As Graeme headed off to the airport to collect the animals, his Russian boss quipped, 'I hope you have lots of money with you for the bribes.' Graeme thought he was joking but I think as he sat in the customs bay of the airport and the hours passed he realised that a bribe probably would have speeded up the whole process. Graeme said that in the 5 hours he was there, he was moved from room to room, building to building, paper work was shuffled and taken to different locations and then he was sent to sit in the car for a few hours listening to Radio Maximum....sounds like a fun evening.
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| One of the fun rooms Graeme got to sit in |
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| 'Simplified customs declarations' Graeme would beg to differ... |
This was the first moment Graeme saw the animals - on a fork lift in a warehouse! Very funny by all accounts!
Anyway, they finally returned at around midnight and what a reunion it was! You do wonder what goes through their minds, 'Oh look, it's those b*stards that keep abandoning us.' or maybe, ' oh yipee, it's our family back together!' or there might just be static...in Alice's case, I think that could be true.
There are some amusing videos of them arriving-
They all looked in good condition and all seemed pretty relaxed. Alfie was the most disturbed and I have found him in some strange hiding holes -
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| 'Please don't make me go on a plane again....' |
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| Stand off at the tunnel.... |
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| Alfie is not taking a chance of being left behind again.... |
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| Sorry boys, this is the nearest you get to the outside... |
The first day of dealing with animals and Arthur was slightly stressful as Graeme tottered off to work I realised that I would have to take Alice for a wee every couple of hours. Alice kept sitting in front of a door in the kitchen which leads to some back stairs thinking that there was a garden beyond...oh dear, sorry Alice just some dusty old servants stairs from many years ago. I must admit though, we've settled into quite a nice routine with her now and she thinks it's brilliant because she is getting a walk every few hours! One of us heads out with Alice at about 7am for a quick morning jaunt whilst the other looks after Arthur. Plus we just met an old guy called Anatoly - he's about 80 bless him and he's an expat dog walker. He turned up tonight at our flat with a leather briefcase full of references and pictures of him with many dogs! He didn't speak much English but we muddled through! He said to Graeme 'She sit, heel and stay' and Graeme said 'oh yes, she is very well behaved...' WHAT! Poor Anatoly is going to get a bit of a shock! Anyway, he's going to take her out every week day from 9am till 10am so let's hope Alice behaves herself. There are lots of packs of wild dogs that hang around different streets and they are seriously scary. I went to get some fruit and veg the other day and decided to cut down this side street - I spotted an old dog at the side of the road and thought, 'oh he looks okay' little did I know that this was obviously the look out for the other dogs - he barked and suddenly I could hear all this howling and could see a pack of dogs running my way! I started to run with the buggy and Alice who at this point had her tail between her legs and was definitely sensing danger - I ran towards the main street and must have looked completely insane as I ran past a restaurant with loads of people eating outside, shouting behind me 'shooo' 'go away' 'oh shit'. Suffice to say, it was a terribly frightening experience so I'm not going to be cutting down any more side streets with Alice. There is a park 5 minutes away which is safe - like a boulevard with trees and paths and a play park for Arthur and so we head there. There is also a 'xleb' shop (bread) on the way which is particularly exciting - not only do they have bread but cakes and these little pastry parcels filled with spinach, chicken and beef. Very nice indeed. There is also the oldest food shop on the way which is great but it's like the Harrod's food court so not somewhere i'll be doing much shopping but great for things you can't find anywhere else.
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| Rather grand food court |
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| Not quite your local CO OP |
So we are now finally beginning to find our feet. I did have a melancholy day when the animals arrived as I wondered if we had done the right thing bringing them all to the centre of a city but now i'm thinking it will be okay. We'll all have to adjust and find the best routine we can.
Arthur is adjusting by putting pants on his head - not quite sure what they are supposed to be? A cape?
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| Pants man to the rescue |
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| Prefers a different colour... |
Oh and his love of cleaning has not diminished....
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