Furry friends

Coming from a home inhabited by two crazy cats and a loyal but mischievous dog, it seems strangely quiet on this trip not to wake up and find a cat on the bed or a dog racing to the door to greet us when we get home.

But there’s been plenty of pets to help fill the void. In China we saw loads of Pomeranians (and thought of you Nat and Kat!) as well as bigger dogs like huskies and beagles being exercised on the footpaths and in public parks.

Everywhere you look in Greece there’s cats and dogs, as well as horses (we thought of you Shelley when we pulled our quad bike over to the side of the road to pat a local horse), donkeys, goats and even the odd cow.

The cats laze around near the beach, can be spotted roaming around outside homes and churches or curled up under flowerpots outside restaurants.  Our hotel in Mykonos even had a few resident cats who hung out beside the pool every now and again.

There was a cat hanging out on the caldera with her three kittens -- from outside their humble home in a shed they had some of the best views in Santorini! We spotted a ginger kitten by the boardwalk at the beach in Mykonos beside the banana lounges and rows of umbrellas, and we saw the same crazy ginger feline (at least we think it was the same one) trying to climb onto the back of a 4WD so he could go on an adventure.  Yes Damien Brown, the crazy ginger made us think of YOU!!  We even spotted some cats enjoying a feast of prawns and one clever cat in Santorini was keeping a close eye on the local fish market in the hope he would score himself a feed.  Rome was also crawling with cats -- apparently Cleopatra introduced cats to Rome, giving them as gifts to Julius Caesar.  Turns out he was allergic so he threw them out onto the street, expecting that they would die, but of course they were tough, and started breeding -- needless to say there are still heaps of cats roaming the ruins of Rome today.

However our favourite pet so far has been ``Hitler Cat'', who we met in Mykonos -- he came up to Bryan. said hello and then climbed on his back for a cuddle like they were old pals.  Or maybe he was just hoping to rule the world.

Cute, but still not as good as Levi and Suzuki...