Tuscany with Dog – Part 2
On Friday evening, shortly before 20 p.m., Jule, Michael and the three dogs reached their friends in Munich. The dogs are pretty exhausted and the two hamburgers decide that the four-legged friends will only get a small snack of dried chicken fillet. There's a small meadow nearby - nothing to run around in, but Lancy, Sunny and Luna aren't in the mood for that anyway.
March 23rd: Munich is reached
Charly treats us to hot cheese sausages and mashed potatoes. Not only are the dogs exhausted from 800 kilometers, we also just want to go to bed.
March 24th: 2nd stage
Shortly after half past eight we are “on the road again”. The Easter holidays have begun in Bavaria and we have the feeling that the whole of Munich is heading south. Stop and go! But we remain calm. After all, we're on vacation. We have a good 700 kilometers ahead of us! Shortly before half past twelve we reached the Austrian border. After 20 kilometers we take our first break. The dogs are happy: sniffing, loosening up and thirsty. We continue with a cappuccino to go. Half an hour later we pay the toll for the Brenner and just before half past twelve we reached Bella Italia. We take a break around 14:00 p.m. The thermometer shows 15°, the sun is shining and we are slowly getting into the holiday mood.
When we are back in the car the navigation system shows: 419 kilometers to Terricciola! We take a final break around four. The dogs obviously don't feel like it anymore and don't jump into the car as happily as usual. But with a little persuasion they get on board. It takes us almost two and a half hours to cover the last 160 kilometers - even though there isn't really much traffic. We got lost in the last few meters. Instead of Terricciola, we only entered the zip code into the navigation system. So we end up in a neighboring village, on a street with the same name. We call Elisa, who explains to us that the villages in the area all have the same postal code and that we “terricciola“ have to enter. Ten minutes later we finally reached our destination after almost ten hours.
Now it's time to unpack, feed the dogs and freshen up something, because Elisa and Davide have invited us to a welcome dinner in the restaurant. Our apartment in the “Holiday Home In Tuscany“ is a dream, we immediately feel at home. The dogs sniff their food but don't seem to have an appetite. The two days in the car probably weren't quite to her liking after all. They get back into the car somewhat listlessly and we follow Davide to the restaurant. A great shop: with an open fire over which the meat is roasting on a grill. We sit at a long table with Elisa's parents Irene and Roberto, their children, Alessandro and Matteo, and their friends Francesca and Michele. We have arrived in Italy. The landlady prepared two blankets and bowls of water for the dogs - very thoughtful. The dogs are exhausted and the oldies fall asleep on the spot. Luna is a little unsteady and has to sit on her owner's lap. The food is amazing! A variety of antipasti misti (for carnivores and vegetarians), spaghetti al ragú di Chianina, 2 x 2-kilo rump steaks with bones, various side dishes, dessert. Back at InToscana we fall into bed dead tired!
March 25th: The vacation can begin | Holiday home Tuscany with dog
We slept for more than ten hours straight. Sunny is restless, so she quickly puts on some clothes and goes out with the old lady. The leaders are running after them. It's cool, but the sun is shining from a blue sky. I can hardly remember the cold in Hamburg! Once again, Luna has nothing on her mind other than playing ball and runs around in the grass damp from the morning dew. InToscana's huge garden is fully fenced, so I don't have to worry. We also packed plenty of dog bags - so everything was fine. When we got back to the apartment, Michael had already made tea for me. Of course I only thought about my tea and didn't pack any filter bags or coffee. After the first cup of tea, we quickly take a shower and head to the village.
There's already a lot going on in the narrow streets of Terricciola on Sunday morning. Only narrow sidewalks and busy car traffic. So we better keep the dogs on a leash. After a few questions - Michael has learned a little Italian - we found the café, sat outside in the sun and enjoyed cornetti (that's what the croissants are called here) with salami, panini and cappuccino. There is a lot going on in the streets here and our three dogs attract a lot of attention. But not like in Hamburg, where you are often looked at askance with just one dog. I don't understand much, but apparently all of our dogs love it here!
We spend the rest of the day doing nothing. The dogs are slowly getting to know their way around, have already found their favorite places and know the way to the garden. Luna is the first to go down independently. Lancy stays close to me. Everything goes peacefully with Elisa's children and the children of other guests, but Luna found it fun to bark at Matteo. When Matteo dares to respond with a loud “Ugh” for the first time, the fronts are clearly settled. Diego – apparently a shepherd mix – lives with his people in the apartment next door. At the first meeting I give out a round of treats. Eating together makes friends! So that would also be clarified: Diego can pass!
Doing nothing makes you damn hungry. At least for us Twolegs. The dogs are just sniffing their food again and Sunny takes a few bites, but the top ones act as if I had served them the last of the crap. We go to the village again. Destination: pizzeria. A small shop with only a few tables, but at this time of day life is raging here. The dogs seem welcome, actually very welcome, because a bowl of water is immediately there for them. The pizza maker comes out of the kitchen and feeds some ham to our four-legged companions. We've come to the right place and the Prosciutto pizza is exactly what we need right now. The way back is less strenuous, it goes downhill. It's just before ten, but the dogs are just as exhausted as we are from doing nothing and we fall into bed dead tired again today.
March 26th: First do some shopping
Slept for ten hours straight again! So quickly get out into the garden with the dogs. I forgot my dog bag, so I have to search the meadow again afterwards. Sunny's digestion makes me add chicken and rice to the shopping list. So it wasn't the food - the long journey somehow upset the three of them. Michael got cornetti, butter, mocha and cream cheese. Together with the welcome package, which also contains delicious Italian cold cuts, we can have breakfast in the sun on “our” front door for the first time! Diego comes over and I buy another round of dried chicken fillet. The friendship is slowly but surely sealed.
Shopping is the order of the day today. In addition to filter coffee for Michael, chicken and rice are at the top of the list. While Michael is at the supermarket, I sit in front of it with the dogs in the sun. When we get back, Elisa explains to us that we bought mocha. Not exactly the right thing considering Michael's constant coffee consumption! Irene invites us for a coffee, i.e. an espresso – I get milk with it! So strengthened we set off again. In another supermarket we actually find filter bags and American style coffee powder! And Michael even discovers naturally cloudy apple juice for my apple spritzer!
In the afternoon I cook chicken and rice for the dogs. Sunny is moderately enthusiastic, but eats a little. The tip just sniffs. I'm starting to get worried. I'm already thinking about how Alessandro will help me as an interpreter at the vet. Elisa has reserved a table for us that evening in a restaurant that doesn't actually allow dogs. We are immediately recognized and - as requested - given a table a little away, where the dogs are out of the way and have peace and quiet. You can't really speak of peace, because a child's birthday is being celebrated in the next room. The restaurant is already busy and we watch the hustle and bustle at the neighboring tables with fascination. Our dogs experience the same enthusiasm here and the obligatory bowl of water is immediately there. We order a small starter and pasta and drink a cappuccino for dessert, which now outs us as “Tedesco” – Germans! We are back at InToscana around 22 p.m. and the dogs actually go to the bowls of chicken and eat a little. And we fall into bed dead tired again.