Vacay debrief

I'm back at home after a largely lovely vacation in Abruzzo. Lorenzo and I are still working on finding a way to travel -- a "holiday formula," if you will -- that will give us (and our dogs) a reliably satisfying vacation. I would say that our attempt this year, while far from perfect, was our most successful yet. I'd just like to remind my readers that we've been married 10 years. It takes the time it takes!

As I mentioned in my last post, traveling with dogs is inherently limiting. Unless one has a private plane, traveling with two dogs (one medium-sized and one large) usually means that wherever you go, you have to get there by car.

Have you seen my dogs yet? No??

Here they are, in the car on our way down to Abruzzo:

The larger one on the left giving me side-eye is Greg. The trip to Abruzzo was 7 hours and this photo was taken at about the 4-hour mark. Disapproval noted, Greg. The one on the right is Viola. She looks demure here, but she can be quite domineering. We often refer to her as "la strega," which means "the witch." I am beginning to think we need to stop that, though, because it's insulting to witches. Greg's nickname is "Booh-bah," which means nothing but says everything about his personality. Lorenzo also calls Greg "il patatone," which literally means "the big potato." So, you get the idea. Now you know my dogs.

Greg and Viola were both strays in Sardegna before they came to us, so the first chapters of their life stories are most probably pretty sad. They don't like to talk about it much. 😉 Greg has been with us 5 years, but we think he's at least 10. Viola has been with us 2 years, and we guesstimate her age at around 5. At the very least, we know that Greg is in the grey-hair-arthritis-and-frequent-peeing stage of life, while Viola is still sleeping through the night, chasing lizards in the yard and flirting shamelessly with the neighbor dog, Achille. So, finding a vacation rental that makes them both feel at home, comfortable, and entertained is a challenge.

The apartment in the farmstead we found in Abruzzo had a yard. With lizards for Viola. With shade to nap in for Greg. With farm cats for both of them to bark at! We hit the motherlode, in other words.

The apartment itself was not tiny. It had a big, comfortable double bed (we Americans would call it a Queen) PLUS a single bed for the dogs to sleep on, a sitting area with two chairs, a kitchen with a dining table that fit 4, and a bathroom. 

There was also a vegetable garden down the hill from our apartment, where we could pick fresh veggies and herbs at will. On the way down to the vegetable patch was a cute little pool, and chaise lounges for sunbathing. We spent most of our time at the beach, but it was nice to have the pool option when we wanted a quick dip.

The place sounds pretty good, right? Now, for the downsides.

There were no creature comforts. No dishwasher. No washing machine. The shower curtain was about 10 inches too short, so water sprayed all over the bathroom when we showered. The furniture was a mishmash of grandma's leftovers, and thrift store finds. We did not have a change of linens, and there was no cleaning service (see above: no washing machine).

There was also no air conditioning. I imagined this would be a much bigger problem than it really was, thankfully. The hill-top position of the farm plus the sea breeze kept the place very comfortable. But the other large appliances were sorely missed. It may be shallow of me to say it, but the thing I missed the most was a washing machine...and a vacuum cleaner. And if I want to be REALLY honest...I missed a housekeeping service to use said washing machine and said vacuum cleaner. I "cleaned" several times during our vacation, and we did laundry by hand pretty much every night. There was a fair amount of muttering through gritted teeth going on. I hope my descant of "this is not a vacation, this is camping with plumbing" was drowned out by the sounds of my scrubbing and sweeping. I wasn't always the sunniest of vacationers while I was in the apartment, but the fresh (cheap!) fish, the gorgeous sunsets on the beach, and the late night strolls with gelato in hand always cheered me up quickly.

So, I guess the bottom line is that I love Abruzzo, but the apartment I found worked best for the furriest among us. I would like to find a place that has a similar set-up for them, but is less rustic and more conveniently furnished. At the very least, I will know to bring more things with me if we ever go back to that particular place. A second set of sheets, and towels, for example. And maybe a vacuum cleaner! 

The search for the perfect vacation continues...maybe we'll have it all figured out before our 20th wedding anniversary!