When all the kittens finally started to live outside we decided it was time to find them homes. We just could not take care of 12 cats! I found homes for all except 2, Tigger and Ginger, but I heard through the Italian grapevine that the couple that moved into our place after we left Italy adopted them both. I hope that all the Italian cats are happy they certainly gave us hours of entertainment!
As our time in Italy grew short we took many trips through Europe. One time we went to Germany and we had a friend (Yvonne) stay at the “villa” and take care of the cats. Well, Coco has a routine in the morning. When it is time for her breakfast she will bug you until you get up and feed her. After all she is up so you should be up too! Did I mention that she is a princess? Anyway she plays this game, she will sit on you and put her cold wet nose on your nose and if that doesn’t work she will paw at you until you wake up! Pat, pat, pat, purr, purr, purr. Well, Yvonne wanted to sleep-in one morning so she shut the bedroom door. At 7 am Coco was there, in her face, wanting her to get up! “How did you get in here?”Yvonne said, and a mystery was born! The same thing happened the next morning. On the third morning Yvonne set the alarm to wake her up BEFORE 7am to try and catch Coco getting into the room. The door to the bedroom is closed and there is this pane of wavy glass so it's private but you can still see through the door At 6:45am Yvonne is awake and waiting, she sees a dark blob on the other side of the door, you guessed it, Coco! Coco waited patiently until 7am and then began leaping up in the air and hitting the door handle! It took her about 3 times before she finally got the door open. Smart cat! Our friend was very impressed, we were not surprised, after all it's Coco were talking about!
Soon it was time to leave Bella Napoli! As we drove out of town, we looked back at the great shape of the volcano Vesuvius being illuminated by the sunrise. We were both sad but also thankful that the volcano decided NOT to erupt and we hope to live there again someday. During the drive to Rome for our flight there was a huge rainstorm, this might not sound like a big deal BUT the roads in Italy do not have proper drainage so it made us late, and therefore we missed our flight! Picture this, little tiny car, loads of luggage and two cats stuck at the Rome airport! We were so late we just drove up, parked the car in the NO LOADING ZONE and ran in, all in perfect view of the Caribinieri (Military Police). He says "No Parcheggio qui!" (no parking here) and I said "solo uno momento?" (only for a moment) He just rolled his eyes and waved us in! Once inside Mike says "what are we going to do with the rental car?" "I HAVE to return it don't I?" "There's no time!" I said "Just leave it there!" We both knew we weren't getting on the flight anyway. We were exhausted, the cats were exhausted we made a valiant effort, but not good enough. We gathered our bags and the cats, went back outside, climbed in the car (yes it was still there, not even a ticket) and found a little hotel close to the airport. Once settled in the hotel the cats just slept in the closet, I think they wanted some peace and quiet! We on the other hand, spent the rest of the day touring Roma and enjoying "la dolce vita" (the sweet life). The next day it was off to the airport with plenty of time to RETURN the rental car. All the Italians in the airport just loved Sebastian and Coco, so there was plenty of entertainment prior to the flight. Once on board both cats just settled into their little carriers under the seat and slept the whole flight back to the USA. They are such good travelers!
As our time in Italy grew short we took many trips through Europe. One time we went to Germany and we had a friend (Yvonne) stay at the “villa” and take care of the cats. Well, Coco has a routine in the morning. When it is time for her breakfast she will bug you until you get up and feed her. After all she is up so you should be up too! Did I mention that she is a princess? Anyway she plays this game, she will sit on you and put her cold wet nose on your nose and if that doesn’t work she will paw at you until you wake up! Pat, pat, pat, purr, purr, purr. Well, Yvonne wanted to sleep-in one morning so she shut the bedroom door. At 7 am Coco was there, in her face, wanting her to get up! “How did you get in here?”Yvonne said, and a mystery was born! The same thing happened the next morning. On the third morning Yvonne set the alarm to wake her up BEFORE 7am to try and catch Coco getting into the room. The door to the bedroom is closed and there is this pane of wavy glass so it's private but you can still see through the door At 6:45am Yvonne is awake and waiting, she sees a dark blob on the other side of the door, you guessed it, Coco! Coco waited patiently until 7am and then began leaping up in the air and hitting the door handle! It took her about 3 times before she finally got the door open. Smart cat! Our friend was very impressed, we were not surprised, after all it's Coco were talking about!
Soon it was time to leave Bella Napoli! As we drove out of town, we looked back at the great shape of the volcano Vesuvius being illuminated by the sunrise. We were both sad but also thankful that the volcano decided NOT to erupt and we hope to live there again someday. During the drive to Rome for our flight there was a huge rainstorm, this might not sound like a big deal BUT the roads in Italy do not have proper drainage so it made us late, and therefore we missed our flight! Picture this, little tiny car, loads of luggage and two cats stuck at the Rome airport! We were so late we just drove up, parked the car in the NO LOADING ZONE and ran in, all in perfect view of the Caribinieri (Military Police). He says "No Parcheggio qui!" (no parking here) and I said "solo uno momento?" (only for a moment) He just rolled his eyes and waved us in! Once inside Mike says "what are we going to do with the rental car?" "I HAVE to return it don't I?" "There's no time!" I said "Just leave it there!" We both knew we weren't getting on the flight anyway. We were exhausted, the cats were exhausted we made a valiant effort, but not good enough. We gathered our bags and the cats, went back outside, climbed in the car (yes it was still there, not even a ticket) and found a little hotel close to the airport. Once settled in the hotel the cats just slept in the closet, I think they wanted some peace and quiet! We on the other hand, spent the rest of the day touring Roma and enjoying "la dolce vita" (the sweet life). The next day it was off to the airport with plenty of time to RETURN the rental car. All the Italians in the airport just loved Sebastian and Coco, so there was plenty of entertainment prior to the flight. Once on board both cats just settled into their little carriers under the seat and slept the whole flight back to the USA. They are such good travelers!
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