It has been awhile since our last big trip; the main thing that makes traveling abroad very difficult is our pooches. We get pretty anxious about the pups while planning for our trip, but we have been lucky to find great people that we trust to take care of them.
Once abroad, our main issue becomes missing them. A and I have a habit where we will often see our pooches in other animals: usually it's Miss M as a goat.
Little did we realize, Istanbul is a magical place for animals where instead of seeing the standard squirrel or rat, the city is filled with a number of well-fed stray cats and dogs.
A and I walked several miles in both the European and Asian side of Istanbul and while we expected the amazing hospitality of the people, we were completely stunned by the friendliness of the stray cats and dogs. In our neighborhood, we have had terrifying encounters with feral cats and poor Mr. B has had his nose slashed by three of them.
Many of the cats reminded A of Miss M, they would beg and push boundaries to get food, pets, overall attention. One cat even jumped into A's lap while we were eating dinner.
I found this pooch that was the Mr. B of Istanbul. She came up and made me start petting her and she made sure that I kept petting her.
Unlike A, I'm not much of a traveler, but I am quickly enjoying meeting all the new people and animals, eating great food and seeing spectacular sights that every place has to offer. It will be interesting where we will end up next.
Also:
We had learned this and this from our last trip. We're excited to bring some of our new ideas back.
Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and storylines beyond the blog.
Also:
We had learned this and this from our last trip. We're excited to bring some of our new ideas back.
Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and storylines beyond the blog.
11 comments:
Looks like you had an awesome trip! I think you bring up a great point about missing the pups - I feel the same way. As much as you enjoy the trip there is always this little feeling inside of I wonder how they are doing, they would love it here!
Love how you found the cat and dog equivalents of Ms M and Mr B :-)
What an amazing trip!! Sam is the same way -- I have to drag him along with me, but he always ends up enjoying himself. Having someone watch the pooches on a long trip definitely adds a huge expense to the travel budget, but we are lucky to have someone we trust to take care of them!
Wow, what a great trip you guys had! I have always wanted to go to Istanbul!
This is the first time my husband and I will be traveling abroad (tomorrow!) since we've adopted Barry. At first we terrified about who would watch him and would they know what to and what not to do... He's like our child dog! Anyway, it's all worked out and now we can enjoy our trip knowing he's in good hands.
Now I'm worried that I'll miss him so much! I just wish I could take him with us on all of our trips near and far.
How very cool! We were in Istanbul for New Year's this year. It is bittersweet seeing the homeless cats and dogs. They are well taken care of by the neighborhoods but you just wish they all had a loving place to call home. It is amazing how friendly they are and how they instantly make you fall in love with them. When I was in Taksim one day I saw a dog just hanging out in front of a cafe, so sweet, gentle and calm. I went into the cafe and ordered a quick lunch to go for him while eyeing him outside making sure he didn't leave. The manager saw me peeking out at him and asked if the food was for the dog. When I answered yes he went to the kitchen to change the order - he said he knew the kind of food he liked and that he wouldn't eat anything with bread in it. I was so happy to know that he had people. Sounds like you guys had a lovely trip - love the photos.
Istanbul is the most amazing city I've ever visited. I was there exactly six years ago but the weather was lousy so the strays must have been hiding out. The animals you encountered seem remarkably friendly for strays!
After Turkey I went through Romania, which had a huge stray dog population. Even sadder, these dogs were not well adapted to people, and many were quite scary. I was approached by a pack of wild dogs by myself on a mountain top and just froze, head down, until they passed me.
Fantastic. I heard that was a wonderful place
Lily
Istanbul, wow!!! If the stray dogs and cats are so well fed, trusting, and calm, the people of Istanbul must be very fine people. I do think it must say a lot about the people, if the strays are not fearful and emaciated!
Great pictures! I got to visit there several years back and really loved it too:D
Awesome trip, it's always cool to meet new animals while vacationing!
Wow, what a fun trip!!!
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