Ruby's Roamings

We rented a car to travel from Ortisei to spend a couple of days in Sanremo in the Italian Riviera (on the recommendation of our friend Luigi). The first leg of the drive down the mountain was quite harrowing but very beautiful. The scenery gradually changed to vineyards and then we reached the coast. We made a stop in beautiful Lake Garda for a walk and a delicious lunch (and I was allowed to be inside the restaurant with my humans, I LOVE Europe!).

Sanremo is a beautiful town and the views from our hotel were absolutely stunning. The weather was quite a bit warmer and it was nice to see the sea and palm trees instead of snowy mountains for a change. There was a botanical garden at the bottom of the hill from our hotel and my humans enjoyed substituting my head for the headless statues in the park (or at least attempting to). We found a lovely spot to sit and enjoy a sailboat race and waterfront view (along with free bar snacks, Italy is the BEST!).

My humans left me to chill in the room and went to dinner in the city center. Flipper seems an unfortunate name for a seafood restaurant, but the food was delicious and the heaters intense!

Before returning our rental car, we took a quick trip about 20 minutes outside of Sanremo (and a treacherous drive, Prime was really using her imaginary brake…) to an abandoned medieval town that became an artist colony, Bussana Vecchia. It was a very interesting place and there is actually a movie about the history. Most shops were closed, but still worth exploring (and there were a LOT of cats to sniff out).

Then it was once again time to board a train, leave Italy behind and head to Monaco for a few days. It was a short trip and the train station in Monte Carlo was the cleanest and best smelling station we’ve ever experienced. We took a taxi to the Fairmont since it was raining and there is no easy way to lug bags and humans up and down a city built into a mountain. The hotel staff treated me to lots of pets and compliments in French. I enjoyed the water view and checking out the Ferrari store in the lobby every time we went for a walk.

Monaco is the wealthiest country in the world and it is evident everywhere you go. The parks are pristine, there is absolutely no litter or graffiti anywhere and the whole place smells like they are pumping in some expensive perfume. Princess Grace is clearly a national treasure and the natural beauty is spectacular. We found an apartment listing for 45,000 Euros/month and the real estate is 50,000 Euros/square meter (so we won’t be retiring here). Definitely something to see, highly recommend the walk up “The Rock” to explore the royal residence and the gardens. We stopped for a drink and watched snooker on TV (snooker?!?). The casino is so very beautiful (even under construction). We did not go inside, but tuxedos are required after a certain time of day, it’s very James Bond!. Spare had a very hard time wrapping his head around the fact that there is no natural border between Monaco and France (the border runs right through the middle of the mountain) and we ended up in France on one of our walks (suddenly our surroundings weren’t quite as pristine…it was weird). The Monte Carlo Country Club that hosts a yearly tennis tournament is actually in France!

The Fairmont is a cool hotel for several reasons, one being it is situated at the bottom of a hairpin turn and built over the tunnel of the Grand Prix course. There are gardens on the roof and a walkway with golden feet (similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame for soccer players).

Au revoir, Monaco, next up France (on purpose this time)!!

After a train ride and a bus trek up into the mountains, we arrived at our home in the Dolomites for the next 21 days! We had a one bedroom flat in the charming town of Ortisei (St. Ulrich), a mix of German/Austrian and Italian cultures and cuisine. Signs were in German, Italian and Ladin (a local dialect) and almost everyone we met also spoke English (I loved being called “bellissima”).

One of the wonderful things about staying for a longer period of time in one place is getting to live like a local and people come to recognize you and your humans. Going to the grocery store was a bit daunting at first, but Prime and Spare eventually got the hang of it. Almost all businesses shut down for a few hours every afternoon, so we had to plan accordingly for shopping and dining out. Ortisei is a very hilly place at a higher altitude, so walking was a great workout. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking and I enjoyed walking around to take it all in! Here are some shots from around the town…

One of the main reasons Spare picked this location was the access to a variety of ski resorts. Unlike skiing in the States, all the resorts are connected and you can ski from village to village. Spare took full advantage of this, skiing the Sella Ronda and many other runs. Since Prime is new to the whole skiing gig, she signed up for a week of ski school (prompted by a day when Spare overestimated her abilities and took her on more advanced runs than she felt qualified for… a lot of cursing ensued). At first the snow was mostly man made (you can see all the bare spots on the mountains), but we ended up getting quite a bit of snow in the last week. Here are some pictures my humans took from the mountains…

My humans and I made friends from around the world during our stay. They went out to celebrate Spare’s last official day of work and met a group from Brighton, England. Paula and her friend Danny were skiing with her nephew Oliver and his girlfriend Jamie and they shared many laughs and drinks throughout the evening (while watching others make bad decisions like dancing on tables). Oliver and Jamie invited my humans to meet them at a crazy après-ski party in Santa Cristina a couple of days later and all sorts of debauchery ensued (Jaeger bombs are never a good idea, but especially not over the age of 50)!

