Southampton from the Queen Mary 2

If you've read my whole spiel about embarking in New York on the Queen Mary 2 for the dogs to stay in the kennels, then you'll know that I was worried about how our Southampton embarkation would work out.  Well, Southampton was a breeze!

Leaving Southampton

Pre-Arrival Tasks

Morning walk: Unlike embarkation on the New York side, Cunard does not give pet travelers early check in on the Southampton side.  But , it turns out that I actually preferred it that way.  We drove into Southampton and walked the dogs at around 12:00 in the afternoon at Green Park, which is directly off the A33.

Drop off rental car and provide luggage to porters:  Patrick dropped me and the dogs off at the Cunard terminal with our luggage and then drove to Hertz to drop off the rental car.  The rental car office is within 10 minutes of the Cunard terminal.

*Note: Please make sure that you set aside enough time to arrive at Southampton.  One family who was supposed to be on our ship with their dog planned to take the train from London to Southampton that morning.  Unfortunately, the train was delayed by almost three hours and they missed boarding and check in.  We stayed about an hour away from Southampton and drove in but there are plenty of lovely hotels right in Southampton where you can spend the night with your dog. 

Jojo, the kennelmaster, and three of Chewy's and Abby's playmates

At the Southampton Cunard Terminal

We arrived at the Southampton Cunard Terminal at around 1:00, which worked perfectly because the ship left port at around 5:00 p.m. 

The Southampton Cruise Terminal is a gorgeous light filled building in steel and gray.  We pulled our car around and the porters helped us take our luggage out and stack them in the various areas.  Unlike New York, the Southampton cruise terminal has a HUGE drop off area for cars so we didn't feel like we were being rushed.  In fact, we were even able to rearrange some of our luggage while the porter helped hold Abby.

I sat on the bottom floor with Chewy and Abby while I waited for Patrick to return from the car office.  The bottom floor is primarily a waiting area and very large, so, it is a good calm place to sit with your dogs if you need a few minutes to get reorganized.

Once Patrick arrived, we took the elevator upstairs.  (Most guests will take the escalators up to the second floor).  The second floor is spacious and brightly lit with plenty of seating.  Since we had the dogs, we went through the Cunard VIP line, where there was no wait, and they checked us into our stateroom very quickly.  We waited for Jojo, the Kennelmaster, to come and bring us up to the kennels.

. . . keep reading Queen Mary 2 Kennels: Southampton Embarkation after the jump

When we first set off on this big travel adventure with Chewy and Abby, we didn't know how much gear we would need or want.  In fact, the essentials boils down to a pretty short list which I've shared below.  When we take short trips with them, we usually dump all of this stuff into a standard school-size backpack or a duffle bag.  In Europe, we kept their stuff in a plastic bin so that it was separate from the rest of our things.  Either way, these are the essentials to keep your doggie happy while on the road.

In addition to the below, we also pack the following:

- Dog food
- Dog treats
- Pet passport and most recent vaccination records
- Collar with tags that list the dogs' names, international cell phone number, and e-mail address
- Benadryl for Abby's allergies and Glucosamine/Chondriton and Baby Aspirin for Chewy's arthritis

. . . keep reading A Dog's Round the World Packing List after the jump

Chewy, Abby, and me in Venice

We were told that Venice is one of the world's great pet-friendly cities because there are no cars.  Indeed, pets are everywhere in Venice, though it's primarily a small dog city.  We did a good bit of exploring with Chewy and Abby and we think they really enjoyed their time in the city of canals.

If you want a quick overview of our stay in Venice, check out this short video highlighting our trip with the pups in this beautiful city.

Train and parking lot

Arriving in Venice With Pets

Because cars are not allowed in Venice, there are only three main ways to bring pets into Venice:

(1) Park outside the city or in one of the city's parking lots and take the vaporetto (sea boat) or train

(2) Train into the city

(3) Fly into Venice and take a vaporetto (sea boat) or train

 

There are three main parking lots in Venice:

(a) Piazzale Roma: On the island of Venice, within a 10 minute walk to the Santa Lucia train station and vaporetto stop

(b) Tronchetto: On a separate island and you can take the People Mover into the island

(c) Mestre: On the mainland and about a 15 minute train ride into Venice

 

We decided to park in Mestre and found it to be very convenient with the dogs.  We parked for about 8 Euros per day, walked across the street, bought a ticket for us (4 Euros each) and a ticket for each of the dogs (2 Euros each), and waited for the train to Santa Lucia.  The train leaves every 10 minutes and the ride only takes about 15 minutes into the Santa Lucia train station, where it is very simple to take the vaporetto (or sea bus) to other areas.

