Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Most clothes washers in German small flats are in the bathroom.
Come on down!
The Labraventures of Carbón, Spanish (ex-) foster dog extraordinaire
- Thread starter Emily_Babbelhund
- Start date
Atemas
UK Tour Guide
- Location
- North Cambridgeshire
We went to Salzburg earlier this year - just loved the countryside all around there.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
In the places I've stayed throughout continental Europe I'd say it's more common than not to have a toilet in the bathroom. There may be a separate toilet, too, but I can't recall the last time I saw a bathroom without a loo in it - except in my parents' house
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Well, I've got all the things I'm NOT bringing with me packed and shuttled off to my friend Helga's store room. I was so discombobulated today that I actually got half way to Helga's in the car before I realised that I'd forgotten to swing by my apartment and load the car with my stuff. It's getting dire!
Luckily tomorrow I have a few hours in the morning to pack the car with the stuff I'm actually taking. I'm off to bed now in hopes that my brain will come back. Don't want to drive off and forget Carbon!
Just for fun, here's Carbon last week at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich rocking his Bavarian flag bandana. Tomorrow is our last day in Bavaria!
Luckily tomorrow I have a few hours in the morning to pack the car with the stuff I'm actually taking. I'm off to bed now in hopes that my brain will come back. Don't want to drive off and forget Carbon!
Just for fun, here's Carbon last week at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich rocking his Bavarian flag bandana. Tomorrow is our last day in Bavaria!
- Location
- Wellington, NZ
Oh look at the shininess, he's looking so handsome.
I hope you have a solid sleep and get the Tardis packed in record time tomorrow.
I hope you have a solid sleep and get the Tardis packed in record time tomorrow.
Good luck with everything tomorrow Carbon looks fantastic x
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
Good luck for tomorrow - interview - and safe travels x
We look forward to seeing you and Carbon in your orange beaded glory.
We look forward to seeing you and Carbon in your orange beaded glory.
- Location
- Argyll & Bute, Scotland
Travel safely, good luck to you both. xx
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
OK, didn't go to bed early as I started to freak out about only having one night booked. So now we're booked for Tuesday in a place called Tiefgraben ("Deep Ditch) which sounds scary but looks very cute.
An under 50EUR little studio with kitchenette and this time cows and horses involved. No alpacas but we'll see those at Gut Aiderbichl along with every other farm animal imaginable. Hopefully seeing an ostrich or llama up close and personal won't explode Carbon's mind too much. If I have any energy left, we'll hit Salzburg for an evening stroll.
NOW I really I am going to bed.
An under 50EUR little studio with kitchenette and this time cows and horses involved. No alpacas but we'll see those at Gut Aiderbichl along with every other farm animal imaginable. Hopefully seeing an ostrich or llama up close and personal won't explode Carbon's mind too much. If I have any energy left, we'll hit Salzburg for an evening stroll.
NOW I really I am going to bed.
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
That is such a gorgeous picture of Carbon Emily. Blue is definitely his colour!
Good luck with the trip, I am very much looking forward to reading about your adventures.
Good luck with the trip, I am very much looking forward to reading about your adventures.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Poor Carbon woke me up this morning with a mad licking sound. He's removed his bandage and 'cleaned' his wound, which is much worse for his attentions. So in addition to packing up the car, we're off to the vet as I don't trust my own ability to bandage it correctly with what I have. He also may need another antibiotic shot at this point...and dare I speak the dreaded word...maybe a horrible cone.
- Location
- Wellington, NZ
Oh my, that dog! Well, if he needs a cone then he needs a cone. Not an ideal start to the day but you'll get through it. Wishing you the best of luck for your interview this arvo xoxo
Atemas
UK Tour Guide
- Location
- North Cambridgeshire
Hope your day goes well @Emily_Babbelhund. Enjoying your post as you set off on your travels again. Safe journeys.
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
This is going to be short (maybe...probably not) but I wanted to try to write a bit about each of our days on the road so I don't forget our adventures. I'm using you all as motivation. Also if I disappear for a day or so, send out a virtual search party...ok?
Today was NOT an auspicious beginning. In fact, it was pretty pants! (Again, my favourite UK expression). My strategy was to get the car all packed and then take Carbon to the vet. Unfortunately despite me rebandaging his foot - or maybe because of it - he continued to madly lick. I tried to take him for his morning wee thinking that might distract him, but then he refused to use the leg at all and the leg was trembling. Not good.