Prime made a lot of new friends at ski school! Eva from Frankfurt, Germany unfortunately had to go home after day 2 because her husband broke his leg on the mountain which was a huge bummer. We are still in touch and hope to see each other again! Susan is from the Netherlands but lives in Aruba and met her parents, Ed and Lilian, in Ortisei to ski (they still live in Europe). We ended up having drinks with Susan every day after the lesson (Spare would walk me into town to meet up with them for at least one cocktail). There were 3 Italians in the group, Desiree was the only one that spoke some English. My humans ran into her and her boyfriend Fabrizio in town and had drinks. Desiree and Fabrizio are military police (Carbinieri) in their hometown of Bologna. Bob from Bulgaria (it was revealed on the last day that Bob isn’t actually his name….HUGE plot twist!) spent a good portion of ski school smoking and then catching up with everyone randomly. He was a hoot and quite the sport being the only guy in our group! There was a Brazilian named Fabio in class for a bit, but he decided he was more advanced than the rest of us (poor Bob). Giulia was the best instructor ever and made us all comfortable on the mountain (Prime wanted Spencer to marry her, but alas, she has a boyfriend). She is fluent in 3 languages and could translate so we all understood each other. Such a great experience for all the humans involved! We’ll see how much of Prime’s progress remains when my humans ski in Andorra…

We then met Georgia and John from Cornwall, England (they wanted to pet me and hang out, so my humans invited them to sit with us…worked out amazing for everyone!). Georgia is the same age as Spencer and is finishing up university in Bournemouth. They were meeting up with another family (from Windsor, England) to ski for the week and we saw them many times for drinks and laughs (and lots of pets for me!). My humans went to the crazy Santa Cristina après-ski party again (but made better choices this time) where they met some crazy Romanians and even crazier Norwegians (who had stolen quite a bit of paraphernalia from the bar).

We met only a few Americans during our time in Ortisei, one person from Idaho and a couple from Boston. Aussies, Brits, Germans and Italians were the majority of tourists it seemed. The surprising question we got when people learned we were American (most thought we were Brits) was “why are you here? Don’t you have great skiing in the States?” This was usually followed by something like “oh, how’s it going over there?” or “what the hell is happening over there?” Skiing in Europe is exponentially cheaper than skiing in North America (even with travel and lodging expenses), but the Dolomites seem to be off the radar for Americans at this point (this may change after the Olympics). We found everyone to be very friendly and not overly interested in political conversation which was refreshing (and a relief).

The food was divine, a mix of traditional Italian (pizza, pasta, limoncello at the end of every meal) and German (spaetzle, schnitzel, German beer). The wine from the Südtirol (Alto Adige) region was delightful (and oh so cheap) and my humans enjoyed many a meal of speck, cheese, bread, pickles and a bottle of St. Magdelener at the flat after a day on the slopes. When ordering a drink, there were always small plates of snacks provided (for free), but you had to ask for water and buy a bottle for the table (which was usually more expensive than ordering wine or beer). My humans always gave me some of their snacks at après-ski, it was my favorite time of day. There was a fresh produce market across the street from our flat and an Alimentari below us (Spare would pick up wine, cheese and chocolate on the regular). The price of food is much less than the US and there are no processed foods/preservatives so everything is very fresh. My humans would occasionally take a bus to the gondola or another town (the public transportation, even in the small towns, is phenomenal), but mostly walked everywhere (helpful when you are eating so much cheese and bread). Spare really wants Prime to enjoy skiing, so would always carry her skis up and down the hill (this earned him HUGE points).

We have nothing but positive things to say about our stay in Ortisei, it is a magical place. We will most definitely be back, but arrivederci for now!