Getting on a vaporetto with dogs

Getting Around Venice With Dogs

Once in Venice, the best way to get around is to walk or take the vaporetto.  The vaporetto is a sea bus which allows dogs, though dogs must be muzzled on board the vaporetto.  We never took Chewy and Abby on the vaporettos because they tended to be VERY crowded and neither of our dogs do well in crowds, but we saw other folks taking their dogs aboard the sea bus.  If your dog worries about crowds, then I would suggest trying to take the vaporetto either early in the morning or the middle of the day when crowds tend to be less.  Dogs travel free on the vaporettos.

  . . keep reading Pet-Friendly Venice with Go With Oh after the jump

Chewy at Roberto Ciulli Park

It has been far, far too long since I've updated this blog, not because of lack of posting material, but because we've been seeing and doing so much.  In the last two months, we've traveled like a whirlwind and the dogs have gone through towns, cities, and countryside.  But, back in October (yes, I know that was almost a year ago, now), we took the dogs to Tuscany and, one afternoon, we explored the Roberto Ciulli Park.

The dogs at Roberto Ciulli Park

. . . keep reading Pet-Friendly Tuscany: Roberto Ciulli Gardens after the jump

Piazza Navona

Ah, Rome . . . magical, wonderful, impossible to hate.  This was one of the cities we were most excited about traveling with Chewy and Abby because we knew that Rome is an incredibly pet-friendly city.  And, yes, it was!

Roman Nest Apartment

We LOVED our Rome apartment.  This gorgeous and spacious two bedroom and two bath apartment included a small kitchen, blazing fast Internet (a rarity in Italy), and a lovely small private garden which was perfect for early morning dog necessities and for us to eat lunch on sunny afternoons.  Surprisingly, there is free street parking right in front of the house so we were able to park our car for the entire stay and used the car to take the dogs to the park every morning (more on the park below.)

To get to the major tourist sites, we took the bus directly across the road from the apartment.  During peak hours, we usually didn't have to wait for the bus for more than five minutes and we were at Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori within 15 minutes.  In non-peak hours, the bus was not very frequent so keep that in mind when planning your schedule.  The house is a 10 minute walk to Vatican City or you can take the bus and be there in less than 5 minutes.  The metro is down the hill to the right hand side (a bit tricky to find the first time) but very convenient to get to the Colosseum and other major sites on the Metro line. 

Lastly, Maria and her husband were wonderful hosts and made us feel so welcome in our apartment.  They were so excited to meet the dogs and pet them and we absolutely loved staying at their place.  We highly, highly recommend this house as an excellent pet-friendly (and human-friendly) option in Rome.

 

. . . keep reading Pet-Friendly Rome: Apartment and Parks after the jump

Abby at Maksimir Park

Zagreb surprisingly feels more American than any other European city.  It has the big box stores, large parks, red-roofed houses, and big highways of most major U.S. cities.  And, like the Istrian peninsula, everyone in Zagreb has dogs.  This is a dog-friendly haven.  So, here are our best bets to make the most of your dogs' time in Zagreb:

Maksimir Park

Chewy and Abby at Maksimir Park

Maksimir Park is Zagreb's oldest park, founded in 1787, and a huge expanse of meadows, lakes, and woods.  Dogs are allowed everywhere in the park and most dogs are off-leash and on voice control.  It's a stunning place to spend an afternoon and Chewy and Abby loved meandering through the woods and fields. 

 

. . . keep reading Pet-Friendly Zagreb: Maksimir Park and Our Apartment after the jump

Chewy in Croatian woods

This week, we are heading into Turkey.  We'll be in Turkey and Greece for the next three months, visiting Istanbul, Cappadocia, Bodrum, and several of the Greek islands.  In Istanbul, Chewy and Abby will cross into their third continent and twelfth country; Greece with be their thirteenth country. 

These are places that Patrick and I have always wanted to visit.  We've heard from so many people that Turkey is their favorite country in the world and that the Greek islands are sensational.  I've been planning this segment for so long, excited and exuberant about these new places we're going to visit.  But, now as the time draws near for us to head into Turkey, all I can think to myself is, "Are we insane?"

