The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
THAT’S LIFE A surprise trip to Spain and befriending two stray dogs in need of some TLC
It has been a week of glorious sunshine. Which is rather unexpected. The chief and I are invited, very last minute, to join a group of friends in a house in the Spanish mountains.
Someone has dropped out. So, can we drop everything and go?
I open the diary. Where the only thing pencilled in is a trip to the dentist.
Easily cancelled? Perhaps not when you have been waiting more than a year for an appointment.
Do we go, or do we not go? A quick call to the surgery results in another dental date for the following week.
Now all we have to do is book planes and sort out the MacNaughties.
Cheap flights are found. And between them our daughter and our neighbour offer to sort out the dogs. Who, like most fourlegged friends, do not like the sight of bags being packed…
For my part, there is also nervousness. The MacGregor has managed a wee bit of foreign travel over the past two years but this will be my first trip abroad since the pandemic began.
Vaccination certificates on mobiles are printed on paper. Supplies of face masks and lateral flow tests are packed. Just in case.
Then there is the job of getting there. From Glasgow we battle endless queues and arrive late in Malaga.
Yet, it is nothing like the horror stories coming from southern airports. We are there! Travelling along the Costa del Sol. Up into the mountains. With the sun rising in the sky.
Our villa is delightful. Perched on the side of a hill with views of olive groves it is surrounded by terracotta pots filled with brightly coloured geraniums.
The serious business of reading and resting begins. Then on day three, life becomes a bit more complicated.
Two dogs appear. One looks rather like a retriever; cream in colour and wearing a green leather collar.
The other resembles a Jack Russell and, barely more than a puppy, he is following the bigger dog.
Both seem house trained. The way they climb casually on to the wicker sofa on the terrace suggests that they are pets, rather than strays.
We imagine they will tire of us, and eventually take themselves back to their homes.
We are wrong. They stay – and they are hungry. So, someone is sent to buy dog food.
They are also suffering from the intense heat. The retriever now scratching madly at his neck.
His collar is removed and underneath the skin is red raw. It is bathed and antiseptic cream is applied.
They are good company. But what is to be done with two dogs when we leave the place?
We call them Pedro and Pepe. But in the end, we call the police.
Who call an animal rescue centre. Who come with a van and take them away.
As the vehicle door slams, they look mournfully at us.
I just hope and pray that they are reunited with their owners. Or that they find new homes…
WE ARE THERE! TRAVELLING ALONG THE COSTA DEL SOL. UP INTO THE MOUNTAINS. WITH THE SUN RISING IN THE SKY