I decided to take him to the 24 hour clinic recommended to me by the owner of the dog bakery. I figured if it was a large clinic and had emergency services, we'd be seen faster. The "new bum lady" is on holiday and the "old bum lady" was a guaranteed two hour wait at that time of the morning. So off to the clinic.
Lovely space, not terribly friendly receptionist, but who cares. Very promising as only TWO other dogs in the waiting area. In the places I've gone before locally, there are usually 5-10 people waiting to be seen. In Germany - at least here - it is first come first served, no appointments. So hey, I thought, only 2 ahead of us...that's great!
I sat on the floor and played games with Carbon to stop him from licking. The vet techs looked at me like I was nuts. First dog came out from the exam room. Fab! Only one to go. I remember that Carbon hasn't had a poo and ask the receptionist if we have time to pop outside for the call of nature.
"Sure, it'll be about 20 minutes more".
So we went out, came back in and waited. And waited. I asked the receptionist how much longer it would be (we'd been there about an hour at that point). "20 minutes". We waited 20 minutes. I asked her again. "20 minutes". We waited another 20 minutes. I asked her again. "20 minutes".
At which point I said, "You have GOT to be kidding me!" and I left.
And I put Carbon in the car and drove back to the mean bum lady. Who saw us after a...wait for it...20 minute wait! It actually turned out good because the mean bum lady was on holiday and there was a substitute vet there who was really good. Carbon's foot is slightly infected and split open again, so more antibiotic shots plus more wrapping plus metacam because he was in pain. Then she gave me a whole goodie bag so that I can dress and treat him myself on the road for the next week.
All that meant that I'd been driving to the vet or waiting for the vet for three hours. My hyper organised packing went out the window. I shoved everything into IKEA bags and dumped them into the car, then slapped two dog beds on top and told Carbon to hop on . The look on his face! He's used to the "comfort ride" version and he was NOT impressed with this lumpy mess.
There were a couple more errands - and a lot of frantic cleaning - in there as well. The upshot was that we didn't leave Regensburg until 3:30pm. I had to stop at 4pm to prep for my job interview, so I pulled over in a tiny little farming town where some guy kept driving by on his moped to check me out. Maybe they get a lot of serial killers in blue Honda Jazzes so it's his job to keep an eye out?
At 4:55pm I called into the meeting for my interview. At 5:05pm the hiring manager showed up. Turns out she had some shopping to do so was going to interview me and shop at the same time. This resulted in her line dropping four times as she went in and out of shops. It was painful. However, while I find combining shopping and interviewing job candidates to be a bit dodgy, she was very nice. Frankly by that point I just wanted it over so I barrelled on through, did my best and then said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" when it was all done.
End result: the hiring manager said she had two more candidates to interview so it may take a while to get back to me. Yeah, sounds a little "Thanks, we'll be in touch," huh? In any case, nothing more I can do now, so on with the Labratour: Homeless Edition.
It was dark by the time I got to my holiday apartment. The host was very nice, the place looks like it would reek of cigarette smoke (but it doesn't), there are are no double beds and the wifi has all the speed of jurassic 1997 dial up. Ah, the countryside! But it's safe and very clean and Carbon is very happy lounging on the sofa (trust me, he can't hurt it).
The kitchen is missing the basics of the basics and most of that stuff is in my car, but it is (1) VERY dark out there and (2) because I shoved everything in willy-nilly, I won't find anything until I've taken it all out and repacked.
So for tonight it's a bit like camping...but that's ok. I'll get into the groove again.
Tomorrow is the lakes near Salzburg and then Wednesday I think we'll make a mad dash to Venice for two days before the weekend hoards descend. Even midweek, Venice is horribly expensive, there is almost no availability and because of the dial up internet here, each page on the holiday website takes 3 minutes to load. Why did I want to go to Venice again?
Oh yeah...this!
OK, that's day one rant over and done. Hopefully tomorrow I'll find my camera somewhere in the car and it will be more travelogue than cry for help!
Today was NOT an auspicious beginning. In fact, it was pretty pants! (Again, my favourite UK expression). My strategy was to get the car all packed and then take Carbon to the vet. Unfortunately despite me rebandaging his foot - or maybe because of it - he continued to madly lick. I tried to take him for his morning wee thinking that might distract him, but then he refused to use the leg at all and the leg was trembling. Not good.