You see, Turkey is notorious for its awful treatment of dogs.  Perhaps in part because the Q'uran considers dogs to be unclean animals, dogs are not often accepted as family pets.  I've heard reports of dogs chained outdoors in the blazing sun for days on end.  Apparently, wild dogs roam the streets in packs, occasionally terrorizing people, often being terrorized themselves.  There were, at one count, over 100,000 stray dogs in Istanbul and the government conducted a mass killing, feeding the dogs meatballs laced with strychnine.  More recently, they stuck many of the dogs into a truck and shipped them out to a nearby forest where they now roam, breed, and live in the wild, often being hunted by the other wild animals in that forest.

I've read message board posts of neighbors who have left poisoned meat or meat stuck with needles for stray dogs and their pets to eat, hoping that the dogs will die.  Humane societies are few and far between, crowded and packed with sick dogs, and there is supposed to be very little knowledge about spaying and neutering.

Abby in the sun

And, we're going to this place.  I'm a bit freaked out, to be honest.  We're in Bulgaria right now staying in a lovely fenced house with the untamed Greek/Turkish hills directly across from us.  Though this is a poor country, the dogs here are, for the most part, in good condition.  There are a few skinny strays here but, then again, there are skinny strays in every country, unfortunately.  We've barely put Chewy and Abby on a leash since we've come here because there are so few people and so much open space.  Abby, especially, loves being here: she lays in the sun, basking in the warmth, barking at the sheep and donkeys being herded down the hill, and eager to explore the hills everyday during our walk.

I don't know how I'm going to handle Istanbul.  We've been to a lot of countries where there are stray dogs --- India, Thailand, and South Africa, for example --- but I've never imagined the numbers that people tell me we're going to see in Istanbul.  In Asia, though there are strays, families and the temples will leave food for those animals and people generally ignore the strays.  I've never been to a place where people intentionally kill and harm stray dogs.

. . . keep reading The Are We Insane Moment after the jump

London Eye looking onto Houses of Parliament

London is one of the world's most visited cities and with the recent changes in DEFRA's PETS policy, I expect that many more doggie travelers will be visiting there.  This is our pick for favorite spots and activities with dogs in London.

Greenwich Park and Views

 

Views from Greenwich Park

Greenwich, famous for Greenwich Mean Time, is a green suburb of London proper and a great place to stay with dogs because of the abundant greenspace.  Greenwich Park is a particularly charming location with huge green expanses near the Greenwich Maritime Museum

                                                          Views from Greenwich Park (and Abby searching for squirrels)

The fantastic views are only part of the attraction because, at times, it seems like every dog in London ends up at Greenwich Park.  On Christmas Day, in particular, we noticed tons of doggies hanging out with their parents at the park.  Despite the large number of dogs, there's an equally large number of squirrels and Abby had a complete blast hunting for squirrels at the park.

Green Chain Walk

Entrance to one section of the Green Chain Walk

If you've only ever seen gray and gloomy pictures of London, you might be in for a bit of a (good) shock when you arrive because London is one of the greenest cities we've ever seen.

                                                                             Abby playing at one segment of the Green Chain

In Southeast London, the city has connected a network of parks and greenspace together to develop almost 50 miles of green walking space!  We spent a lot of time wandering through the parks that make up the Green Chain and loved having this bit of countryside freshness in the midst of one of the world's largest cities.

 

. . . keep reading Pet-Friendly London: Apartment and Parks after the jump

Views of the Peak District

The Peak District is a gorgeous area of northern England, often used in filming movies such as Pride and Prejudice and The Princess Bride.  We loved our two week stay in this emerald green part of the country and found it very pet-friendly, as well.

The Hayloft Cottage

Views of the Hayloft Cottage

We stayed in the charming Hayloft Cottage near Bakewell, which was a comfortable and well-equipped small cottage, with an open floor plan, new furnishings, a spacious kitchen, excellent underfloor heating (perfect for chilly nights), and fast WiFi.

 Views from the Hayloft Cottage

Best of all, Chewy and Abby loved running and playing in the huge green (and sometimes snowy white) yard with views onto the Peak District.

Monsal Trail

Monsal Trail

The Monsal Trail is an old railway that has been converted into an 8.5 mile walking and biking path.  It is mostly paved and flat, making it the perfect place for children and not-too-surefooted dogs to roam.

