, is genuinely talented and makes beautiful, original and fresh music. Check out her website too   http://www.lauramarling.com; hover over the small pics/video icons and choose Goodbye India Vodcast. I think I really enjoyed this video because of the Indian musical addition, particularly with living here with a variety of Indian influences.

Other musical update: I’ve rediscovered Alex Lester on Radio 2. He has that shift in the very early hours. I used to listen to him on my way to work at the Beeb years back.

The Dark Lord

A morning drive through the country lanes of East Sussex and Kent listening to his dry humour and a brilliant eclectic playlist made those 4.45am starts so much more bearable. I was usually one of the first in the office at that time and I would carry on listening to The Dark Lord online. It was my hour of tranquillity and, dare I say it, sanity before the rest of the newsroom filled up with technical peeps and news-hungry journalists.

Other news in the Mitchell house: we have been allocated two tickets to attend the horse show that will be held during the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh at the end of the month. The Sultan has invited Her Maj to the Sultanate to help celebrate the 40th Anniversary of his reign and the strong relationship between Oman and the United Kingdom.

There are two events that the public are able to have access to. The Official Welcome is an opportunity to line the route as Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh drive past on their way to be greeted by His Majesty. This will mean standing by the side of the road for around an hour and a half (I had in mind that it would be Bear and I and so not ideal for her and actually quite dull I’d say, to stand there and watch the dignitaries whizz by I suspect!). The second event is the Horse Show. “The Sultan’s horses and some of the best horsemen and women in the country will perform for Their Majesties for just over an hour. All members of the audience will be seated, but will need to be in place for at least an hour before the show begins. The show will take place in the afternoon.” A bit more like it, I think. Space is limited with only 300 tickets for the Horse Show so I applied to go in to the draw. And actually, to my surprise, we were successful!