We're home again to yet more rain and much colder temperatures than Puerto Banus. It might have rained on our holiday but at least the temperatures were milder and we got to wear t-shirts and sunglasses. We have lots of people to thank today .....
Firstly we want to say a huge thank to the H10 Andalucia Plaza Hotel for welcoming us so warmly and looking after us so well! Access laws for service dogs in Spain (as we have previously mentioned) vary considerably from region to region and even from one hotel or restaurant to the next! Just because one restaurant will allow a service dog in - the very next restaurant beside it can and will say NO - as we discovered. So we greatly appreciated the kindness and understanding that we encountered in the H10!
The welcome in the hotel - from reception to restaurant to bar area was fantastic! We were even given a larger suite upon check-in! Everytime we walked through the hotel or went into the restaurant we got lots of 'holas!' and big smiles and we really appreciated that! Sometimes you can feel the 'whole world' is staring at you and wondering 'what the story is' with the 'big shaggy dog' so to have lots of smiling faces and friendly comments really made a difference!
Watching the rain coming down on the swimming pool and thinking of
Petey! We hope it will be warmer in South Carolina, Petey! Last summer when we were in New Hampshire - it hadn't stopped raining for 40 days and they told us it was the worst summer in years! This spring in Spain we were told it has rained non-stop for three weeks and was the worst winter in years! We seem to bring the rain with us!
We went up into the hills to watch some of the lads who were over from St Laurence's GAA Club in Kildare - 2009 county champions - and were playing against the local GAA team - Costa Gaels! We had all the lads staying in the hotel and they had great fun - really enjoying themselves and the night-life in Puerto Banus!
We want to thank the NSLM's Uncle Séamus for organising our holiday - he lives in Spain and really his business is organising golf holidays
http://www.golfexperience.com/ but he enjoys the challenges of catering to the needs of an assistance dog and family! We also loved meeting the NSLM's little cousin Kylian who is just a little taller than me!
Murray did a great job of introducing me to Kylian and making sure Kylian wasn't nervous having such a big dog beside him!
Kylian loved me though and was all smiles! The NSLM can be a bit wary of 'younger children' - he doesn't always understand how to interpret them but he was great with his little cousin!
We have to say a big thank you to Sorcha who as ever was the great 'Big Sister' - being so good with Murray as always and teaching Kylian some new football skills!
Very importantly she created a great ID card that we used when we were questioned at restaurants or shops ... we have an ID card from Irish Guide Dogs but this card Sorcha made was much better with a photo of me and an explanation in Spanish about the job I do with the NSLM!
The NSLM's Mom got a little worried that such expertise could be put to use with 'fake' ID cards for her and her pals when she's a little older! Sorcha just smiled at that suggestion!!
Again we would like to thank Aer Lingus for the ease we which we travelled with them this time - it really makes a big difference! Thanks also to Pointer Veterinary Clinic who had to give me my flea and tick treatment 48 hours before we flew home and finally the Department of Agriculture in Dublin Airport and the vet who was there to meet us and check on me!
Coming home we were thrilled to have a card waiting for us from
Inky and Molly!
You were very good Inky and Molly - it's a lovely card with two yellow fish - which made the NSLM smile! Thank you for remembering how upset he was when his big yellow fish died recently! He loved your badge too!
and Sugar - you might notice your great collar is on me!! Sorcha helped Murray put the cover on my collar and the NSLM thought it looked great on me! Thank you again for sending this and the Rock and Roll Pooch Tee! We never realised we were going to get such great pressies from winning Mango Minster 2010!
Thanks to
Khyra for sharing the great photos of Sorcha - one of her transport dogs on Monday with us! Sorcha, here was thrilled to see her namesake and read about her going to such a good forever home ....
Finally, we want to thank
Asta's Mom for this great collage she made in honour of Max's World Tour .... we were so thrilled to take part in this on Valentine's Day and the photo collage is a wonderful memory of the day which we are proudly displaying now on our sidebar ...
Max, you are never far from our thoughts!
Okay, this a long post but the NSLM's Mom is always teaching him about the importance of saying 'thank you' so we wanted to help him in acknowleding all the people that made our holiday run smoothly and so well and also to thank once again all our great 'blogging' friends out there!
- Clive and Murray