. . . keep reading Pet-Friendly Peak District: Cottage and Walks after the jump

Today is the halfway point of our fourteen-month European trip.  In the last seven months, we have spent 3 months in England, 3 weeks in Spain, 2 weeks in France, 1 1/2 months in Italy, 3 days in Switzerland, and 1 month in Croatia, with numerous day-long stops in between.

And, here's the amazing part: Chewy and Abby have been everywhere with us. They've stayed in hotels, motels, resorts, apartments, converted farm houses, traditional homes, bed and breakfasts, and a few dog kennels. We've lived in an olive grove in Tuscany, a condominium in Cannes, across from sheep and horses in England, within five minutes of the beach in Barcelona, and in a tiny village in snowy Switzerland.

Nowadays, nobody really cares much about what Patrick and I are doing.  Those once-asked questions about how we make an income, keep ourselves occupied, and what we see, are not all that interesting (except to UK customs agents.)  No.  The question everyone wants answered is this one:  what is it really like roadtripping across Europe with two dogs?

The easy answer is that it's wonderful.  Plain, gosh darn wonderful.  I can't imagine anything better than traveling with them.  But, of course, that's not the whole answer --- or even an adequate answer to such a complex question.  So, let's get right to it.

What is it really like roadtripping across Europe with two dogs?  Traveling with two dogs across Europe means:

• Realizing that the best cure to jet lag is Chewy growling promptly at 7:30 a.m. local time for his breakfast, regardless of timezones.
• Challenging every assumption about how other cultures treat animals because every Croatian we meet has at least one well-loved dog.
• Limiting our sightseeing days to six hours --- even when we'd love to hop from museum to museum --- because we need to come home and take the dogs out.
• Falling asleep to the steady sound of Abby's breathing.

 

. . . keep reading The Unvarnished Truth on Travel with Pets after the jump

Cotswolds village

After our seven days on the Queen Mary 2 and few days at a hotel in the New Forest, we were thrilled to pull into the beautiful Cotswolds.  The Cotswolds are essentially a string of tiny villages set amidst lakes, fields, and forests about two hours north of London.  The dogs LOVED spending time there and so did we.  In this post, I'll describe our accommodations and a few favorite walks and attractions in the Cotswolds.

Vacation Rental: Little Stalls in Kemble near Cirencester, England

Little Stalls at Kemble

We were spoiled for choice in the Cotswolds.  There were no shortage of pet-friendly accommodations, some with or without Internet, some with fenced in yards and some without.  Most were in rural locations, which suited us perfectly.  We opted for Little Stalls in Kemble because the house looked cute and the price was quite reasonable.  The house was small with a tiny kitchen in which we heated up prepared meals bought at a nearby Waitrose, a comfortable little living room, and a small bedroom and bath.  Despite its tiny size, it suited us perfectly because it was clean, had a fantastic walk through wheat fields just outside the door and a fenced-in yard for the dogs.  We were a five minute drive from the amazing Cotswolds Water Park and within an hour to most of the major attractions in the area, including Stratford upon Avon.

The only negative to this house is that it has no internet access and we were unable to get a cell signal either (though we did get cell access if we walked away from the house.)

 Westonbirt Arboretum

Westonbirt Arboretum is one of the most beautiful parks in England with a lovely long trail to take off-leash dogs (as long as they are under voice control).  Though they charge admission, you can easily spend most of the day at the arboretum, meandering through the huge trees and flowers.

. . . keep reading Pet Friendly England: Cotswolds Walks and House after the jump

Abby and Chewy with the London skyline

The new year has come and gone and we are still traveling with Chewy and Abby.  This week, we were getting organized to take them with us to Eastern Europe and we realized that the dogs have way more than we do.  In particular, we are carrying a lot of dog food and dog treats --- around 400 pounds of dog food and 50 pounds of dog treats.  A little ridiculous, right?

Of course, we could buy Pedigree dog food in Croatia and Turkey because it seems to be a universally available brand.  But, we prefer to feed Chewy and Abby the super-premium Orijen brand food for a few reasons: (1) Abby is an extremely picky eater and will refuse food for days on end if it isn't a brand she likes (yes, I know that we probably shouldn't tolerate this behavior but she's been like this since she was a puppy); (2) Chewy stays on the slim side which is good for his arthritis when we feed him a high protein, low carbohydrate food; and (3) their skin and fur are so soft and silky since we switched over to Orijen.  Now, there's a lot of debate as to whether ultra-premium foods are worth the cost (and, in our case, hassle) but we're trying our best to stick to feeding them Orijen throughout the year.

