We’re Home
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
We did it! We bought a car, ferried to Ireland, collected all the animals and ferried back to Portugal. We drove 9 hours and sat on the ferry for 32 hours each way. It was a long trip for very little time in Ireland, but we completed it successfully.
We travelled on the Salamanca with Brittany Ferries from Bilbao to Rosslare and back. Ferry travel is incredibly relaxing. There was no fuss at passport control, and security was just a brief glance into our boot before we boarded the ferry. If only air travel were as easy! On the way back, we had a pet-friendly cabin. The only differences were the floor was lino rather than carpet and the pet-friendly cabins had direct access to the dog-walking deck. The cabins were en suite - towels, soap and shower gel were provided and we had a tv. Really, we had 32 hours to relax, watch on-demand movies, eat at restaurants and drink at the bar. It was lovely.
Loki was a little freaked out but settled down about halfway through the journey. The dogs were mostly fine. Banjo is a bit of a scaredy-cat (a complete understatement), so he needed to sleep as close as physically possible to me to get through the night. Tilly was just happy to be with us. I don’t think she noticed the ferry at all.
In the car, we had Loki in a big crate with a litter tray and blanket. He didn’t use the litter tray at all in the 9 hours. He did use it on the ferry though, thankfully!
The one thing I’d bring on the ferry next time is a change of shoes for inside the cabin. The dog-walking deck is rinsed down regularly, but you’re sure to tread in pee sooner or later, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone told me every single dog had marked the corridor outside the cabins at one point or another. It was pungent!
Also, I experience motion sickness and I found it was significantly worse on Deck 8 and below. My saving grace was my accu-pressure wristbands. They work. They didn’t get rid of the motion sickness completely, but enough so that I could enjoy the journey.
We have been back in our new apartment for just over two weeks and everyone has settled in nicely. I can't believe it’s only been two weeks actually! It feels much longer. The animals recognised all their stuff immediately, so they settled in right away. Most surprisingly, Loki didn’t even hide and we were able to let him outside in just a couple of days. - We have moved homes with Loki twice before and we knew that if he recognised his stuff, he was probably safe to go outside and he would probably return. Despite this, we were nervous, because the recommendation is to keep cats in a new home indoors for a few weeks. We knew the risks but were confident enough that it would be fine. If the cat were being rehomed to a completely new house and family, I would never take such a risk. The recommendation in that situation is to keep them indoors for 6 weeks. That applies to my fosters, too!
They’re here, they’re safe and they’re happy! This apartment really and truly feels like home now. I knew we were just missing the bubs.
“And one more thing!” - (Can anyone name the tv show and character?) - I didn’t know anything about Bilbao before this trip, but it is a beautiful, clean, architecturally intriguing city, surrounded by lush mountains. I highly recommend a visit if you have the opportunity!
Now on to making friends and securing an online English teacher job!
Happy Wednesday!
