Tag Archives: travel

Boh of San Gimignano

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Boh the dog lounging poolside

“Boh!” is what the owner of our agriturismo replied when I asked what was the name of their resident dog. I didn’t think she meant “Bo” or “Beau”, just because of the way she said it: hands on her hips, a shrug, raised eyebrows and “Boh!” like she was spitting something. So I asked her what it meant exactly and it’s one of those sound-words, for lack of a better term, that means “I don’t know.” She wasn’t saying she didn’t know, she was saying his name is “Boh” and what it means is “I don’t know.”

Okay, I got it. And as the week went on, it was apparent the name fit him pretty well. But then, maybe not. One day during breakfast he pushed his way into our room, jumped on our bed and rolled around for a while (on top of my white t-shirt). Another time he borrowed my husband’s Costa del Mar sunglasses for a while and we eventually found them near his doghouse. Luckily they were inside their bullet-proof case and now the teeth marks it bears serves as a hilarious reminder.

Once after a long day of walking around Volterra, we returned to find Boh lounging poolside on a chaise (so much work to do, finding mischief among the guests, hanging around the kitchen, etc.). After a few minutes the resident one-eyed orange cat showed up and Boh just wasn’t having it, giving him the cold shoulder in stages.

Boh notices the one-eyed cat has arrived

Boh gives the orange cat the cold shoulder part one

Boh curls up into a ball, cat persona non grata

If you’d like to visit Boh (or the one-eyed orange cat), I must warn you to bring pants with an elastic waistband. Dinners at the agriturismo are served at a long table family-style where the food doesn’t stop coming, and they don’t take no for an answer (I’m not kidding). The owners are nice, they make their own products there (no, you don’t have to help) like olive oil, saffron, cheese and wine. So if you’re looking for one of those friendly places where you end up meeting a lot of great people from all over the world (the three wild girls from Poland who live in Canada, the mother and daughter from Hawaii, the water polo player and his medical student girlfriend from Milan, the Australian couple with the woman who worked on Happy Feet, you get the idea), this is one of them.

And of course there’s Boh. But I’m convinced he’s a lot smarter than he’s letting on.

Agriturismo signage and grape truck

Agriturismo information: Il Vecchio Maneggio, Loc. Sant’Andrea 22 – 53037 San Gimignano Italy. Tel & Fax: +39 0577 950232. E-mail: info@ilvecchiomaneggio.com

Via della Spiga

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Dog walker with 4 dogs on Via della Spiga in Milan

Everyone knows that Milan is Italy’s fashion capital. And Via della Spiga is Milan’s fashion location. One day as I was making my way from one end to the other while looking for the new Virginia Preo cashmere shop, this guy came zipping past with four dogs. I assume he was a professional dog walker, but then who knows? After all, I’ve been asked the same question myself. In any case, I immediately became the walker stalker and followed them. What a variety!

I suppose not a lot of women (or anyone really) would have abandoned Via della Spiga in Milan to follow a pack of briskly walking dogs. But in doing so I probably saved myself a lot of money! Well, I’ll just have to go back…

Dog walker with 4 dogs in sequence

How Technology Saves Dogs in China

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Zhang Xiaoqiu and his rescued dogs

Having Sirius radio in my car is wonderful, so much to choose from. But 95% of the time my station of choice is the BBC World Service and I just can’t get enough of it. Not only do I get to hear great stories and perspectives I would otherwise miss, I also get to avoid U.S. election year mud-slinging, toddlers in pageants and the Kardashians for a while. This story was so fantastic that I almost spun out of control when I heard it. Oh happy day.

Basically, in China they have their own rapidly growing version of Twitter called Weibo and this story was about how this amazing technology is creating enormous change within the country. They give five examples of how this is impacting lives and social issues, the first one being the story of animal activist Zhang Xiaoqiu and how he has started a movement to save dogs. Below is the text about Zhang Xiaoqiu from the BBC’s site, but you can find the entire technology story by correspondent Duncan Hewitt here. If you prefer to listen to the BBC’s audio, click here.

Zhang Xiaoqiu still remembers the date – 15 April 2011. It was when Weibo changed his life, and saved those of several hundred dogs. The Beijing-based businessman, originally from southern China, had always been an animal lover, but the news he heard via Weibo that day led him to take action.

Fellow internet users had spotted a truck on the motorway heading out of Beijing, loaded with dogs in tiny cages. This could only mean one thing – they were destined for restaurants in China’s north-east, where dog-eating remains more common than in many other parts of the country.

Pictures of the caged animals, posted on Weibo, soon attracted the attention of hundreds of thousands of people across China, and at least 100 animal lovers quickly answered an appeal to jump in their cars and block the truck’s path on the road.

Zhang was one of them. He and his wife arrived to find police and local government officials at the scene, and animal lovers attempting to persuade the truck driver to sell them the dogs.

Finally, after Xiaoqiu and other campaigners raised about £1,000 ($1,556), the driver agreed to drive the animals to the compound of the China Small Animals Protection Association (CSAPA) – the country’s only officially recognised animal rights NGO.

Today, Zhang is a volunteer organiser for the CSAPA. He says there has been a dozen more dog rescues over the past year or so, all organised online via Weibo.