The flight to Munich was a success! I was very excited to see my humans when they picked me up from cargo (and I was beyond excited to get out of that crate and have some water). We gathered all our luggage and got on a train to the city center. After that flight experience, the train was no problem. When we checked in at the hotel, they had a fancy water bowl and squishy dog bed all set up for me in the room (and I got lots of pets from the hotel staff). It was nice to stretch out and take a nap while my humans headed out to explore the old city (I’ll let Prime take over the narrative here…).

The old city is stunning, so much beautiful architecture to take in. Dinner at the Hofbräuhaus was a fun experience, such as gorgeous building (originally built in 1589) and festive atmosphere! We sat at a communal table with two young students from Russia. After listening to Drew and I speak English (and a few large beers), they asked if they could talk to us and practice their English. They were 17 and 18 years old on break from university in Moscow. They were excited to meet Americans and seemed genuinely perplexed by our response to their suggestion we visit Russia (“it’s not really a good time, what with the war and all…”). One of my favorite parts of international travel is meeting people from different cultures and perspectives, truly fascinating (and eye opening).

The highlight of our time in Munich was reuniting with our exchange student Amabel! She is in her first year of university in Freising (just north of Munich) and in true Amabel fashion had researched and planned sites and restaurants she wanted to take us to. From cathedrals to the open air market and Kaisersaal Residenz, she did a fantastic job! Topped it off with a celebratory dinner of Indian cuisine at Madam Chutney before saying farewell. So many laughs and memories made with this amazing young woman, we will definitely see each other again!

Prime wasn’t feeling so great on our 3rd day in Munich, so she stayed in the hotel with me and we had a lazy day catching up on sleep while Spare went to the Deutsch Museum (where he spent an exorbitant amount of time looking at an exhibit on bridges). Every evening my humans would have a drink at the hotel bar and became friends with bartenders Dennis and Giang Lee (or as Dennis liked to call him “Jackie Chan’s older brother”).. Both of them would give me pets when I walked through the lobby and they provided many laughs and interesting conversations for my humans!

And then it was time for another train journey to Bolzano, Italy…Auf wiedersehen!

I’ve been very busy in my world travels and Prime left her laptop in the States, so I’m trying to catch up on my posts (Spare has graciously loaned his laptop to Prime). I’ll start with our journey east…

We left Chicago on January 3rd and headed to Rochester to return Fritz to school. It was an uneventful drive (although I tend to get a little antsy and like to rove over everyone’s laps). It was fun to hang out at Fritz’s apartment and see where she lives! It’s always hard to say goodbye to a Frechlet, but I get to see her on Spring Break when she comes to visit us in Europe!

We then made our way to visit Aunt Sandy and Uncle Bill in North Haledon, New Jersey. They graciously hosted us for the night so we would be close to Newark Airport for our flight to Europe. We absolutely loved our time with them, getting to see their home and have lunch at their club. It’s hard to believe they are so close to NYC but surrounded by trees and mountains! Bill and Sandy have lived an amazing life with many travels and adventures all over the world (and they seem to still enjoy each other), Prime and Spare aspire to be them when they grow up!

We arrived at Newark Liberty Airport and the moment my Prime had been dreading for months…putting me in a crate for our flight. The staff at Lufthansa was very sympathetic and very sweet to me when my humans ditched me to go to the lounge and medicate with champagne. Next stop, Munich!

Well, it’s been a busy time and I’ve been lax in my blogging duties (I thought things would slow down in retirement…that has not been the case!)! I absolutely loved our time in Door County and was very sad to leave. The view was unbeatable and the town of Sister Bay is quite charming. The fall colors lasted longer than expected and then one day winter came (I was confused by the snow). My favorite was going for a long walk every day and then napping in my friend Bailey’s bed.

My humans went on some adventures without me, including going to Green Bay for the Packers vs. Panthers game. Prime bought a new hat for the occasion and Spare was not amused (especially since she continued to wear it to fit in with the locals). They had a blast at Lambeau Field and saw the most amazing array of cheese hats!

Our friends Tom and Katie spent a week in Sister Bay so I got extra pets! We are so grateful they loaned us their amazing home for our stay and my humans had a blast making new friends while hanging out with dear friends.

Our friends the Wagners and the Worleys also made the trek and spent a weekend with us (so many extra pets and snuggles)! I got to hang out with my pal Cadbury while our humans went out on the town.