I decided to take him to the 24 hour clinic recommended to me by the owner of the dog bakery. I figured if it was a large clinic and had emergency services, we'd be seen faster. The "new bum lady" is on holiday and the "old bum lady" was a guaranteed two hour wait at that time of the morning. So off to the clinic.
Lovely space, not terribly friendly receptionist, but who cares. Very promising as only TWO other dogs in the waiting area. In the places I've gone before locally, there are usually 5-10 people waiting to be seen. In Germany - at least here - it is first come first served, no appointments. So hey, I thought, only 2 ahead of us...that's great!
I sat on the floor and played games with Carbon to stop him from licking. The vet techs looked at me like I was nuts. First dog came out from the exam room. Fab! Only one to go. I remember that Carbon hasn't had a poo and ask the receptionist if we have time to pop outside for the call of nature.
"Sure, it'll be about 20 minutes more".
So we went out, came back in and waited. And waited. I asked the receptionist how much longer it would be (we'd been there about an hour at that point). "20 minutes". We waited 20 minutes. I asked her again. "20 minutes". We waited another 20 minutes. I asked her again. "20 minutes".
At which point I said, "You have GOT to be kidding me!" and I left.
And I put Carbon in the car and drove back to the mean bum lady. Who saw us after a...wait for it...20 minute wait! It actually turned out good because the mean bum lady was on holiday and there was a substitute vet there who was really good. Carbon's foot is slightly infected and split open again, so more antibiotic shots plus more wrapping plus metacam because he was in pain. Then she gave me a whole goodie bag so that I can dress and treat him myself on the road for the next week.
All that meant that I'd been driving to the vet or waiting for the vet for three hours. My hyper organised packing went out the window. I shoved everything into IKEA bags and dumped them into the car, then slapped two dog beds on top and told Carbon to hop on . The look on his face! He's used to the "comfort ride" version and he was NOT impressed with this lumpy mess.
There were a couple more errands - and a lot of frantic cleaning - in there as well. The upshot was that we didn't leave Regensburg until 3:30pm. I had to stop at 4pm to prep for my job interview, so I pulled over in a tiny little farming town where some guy kept driving by on his moped to check me out. Maybe they get a lot of serial killers in blue Honda Jazzes so it's his job to keep an eye out?
At 4:55pm I called into the meeting for my interview. At 5:05pm the hiring manager showed up. Turns out she had some shopping to do so was going to interview me and shop at the same time. This resulted in her line dropping four times as she went in and out of shops. It was painful. However, while I find combining shopping and interviewing job candidates to be a bit dodgy, she was very nice. Frankly by that point I just wanted it over so I barrelled on through, did my best and then said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" when it was all done.
End result: the hiring manager said she had two more candidates to interview so it may take a while to get back to me. Yeah, sounds a little "Thanks, we'll be in touch," huh? In any case, nothing more I can do now, so on with the Labratour: Homeless Edition.
It was dark by the time I got to my holiday apartment. The host was very nice, the place looks like it would reek of cigarette smoke (but it doesn't), there are are no double beds and the wifi has all the speed of jurassic 1997 dial up. Ah, the countryside! But it's safe and very clean and Carbon is very happy lounging on the sofa (trust me, he can't hurt it).
The kitchen is missing the basics of the basics and most of that stuff is in my car, but it is (1) VERY dark out there and (2) because I shoved everything in willy-nilly, I won't find anything until I've taken it all out and repacked.
So for tonight it's a bit like camping...but that's ok. I'll get into the groove again.
Tomorrow is the lakes near Salzburg and then Wednesday I think we'll make a mad dash to Venice for two days before the weekend hoards descend. Even midweek, Venice is horribly expensive, there is almost no availability and because of the dial up internet here, each page on the holiday website takes 3 minutes to load. Why did I want to go to Venice again?
Oh yeah...this!
OK, that's day one rant over and done. Hopefully tomorrow I'll find my camera somewhere in the car and it will be more travelogue than cry for help!
- Location
- Malvern Worcestershire
Venice is heaven.
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
You don't do things the easy way Emily.
I hope you have a good night sleep before your drive x
I hope you have a good night sleep before your drive x
Emily_Babbelhund
Mama Red HOT Pepper
- Location
- Regensburg, Germany
Gotta agree that for someone who tries to be low-key, in reality I'm kind of a drama generator.