Adventures in Petsitting
A Christmas Cracker in Croatia - When dogs become the real stars of the season
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By Jane Thomas
There’s always something magical about seeing a place in the festive season. Everyone does things just a little bit differently. To be honest, we would have coped perfectly well without the Croatian habit of letting off firecrackers for hour after hour, week after week – and Lenny would appreciate the absence of those, too. The balcony from our apartment had an extraordinary view over a beautiful bay and most afternoons we sat there, eagerly soaking up warmth still left in the sun. But it was near a school, closed for the holidays of course, and children came by in the evenings to hurl firecrackers around the abandoned playground. Grant had quite the workout sprinting down the stairs and across the road to shout at them to leave, and they’d retreat further up the hill to rile somebody else’s dogs instead.
Most people who head to Croatia will either be aiming for Dubrovnik or Split. Our housesit was just outside the ancient walled city of Trogir, slightly north of Split and without the crowds. We were on an island that, in the summer, is fit to bursting. But at this time of year the walkways that wrap themselves around the jagged coastline were ours and ours alone. The broad promenade that marches its way along a rough-sand beach had summer beach bars turned into wintry cocoons, with awnings that flapped in the breeze and protected the handful of locals as they sipped mulled wine and hot chocolate.
When they were out and about Lenny and Lulu liked to be on the move so we never had time to stop in one of those. They loved the forest floors littered with pinecones; they picked their way along rocky ridges and stuck their noses into every patch of grass. Each day they inspected the masses of debris that were washed up onto the towel-sized beaches, picking their way past flip flops and coke cans and diving towards crabs that scuttled around.
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