With my woodland adventure with Spare in Door Bluff Headlands County Park, lakefront walks with Prime and many other delightful dalliances, I give Door County five stars and can’t wait to go back!

I got to stay with the Floreks again while my humans jetted off to Montreal for Spare’s last work trip to Canada. Prime ended up getting a nasty cold (Spare generously shared his germs with her, she was less than thrilled), so she ended up staying in the hotel for most of the trip. They did go out for dinner with Spare’s coworker Stephane and had a couple of other delicious meals while in Quebec. We got to spend a couple of nights in our Western Springs home before loading up and moving on to our next adventure!

We have now relocated to Lincoln Park in Chicago for the next 6 weeks! My humans are enjoying spending time in the neighborhood where their journey began 26+ years ago and I am enjoying all the new smells and walking routes! I am so grateful that my siblings made it into town for Thanksgiving, I love it when we are all together. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, more to come as I try out being a city dog this holiday season!

Greetings from Sister Bay, Door County, Wisconsin! A lot has happened since my last post, so I’ll start at the beginning…

We moved out of our Union Pier, Michigan pad and I got to stay with the Florek Family while my humans went to Salt Lake City to visit my boy sibling. I was so happy to surprise my friend Jacob, he takes such good care of me and I’m excited that I get to stay with them again in a few weeks (damn humans going to desert me again, but I’ll let it slide)!

My humans had a great time with Spencer in the beautiful state of Utah! Prime was beyond happy that Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes lost to the Utes in spectacular fashion (score was 42-0 going into halftime)! They got to see Spencer’s new home and spend time with my arch nemesis Skitters (his evil cat temperament hasn’t improved since moving back to Utah, just happy I don’t have to deal with his nonsense anymore). A trip to Costco always makes Spare happy, shopping at one with a view of the mountains is his idea of heaven!

Upon their return to Chicago, Prime and Spare picked me up in Norridge and loaded me into the car for our 5 hour drive to Sister Bay. While I prefer to ride on Prime’s lap, she thought it was too long of a trip for me to be drooling all over the front of the car so I was relegated to the back seat. Despite the less than ideal conditions, it was a beautiful trip. The trees are in peak color and our new home for the next few weeks is gorgeous (I really love a water view)! My friend Bailey’s humans are letting us stay at their killer pad and I managed to locate a bone under the couch after being here for less than 5 minutes…I may be getting older, but there is nothing wrong with my sense of smell!

Upon arrival, my humans went in search of sustenance and landed at Husby’s. It’s a great bar/restaurant in town and they enjoyed several Spotted Cows (one of Prime’s favorite beers, only available in Wisconsin). They also felt the age demographic was diverse and they were in the middle (unlike being the youngest at every venue in SW Michigan).

Yesterday was my 11th birthday and our first full day here. We went on a long walk and there were several photo opportunities. I got a little tired of posing, but I am willing to sacrifice for the blog. I most definitely don’t act my age (just like my humans!) and I’m excited for our time up north. Here’s some of the pics I was forced into yesterday…

Spare has decided we need to take at least 2 long walks a day since the local cuisine is not really conducive for maintaining a healthy physique… I’m happy to do whatever it takes to support them (and I get to discover all the new smells)! So far my favorite spot is on the couch with Prime taking in the view. I also like watching sports on the basement couch (I’m very open minded when it comes to couches). I am now inspired to take a nap, need to rest up for our afternoon walk! More to come next week…

The update I know everyone has been waiting for…the euchre tournament results! My humans headed to The Hilltop Bar in Laporte, Indiana where 28 fierce competitors played euchre (there was also a dart tournament happening at the same time, luckily no one asked them to join that one). Spare ending up “winning” last place and got his $7 buy in back! There were some definite card sharks in the group, the 81 year old nicknamed “Ace” was a formidable opponent. My humans had a fun night and those complimentary shots of Fireball helped ease the agony of defeat! They have been invited to play in future tournaments (possibly because they were less than fabulous at euchre, but excelled at being social) and will definitely keep in touch with their new retiree friends.

My Prime human took me to see another beautiful sunset while the Spare worked (he’s not officially retired yet, so that’s annoying). I love having the beach so close and it’s been fun to check out the cute towns here in Southwest Michigan. One of my favorite activities is sitting in the sun with Prime and then refusing to come back inside until a treat is presented. There have been lots of wildlife sightings/chasings (we don’t have squirrels this color in Chicago) and I’ve made friends with a dog named Bailey that I get to sniff when I walk by his house on my way to the beach.