“Each time someone will send out a message on Weibo and volunteers from all over the country will find out about it.

“They start to phone the company transporting the dogs, phone the police, phone the animal protection society and the government. It puts enormous public pressure on these people, so they really have no choice but to take action.”

Story text and photo from the BBC’s website.

Marta of Villa Antea in Florence

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Marta from Villa Antea, Florence, Italy

On a quick trip to Florence, Italy (I know…who makes a quick trip to Florence?) I stayed at a hotel called Villa Antea that I just happened to find by chance. When I checked in, hotel owner Diletta Lenzi’s little dog Marta was playing with some toys under the desk and of course immediately I felt right at home. Which is good because this hotel used to be the home of Ms. Lenzi’s family, going back to the late 1800’s when they built it. I’m thinking that hotels that have a dog on the premises should list it with their services as a benefit to travelers who miss their own dogs: “We offer laundry services, cable tv, wifi, room service and a dog.” Or something like that.

Villa Antea has a lot of other good things going for it. For one, it’s located in a regular neighborhood, not inside the crazy center of Florence but you can walk there in a few minutes. There’s also parking, which I was glad about since I had been driving all over the place in a little Fiat 500 and wanted to use my legs for a while. When staying there you can pretend that it’s your family’s home from the late 1800’s, the high ceilings and decor help that fantasy along. The rooms are spacious, the bathrooms are gigantic. They provide you with a helpful (and well designed, imagine!) little guidebook with local restaurants, bars, sights, bus info, etc. It’s not crazy expensive, which is a really good thing when it’s business travel and it’s your business. So I would highly recommend Villa Antea if you’re going to Florence and prefer a smaller well-appointed hotel. If you do make the trip, please tell Marta I said hello!

Villa Antea : Via Puccinotti 46, 50129 Firenze, Telephone +39 055.484106 http://www.villaantea.com/

Villa Antea, Florence, Italy

Alberto Garutti : ALL’APERTO

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Alberto Garutti : All'Aperto

“The dog portrayed here belongs to a Trivero family. This work is dedicated to them and the people who will talk about it as they sit here.”

In 2009 Italian artist Alberto Garutti created a permanent installation in the town of Trivero, Italy as his contribution to the Fondazione Zegna’s ALL’APERTO (OUTDOORS) project. The goal of the project is to make art accessible to the community, and Mr. Garutti chose to incorporate dogs (hooray!) of local families because, in his words: “Through dogs, you also speak about owners and families, whom they reflect. Dogs are also a great metaphor for art: they want to ‘socialize’ with everybody.” What a wonderful sentiment.

Alberto Garutti : Trivero

The photos above and this summary are taken from the project’s website:

“In order to map out the territory of Trivero, Alberto Garutti sought the collaboration of the teachers and local primary school fifth grade students. He asked the children to choose, describe and draw the town’s dogs: Eva, Pulce, Sbadiglio, Lampo, Ferro, Sissi and Otto, Luna…

This process enabled the artist to establish contact with the kids, their families, and the owners of the dogs, meeting, photographing and involving them in the realization of the project. The result is a public work that can be used (and ‘adopted’) by everyone.”

I especially love the last sentence, because it’s a perfect parallel to dogs in our lives. If you have a few minutes, watch Mr. Garutti in the video about the project. There are English subtitles: http://www.fondazionezegna.org/allaperto/en/garutti/video.html. And if you happen to find yourself way up in the north of Italy sometime, visit Trivero and experience the installation for yourself! It’s a beautiful part of Italy. But then, what part of Italy is not beautiful?

Porta Garibaldi to Sant’Agostino

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As Magnum P.I. used to say, “I know what you’re thinking and you’re right.”

This nice Italian gentleman and his dog do bear a striking resemblance to one another. But honestly, that wasn’t the first thought I had when they boarded this Milan Metro train one Saturday morning. I was more focused on how great it is that you can hop on the subway with your dog in Italy and everyone’s okay with it. Hmm. I offered my seat, but the man preferred to stand with his friend in his arms for the entire journey. So I sat there staring at this relaxed pup and reminiscing about the days when I used to commute into San Francisco from Oakland on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). The only dogs I ever saw on those trains were service-dogs-in-training, or dogs pretending to be service-dogs-in-training. And whether or not they really were service-dogs-in-training, they were wearing the service-dog-in-training cape. Everyone knows that cape means “Step off! Don’t give me any attention, don’t even think of petting me or saying silly stuff to me in baby voices.” Which is another thing Magnum P.I. used to say: “Don’t look at the dogs!”

I didn’t pet this dog or say silly stuff to him either, I was just glad he was out and about. He made a trip on a crowded subway train much more pleasant. Now that’s a service dog!

Roberto of Cozumel

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On a recent trip to Cozumel, we visited one of those really great but out-of-the-way beach restaurants with incredible fresh fish. At one point the resident pup Roberto showed up and the staff buried him in the cool sand up to his neck. Although there was a lot of laughing and giggling going on, this seemed to be Roberto’s thing and he loved it. Eventually a friend arrived but Roberto was able to emerge from his resting spot and get things sorted out, but not before all of the customers got dinner AND a show.