Zoomba part 10: Home, really, now (EN)

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Well, we had just three full days here, and needed to be in Alicante early Sunday morning to catch our flight to Rotterdam, so we had to leave Saturday afternoon. And guess what? Saturday morning the RCD was dried out sufficiently to let us have power! Well, at least that allowed us to have a vacuum clean session.

And we need to make sure the house stays better ventilated when locked up. The cellar now has a big opening to the kitchen, so damp air from below enters the house. Not good. But we want the electricity to be completely shut off while not there, so we can't use the ventilator that is there now. Perhaps install a small solar cell powered fan, next time.

Pack the car, lock up the house, switch off the power and water, off we go. The hotel is on one side of the highway, so we need to drive 10 km past it, and then turn. Nice room, huge bed. Can't hear the traffic, good.

Dinner. But, Zoomba has a big preference for lying on the bed, which even in dog-friendly hotels is not "done". As a test we lock her up in her bench, and leave the room. We stay behind the door to hear what will happen. And yes, a short bark, followed by some wailing. Hm. Enter room, just to show we're still here, but ignoring her. Repeat exit. Again, "WoOoo!". Damn. Another short entering of the room, just to show we're still around, and exit. "WoOooOo!" This time we decide to give it a few minutes, or else have dinner separately. And she shuts up.

Well, even though it is not very relaxed, with a locked up dog, we need to eat. The restaurant turns out to be a big self-service canteen. You should not order lamb chops in such a place, but burgers and fries. However, we were being posh, and had them anyway, with a small bottle of rosé. The fries were okay, but the rest was not. Make up with a chocolate pie and coffee.

In France you often get the most vile and bitter coffee, we've never had bad coffee in Spain yet. Every "café solo" was good, and here, too.

We let Zoomba out of her prison, put the old sheet on the bed, and had a warm little dog curled (see pic above) up between our feet. Just this once, then...

"We have forgotten something."
"hm?"
"We forgot to actually close the gas bottle downstairs."
"HM!"
The bottle is outside the house, but still, not a comfortable feeling. We must ask V&W to shut the bottle, and tell them where the key of the locker is.

Breakfast is take-away, too. A croissant, a cake and something apple-y. Sweet? "My dentist is rich."

Off to the airport. Checkin. and get a sticker for the bench. You then deliver your dog and bench to a special office, where they will scan the bench for hidden "merchandise", as we were told by a friendly fellow passenger with same bench, and quiet dog, that Zoomba was quite not in like with. (WOOF WOOF! Grr! etc.) Best you are with two people, one staying behind with luggage, the other taking care of checking in the dog, as you are scanned as with regular security. Then you lock up the Zoomba, and you are off shopping. Well, actually you only hand in your dog just prior to boarding, as to have her in strange hands as short as possible.

The quiet dog was quiet because he was on half a pill, his owner confessed. But, the airline tells you not to, because a dog may seem quiet, but isn't. And may not be able to control his body temperature well.

And once boarded the plane you must check that your pet was actually put on board with the purser. She was there, and Zoomba, too.

Rotterdam. You oldfashionedly get off the plane with stairs, and then must board a bus that will transport you the remaining 100 meters to the arrival. There you must wait behind a glass door, watching the plane, and seeing the luggage and dogs being unloaded. Ah, there she goes! And there she is! Eager to get out of the bench, but we'll only do that outside the terminal building. That strip of green may have been the first actual grass she had under her feet.

The one hour drive was okay, with a Zoomba that needed to sit on your lap to have a better view of the outside world.

At home she sniffed around, while we pointed out where her cushion and basket were. Try the garden? Why not. Open garden door, let Zoomba out, see Zoomba fly over the fence after the third neighbour's cat. "Woof woof!" (Zoomba) "Scream! Scream! Yell!" (neighbour woman).

This was rather undesired behaviour, apart from getting rid of the cat, as this dog has no notion of traffic, roads, cars, so this is potentially lethal. We found her on the pavement. So, no free reign garden for you, unfortunately. Bloody cat.