Five more days…

Not including today, I have only five more days left in Europe.  This time has gone by like a trip on the autobahn…a blur.  And I still have things I need to do before I leave.

I’ve had more adventures here that I have not yet blogged about.  So you all get to “enjoy” our European adventures even after I’m back living in the states.

One of the things that’s been setting me into a slight panic before I leave, is what to take with me.  There was less panic each time I left the US, because I knew I’d be back and friends would be visiting (with prizes).  Leaving Italy was another story.  Even though we have a few cities near us with decent areas of authentic Italian restaurants (pizza!), groceries, and pastry shops, it’s never the same as the real thing.  So what to bring home?  I missed a few things even while living here in Belgium.  Luckily I had a chance to go back to Milan last month and pick up a few things I missed.  Now I turn to my time in Belgium and think about what I’ll miss.  What can I bring with me?  Not much.  Most of the things I love here in Belgium are perishable.  Or are extremely heavy (beer!).  But I’m sure there will be at least one box of pralines for us in my baggage.  I can’t take too much, since I’ll also be traveling with the cats.

Traveling with two cats is strange.  It makes me sick to my stomach with stress and worry.  And I’m sure they’re not too happy while traveling either.  I could be guessing this from the constant meowing and the cowering in the back corner of their kennels.  Keep your fingers crossed for us on the return to Boston!  I’ll be documenting the trip so that I can blog about our experience.  A lot of good information came from people who wrote about their harrowing pet travels on blogs and websites.  I am going to do my best to pay it forward.  Plus it will keep me busy, which will easy the worry a bit.

Chris probably won’t start missing things for a while since he will probably have to come back to Europe a few times this year (and he’ll be in Italy two weeks after I leave).  And he’s associated this year with a lot of hard work, where it’s just been one big adventure (and housework) for me. 

When you travel, do you always bring something with you that you can’t do without?  Food, books, music, clothing, etc?  Add a comment about it, or answer one of the following (click on “comment” to bring you to the comment section):

• If you were leaving the US to live in a foreign country, what would you need to take with you (that you didn’t think you could get in the new country)?
• What do you think you’d bring back from Italy (even if you’ve never been there)?
• What would you bring home from Belgium?

I’m curious to hear about what others think about the comforts of home, and of course souveniers from life. 

I’m most certain that this is my last blog until I get home next week.  Like I said, I got a ton of stuff to do still.  Until then (and since there are no photos in this post) please feel free to enjoy the photos in my flickr…photos usually make it there before I blog about them.

A bientot and ciao!

Undocumented Kitties

I liked it better when my kitties were undocumented.  No microchips, no certification by the USDA, no medium sized crates, no collars.  That’s right, they just ran around the house naked.

This is how it’s gone so far:

1. Research all needed forms and requirements to bring kitties into EU.
2. Buy kitties collars.
3. Order new kitty crates for airplane (current crates are too small for 8 hour plane ride).
4. Order DryFur (kitty crate diapers).
5. Find new vet and make appointment.
6. Print bilingual form (EN/IT) for vets appointment.
7. Miss apointment due to forgetting to set clock ahead on daylight savings switch (Chris had left the same Sunday that this occured, leaving us both completely disoriented/stressed/busy which equals forgetful).
8. Make NEW vets appointment for following Friday.
9. On Friday, drive kitties through blizzard to get to vets appointment.
10. Meet new vet, fill out paperwork, kitties get microchipped/vacinated, weighed (so fat!).
11. Contact USDA vet on Monday.  Not in office until following Tuesday.
12. Start feeding kitties in new crates (to acclimate them).  See kitties in crates here.
13. Drive to USDA vet’s office on Tuesday.  Drive back to local vets office for REAL signatures on documents.  Drive back to USDA vet’s office for certification.
14. Call Italian Consulate to confirm that I have completed all paperwork necessary and don’t need any certification from them.

(sigh)  I HOPE that I have all the documentation that I need.  Keep your fingers crossed for me and the kitties.

Also, when I emailed the Belgian authority about what paperwork I would need to bring them to Belgium.  He stated in his email, that once I got into the EU, I wouldn’t need anything else for Belgium…we’ll see.