I'm Going On Holiday!

Over the years, my humans have been on many holidays together. In some ways, this has been great for me. They usually leave me with a pet-sitter and I have made some fantastic friends and had some wonderful experiences during these ‘breaks’. However, I’ve often wished that I could actually go on holiday with my humans rather than being left behind.

So, when I heard that my humans were going away again this weekend, I decided to turn on the ‘charm-offensive’. Imagine my delight when they actually agreed to take me with them. I couldn’t believe it. Although I’ve flown to different countries around the world, this will be MY FIRST EVER PROPER HOLIDAY! I’m soooooo excited!

Apparently we’re going to…Amsterdam. Unfortunately, I don’t know where Amsterdam is. (Has it got a beach?!?).

As I’ve never been on holiday before, I’m also not sure how/what I’m supposed to take with me. Here’s some pictures of me packing my suitcase. ..

First of all, I’m sure I’ll need my (pet) passport. (Like I said, I’ve no idea where Amsterdam is!)

We will be travelling to Amsterdam by car. I’d better take some ‘essentials’ for the journey: some snacks to nibble on; some toys for entertainment; and something in case ‘nature calls’.

I must remember to pack my toiletries. (I’m not sure that I can fit that hair dryer into my luggage???)

Of course, I’ll need a few changes of clothing. I think I’ll pack a collar for every occasion.

A dog can get lonely when he’s away from home. I’d better bring teddy to keep me company at night.

I’m sure there will be a pool in the hotel. As usual, I’ve borrowed Dad’s swimming trunks. (I must have lost weight since the last time I wore them.)

Finally, I intend to have fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun. I won’t forget my sunglasses.

Right, I think that’s everything. (Please let me know if there’s anything I’ve missed.)

Ta-da! I’m finally packed. (I still can’t fit that pesky hairdryer in though!)

Right, I’m ready for the off. I’ll let you know how my holiday went when I get back.

Dogs From Rome

You remember that I blogged previously about my humans going on holiday to Rome. I wanted to show you a few of their holiday snaps. Unlike most humans, however, who take photographs of the scenery and sights, Missus has a strange habit of only taking pictures of the dogs that she comes across. So, here are some photos of ‘Roman’ dogs...

Privacy please...

Look, a Siberian Husky. Is that Khyra?

A German Shepherd outside of the Vatican. Hello good-looking!

I hope this fella hasn’t got his head stuck.

My favourite breed! A booti-ful golden retriever.

Another German Shepherd. Don’t they have Italian Shepherds?

A fuzzy ball of fun.

This guy has got his cape on. He must think he’s ‘Superdog’.

Look at him checking out the art work. Or is he just having a good sniff.

Another ‘Superdog’.

When Missus ran out of real dogs to photograph, she started to take pictures of dog statues.

A marble statue dog with its puppies.

I wonder if this was Greek Homer's dog?

This is a famous statue of the 'She-Wolf' who nurtured Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome.

A fine statue of a dog from ancient Egypt.

Missus even took photos of human marble figures... as long they had dogs with them!

Homer from Roma

As I mentioned in my last blog, my humans recently visited Rome. Apparently they had a great time. While there, they discovered some interesting pieces of ancient art.

As you know, I’m a bit of a ‘culture-vulture’ dog and so I thought I’d share some of my humans’ holiday snaps with you...

Ta-da! This is a marble bust of my namesake, Homer.

This is also a bust of Homer. Apparently, he was a very famous ancient Greek poet. You can read more about him here.



Another bust of Homer. I’m so honoured to be named after such an intelligent and famous man. Funny though, I always thought he looked different from the images on these busts...

... something like this?

Anyway, my humans also took some photos of the busts of Greek Homer’s friends. Here are a few...

This is Pythagoras. Apparently he’s good at Maths. Maybe he can teach me how to count?

Here’s Socrates. He was a very famous philosopher (whatever that is?).



This is Diogenes. He was another distinguished philosopher.

Enough of this arty-farty stuff – my head hurts...

PS: On a totally different subject, I want to take this opportunity to wish Missus a very Happy Birthday. I ‘woof’ you. Lots of sloppy licks from ‘The Real Homer’.

A Weekend with the Golden Girls

Last weekend, my humans went on a short break to Rome. (More about this later).

Normally, I’m not too happy when my humans go off gallivanting to exotic places and leave me behind. Not this time though. My humans found a new dog-sitting family for me. They were a very nice couple who stay on a houseboat with its own garden and live only a short distance from the beach. Best of all, they have a ‘booti-ful’ young female golden retriever. Even better, they were also looking after another female golden retriever at the same time. I couldn’t believe my luck! I spent a ‘naughty’ weekend with two gorgeous young ladies.

Here are a few pictures taken during my stay with them...

This is Lobke, a three year old, good looking golden retriever. Wait a minute... that sounds like a description of me. Talk about compatible!

The lady on the right belongs to my dog-sitters. Her name is Amy. She is only a year old and she is very charming. (Unlike myself – check out my squinting. I was trying to put on a ‘seductive’ persona, but I just looked like I needed to go to the toilet. D’oh!)



A close-up of Amy.

As you can see, she loves to have her photograph taken and is always ready for the camera...



... unlike me, as you can see from the picture above. D’oh! (again).

Anyway, I really enjoyed my weekend and I can’t wait to meet up with Amy and Lobke again.

Friend Bloggy Award

Paco and Milo has given me a 'Friend Doggy Award'. Thank you guys, and I appreciate it!

The award goes like this...

"Here's the Friend Bloggy Award Scoop: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text and pic into the body of their award".

I'm allowed to pass this on to eight of my 'favoured' friends. So, here goes:

Amber-Mae

Comet and Blu

Pipa

Helios

Khyra

Bae Bae the Hamster

Jackson

Okay, that's two right? Some others...

Kingsley

Lorenza

The Bumpass Hounds

Luna

Maggie and Mitch

Samantha

Five so far, are you keeping count? And...

Mango the Maltese

Mason Dixie

MJ

Jake and Just Harry

Thor

That's seven! And, the final one...

Verdi and Gaucho

I think that's my 'quota' of eight. (Did I mention that my humans haven't taught me to count yet?)

My Winter Wonderland

It has been very cold for the past couple of weeks.

Not that this bothers me, I love rolling around on the icy ground...

... and frolicking in the frost.

During my daily walks, I’ve noticed that my park has been covered with frost. It looks like icing on a cake.

Even the canals have been frozen over.

Me and Missus on a frozen canal.

The cold weather has been good news to many of the Dutch humans who have taken the opportunity to go skating on frozen lakes.

Needless to say, I wanted the chance to go 'Dancing On Ice' . I wanted to be just like Hans Brinker .

Me and Dad on the frozen lake after our skating session. I don’t want to be cheeky but I hope the ice is very thick. Dad has put on a lot of weight over the Christmas period... heh heh heh.

Happy New Year 2009

Last night was my first experience of welcoming in the New Year in the Netherlands. I had thought that it would be a quiet night with me and my humans. How wrong I was. The Dutch celebrate the occasion with a ‘big bang’ and there were fireworks going off everywhere. Here’s a short video of me admiring the booti-ful spectacle. (The quality is not that fantastic but it’s still watchable).

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Woof!