Travel travel travel

Hello again, here is another travel adventure.

Chris tells me that Hapoo has gone on long travels, but not so many in a row.

So one morning Chris gut up early. I am usually not very fond of motion in the house too early, so she leaves me alone. But as I settle near the apartment door, she calls me to the livingroom bed, where I settle and stay. Chris runs around, does a few things, packs more things into the bag, then picks up my flexible leash and we go outside for the morning walk. It is so quiet outside. Chris hears a few cars passing by and thinks she heard the taxi pull up by the apartment. So she hurries me on the last bit of the walk. There is the driver, I hop into the back, an open trunk, and Chris gets in in the passenger seat. The driver gives her time to wake up, and soon they chat about this and that. He offers to take her home the next day when we return, and Chris decides to accept that offer, because he is a nice man. He is very polite, helps Chris gather her things and pick me up, and then walks us to the platform. Our train is waiting, so he even helps Chris find a seat and then leaves. Once again I plop down and stay there until Chris moves to leave the train. When she does I am wide awake and present and want to run to the door. But I also wait when there are people ahead of us, of course.

 

A service man greets us. He is fun, he hums and whistles songs and is cheerful. He helps Chris pick up something for breakfast, and the bakery lady is cheerful, too. Then we wait on a platform until a train arrives a little late. That is the train on which we stay for a long time, I know. And when we finally leave, I walk along the platform and stop at a staircase. A lady tells Chris that there's a staircase, but Chris tells me to go on straight, so I do. At the end of the platform a man greets Chris. He takes us to another taxi, and then we are at the entrance to the offices. I recognize it and take Chris there on my own. We wait at the bottom of the stairs, and Chris takes the opportunity to put me on flexible leash.

 

Soon a lady comes walking down the stairs, gives Chris a big hug and talks and talks. of course she admires me, and we go on a nice long dog walk. The lady says she notices that I am younger than Hapoo by the way I explore and am lively. Aha, so she knew Hapoo, interesting!

 

When we aare back inside the building, Chris picks up a visitor's ID and then all the three of us go to a meeting room. When the door opens a lady and a man come out and the lady tells Chris it is nice to meet her. Chris asks who she is, and when she finds out she is really happy, for the two have been exchanging emails back and forth for a while.

 

Then we go into the meeting room, and soon other people arrive. I recognize Martina, the wonderful Martina, who sits beside me, and the nice other lady named Birgit is on the other side. Chris puts me under the table, and I stick my nose between the two table legs to watch the outside world, or alternatively put it on the shoe of Birgit, who finds it incredibly cute. Hey, even dogs need pillows, don't they?

 

When the talking is over, Chris gets hugs from Martina, and Birgit, whom Chris calls a real jewel, walks with us to the place where we have stayed before. I know it, I know my way around.

 

Chris does, too, and so when we are inside the room she unpacks a little, jumps into the shower, stretches out and takes  nap and discovers the small balls are flying again. O help, do the small tennis balls follow us everywhere? She watches until she receives a call from somebody. She slowly gets ready and puts me on short leash. Outside in the lobby we find one lady who had also attended the meeting, and another one Chris is happy to meet. I don't know her, and she hasn't seen Hapoo either. We walk a little and end up in a human food place called restaurant. There I lie between two tables, have the offered water, go to sleep and leave Chris talking with the two others. Chris says she has really enjoyed that evening with food and great conversations. Afterwards I get my share of a good night, we walk along a nice route for quite a while until we are back at the place. The lady who hadn't shared the meeting experience disappears quickly, but Chris and the other one end up talking in the hallway. That takes so long that I settle in the middle and relax, until Sarah gives me another big cuddle and Chris finally takes me to the room, although I want to make sure the pack is together and follow Sarah to hers.

 

Chris sleeps like a log until the chime of an incoming text message wakes her up. She says Marian from back home is a great friend, he always texts when Chris is travelling to see how we are doing, despite his general fear of dogs. Hapoo used to call him the furniture man, why I don't know, because he doesn't look like furniture at all.

 

Another shower for Chris, a bit of watching TV, and then it's breakfast time. There is the lady in the office, and Chris presents her with a huge box of chocolate that says "Merci" on it, which is another way of saying thank you she explains. And she says she really needs to thank the people for all their kindness. The lady helps Chris find her breakfast, and then a man arrives, and Chris invites him to sit at our table, provided my company doesn't disturb him. The disappeared lady re-appears and joins us, and then comes yet another man. So when Sarah arrives she has to sit at another table beside us.

 

We don't stay in our room for long, Chris does a few final things and then the coach arrives, the quiet lady who helps Chris understand routes. We start walking the route to the offices again, with my free run on the green path between the gardens and the car parking area. Chris says I am a real champion, because I know the route with a few exceptions here and there, and now it is up to her to really grasp it. She is extremely amazed at my ability to remember, because she admits she has underestimated me, and this is the ability she most appreciated about Hapoo. Well there you are, I can do it, too. And she is really proud and relieved, because her sense of orientation is not the best.

 

At the office we meet the lady of the Emails called Mareke. We sit and talk forever, and Mareke is incredibly nice. She accompanies us and gives us a tour of the offices again. She helps Chris very easily, and Chris needn't say much. She understands, unfortunately, that she has to stay behind us, so I have to do all the work - too bad, I thought I had an easy life. And she is amazed at how I keep a distance between Chris and any obstacles in our path. Sure I do, for I was trained to. And if I didn't, Chris sure as hell would have me do the spot gain. Mareke helps us explore the office again, she even skips an appointment with her colleague. We see Birgit and other folks again, and then we gather with many people to hear one lady talk. Chris says that's the head of all IKEA there is in Germany. I am bored, and I make it a point to express my boredom. I talk and squeek a little, and folks have a good laugh. Then it is time for us to leave, because Chris wants to walk the route again to the little hotel.

 

She says now things are a bit clearer to her, and the coach also says she understands where Chris has problems grasping the concept and the layout of the route. We walk back, sit in the sun and Chris looks at a little device that tells her which direction she is headding towards. And then the taxi is there, and again the driver is nice. He takes us ito a little office, from where two gentlemen take us to our train.

 

When we change trains, our train is late, because kids are playing on the tracks, so we wait and Chris talks to a lady beside her. The lady is even older than Micki, and she is very nice. Chris offers to share her seats with her, if she doesn't mind me lying at their feet. So when the service man arrives to help me find the right entrance to the train, the lady just follows us and is very happy we receive such great help when travelling. We are late when we arrive at our home station, but there is the taxi driver, and he has really waited for us despite the delay. He takes us home, and I am really quite happy to be back. I do love the travels and the excitement of meeting new people and going new places, and I don't care about riding on trains much. But being home is the best thing ever.

 

Besides, Chris is still reading the book about this tennis man who is initially to be blamed for her love of the sport, beside sister Suse, and she says it is written in a very sensitive manner, not giving away too many private details, but enough to understand him and the things that he does.

 

Well I could talk on for hours, which Chris says I have just done, and I should let people wake up finally - but the world and the talking are so beautiful!

Anyway, I think she wants to read the book or talk with people that are hiding in this box, so cheers and until the next time I am allowed to pour my words on you, Quito.