There was a bit of an emergency on Sunday at 4:00p when Prime realized her favorite burger place on the planet was closing for the season at 5:00p…she moved so fast and rushed Spare out the door at record speed to get one last Velveeta burger at Redamak’s! They have also abandoned me to get lunch at The Stray Dog, have a fancy dinner at Bentwood Tavern and watch Monday Night Football at Casey’s (where they brought down the age average in the bar by about 20 years). The humans went to the Grand Mere Inn in Stevensville for their last night in Michigan. They said the food was fabulous and the view is top notch, highly recommend. I feel like they could’ve brought me some leftovers since I was left behind, but no such luck. I’m always quick to forgive them when they return from their outings, but I stay extra close to Prime when they are home to make sure she doesn’t sneak off…behold, my “please don’t leave me” face.

Today we are packing up and moving out of Sunshine Villa #8. My humans are going to fly out to Salt Lake City to visit my boy sibling for the weekend and I get to stay with my favorite Florek family in Norridge! We are moving to Sister Bay, Wisconsin on Monday when Prime and Spare return, onward to our next adventure!!

Well, the Cubbies had a great run and even though my humans are sad it came to an end, they made new friends at the local Cubs bar and were invited to play in a euchre tournament. I don’t have high hopes for their success, but I’m sure they will have a good time. As for the Cubs, there’s always next year!

The Spare celebrated his 52nd birthday, it was nice having Spencer in town to join the festivities! They all went to South Bend to meet up with my grandparents Andy & Kathy and Uncle Todd for dinner at Cascades. While the Spare was working, I enjoyed walking on the beach and Spencer had enough energy to let me run with him through the sand (Prime human was not up for that). I was very sad that he had to go back to Utah after being with him for a week, but thankfully my girl sibling came to visit the next day!

The Spare has a reputation for booking less than stellar hotel rooms for us to stay in (claims they are “character building”, Prime says they are just gross), but I got to stay in a swanky dog friendly Westin while the humans went to dinner with college friends. I was super excited to go into the airport and wait for Fritz to arrive from Rochester (and I got lots of compliments and pets from other travelers)!

My Fritz only got to stay with us for 2 nights, so we packed in as much fun and as many cuddles as we could. My first sunset on the beach was spectacular, highly recommend! They went to a local winery and a fabulous restaurant without me, but I got to snuggle during movie time when they got home. Prime always cries when we drop my siblings back off at the airport, but I think having me there for emotional support was a huge help. Now I have to wait until Thanksgiving to be with the Frechlets, but we have a lot of adventuring to do before they come back to see us!

Now it’s just the 3 of us for the remainder of our time in Michigan…we have plenty of room for visitors if anyone wants to make the trip! I’m off to chomp and stare at Prime until she takes me for a long walk to see the beautiful colors starting to show on the trees around here…until next time!

It’s been a fun first week here in Michigan! The weather has been amazing and warm, definitely doesn’t feel like fall yet. We had our first visitor! Uncle Todd came by for dinner and some wine (and he gave me an appropriate amount of attention)! Prime and Spare found a fun local bar to watch the Cubs beat the Padres to advance to the NLDS. There’s been a lot of cursing since the series with the Brewers began, so hopefully the North Siders get their act together Wednesday or I’m going to have to switch into full comfort dog mode. My boy sibling Spencer flew in from Utah for a visit on his October Break, I was so very excited to see him (promptly licked his face which he most definitely appreciated)! They all abandoned me on Saturday to go to West Lafayette to see the Purdue vs. Illini football game (apparently they hate Taylor Swift now, not sure what that’s all about). On Sunday evening we walked to an amazing Mexican restaurant in Gordon Beach and I was allowed to sit inside with the humans. They didn’t share any food with me, but everyone thought I was adorable and I got lots of pets (and a treat from the host). I had my inaugural trip to the beach yesterday where the first thing I did was stick my whole face in the sand and then (of course) shook it off all over my humans! I also brought home a lot of beach in my Swiffer fur, so that’s the gift that keeps on giving. Last night was BBQ rib night at the Red Arrow Road House…pretty mad I wasn’t invited, but the humans seemed really happy and full when they came home (and they smelled delicious). Signing off for now, but there will be much to report next week!