Chewy and Abby tearing up their Christmas presents

In the United States and Europe, we can find Orijen pretty easily in large cities such as Atlanta, London, and Rome.  But, it can be a hassle trying to find stores that stock it which is why we almost always purchase their dog food online.

Frankly, I think online pet food stores are one of the best inventions on the internet.  Instead of lugging heavy bags of food from the store into the car into the house, when we use an online pet store, the food arrives neatly packaged on our front doorstep, usually at less cost we would have paid at the store.

In Europe, we use the fantastic Zooplus.  I love this company.  They offer free shipping in England and several other countries, including France and Italy, through affiliate sites.  They ship to 14 countries in Europe, don't require an English bank account because you can pay with an ordinary credit card, and the food and treats are substantially cheaper than those we find in the store.  For example, we can buy a Super Saver Pack of Rocco's Chings Chicken treats (Abby's favorites) for about a quarter of the price that we found in Pets at Home (the UK equivalent of Petsmart/Petsupermarket).  The food always arrives promptly and within a week and we have been incredibly happy in using Zooplus.

In the United States, a new company called Mr. Chewy has adopted the Zappos model --- free shipping on orders above $49 in the United States, 365 day returns, and online customer service.  First and foremost, I LOVE Mr. Chewy's name --- but, then again, that could be because it reminds me of my Chewy!  Their site is very easy to navigate and they offer the best selection of premium dog food I've seen on the Internet, including hard-to-find brands like Orijen, Stella & Chewy, Merrick's Before Grain, and The Honest Kitchen.  Patrick and I totally want to order this Kobe Master Beef Canned Dog food that we found on Mr. Chewy's site!  Of course, they also have Pedigree and Science Diet and every other brand that you can think of so no matter your budget, Mr. Chewy has something for your dog.  And, if you're still not convinced, head over to their Facebook page where people are RAVING about how much money Mr. Chewy saves them each year.

And . . . I'm giving away a $50 gift certificate to Mr. Chewy! 

All you have to do is head over to Mr. Chewy, look through their site, and leave a comment in the Rafflecopter letting me know what you would order with your $50.  You can get additional entries by tweeting this contest and liking this blog post or liking us on Facebook.  (This is my first time using Rafflecopter so hopefully this will work out well.) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Chewy anxiously awaiting disembarkation

We thought that disembarkation from the Queen Mary 2 would be as stressful and long as embarkation so we prepared all our bags well ahead of time, organized all the puppy stuff, and got to the areas needed as early as possible.  In fact, disembarkation was a snap.  Here’s what we did:

Night before, set luggage outside

The night before disembarkation day, we --- along with all of the passengers onboard the Queen Mary 2 --- left our luggage outside our stateroom with tags attached which listed the priority in which we would disembark.  Because we had the dogs, we were given the highest priority to disembark (yay for dogs!).  We kept a disembarkation bag with clothes for the morning, a water bowl for the dogs, and our electronic equipment.

7:00 a.m. breakfast

We woke up early and ate breakfast at the Kings’ Court

7:30 a.m. meet at kennels

At 7:30 a.m., we met everyone else up at the kennels.  We took the dogs out, let them do their business, and waited until Rex was ready for us to disembark.

Note:  Normally, DEFRA arrives at the QM2 early in the morning to go through all the dogs’ paperwork and scan their microchips but DEFRA is scaling back their operations over this coming year.  DEFRA is now planning on only personally checking 30% of the dogs that enter England via the QM2, meaning that on the vast majority of the cruises, you won’t need to go through any inspection of the paperwork except for what the QM2 steward checked on embarkation day.  Our cruise was the first ever that DEFRA did not personally visit.  Normally, the DEFRA inspection takes about 30 minutes to an hour.

 

8:00 a.m. disembarkation

Disembarkation was a snap.  (Customs/immigration is done during the week for all cruise passengers so we did not need to go through customs/immigration in Southampton.)  As soon as we gathered, Rex led us down the elevators and through the halls to the exit area where we were among the first off the ship. 

The dogs walking off the boarding area

In fact, I think Chewy was the actual first passenger off the ship! 

. . . keep reading queen mary 2 kennels: disembarkation after the jump