Getting to Amsterdam and Sweden
Bruisers at Margo's 65th
Ashley’s view: As most trips do, I started with a frantic rush to get packed and ready to go in time to leave for the airport. This time I stacked the deck against myself by doing my booth at the San Mateo County Fair selling my old stock of Beanie Babies, Italian charm bracelets, and my new hobby, rocks; mostly polished labradorite which is multi-colored and beautiful (see pics). I further handicapped my efforts by flying to Vancouver and the Seattle area for 3 days during the fair’s off-days for my friend Margo’s 65th birthday party, which was also a mini Berkeley Bruiser reunion of sorts.
After 8 tiring days of being open 11am to 10pm, the fair ended Sunday night at 10pm and my flight was the next day at 2:55pm. Luckily my sister Natalie and her partner Craig were able to come help me pack up and we got everything into my car shortly after midnight. I zipped home and got 90% of my packing done in time to catch a few hours sleep before my friend Dawne came to help my unpack the car at 8am. Then she took my other car to it’s appointment for new tires then returned to take Cosmo for a pre-flight walk, while I took care of last minute packing and setting up the fish feeders. Then, being the saint she is, Dawne gave us a ride to the airport.
labradorite
Booth at the fair
Cosmo’s view: Ashley is being extra annoying lately. She feeds me but she leaves early in the day, is gone ALL DAY, then comes home after 11pm, feeds me, and refuses to take me for a walk or play with me claiming she is too tired. On top of that she flat out left me alone for 2 nights all by myself with nothing to do but watch the squirrels and birds out the window wishing I could chase them.
Meeting people at the airport
Ashley: Everything went surprisingly smoothly though I am floored by the sheer weight of everything I am bringing: my suitcase was 50 pounds and my backpack is 32 pounds plus Cosmo and the items in his backpack make another almost 20 pounds, and a box of Trader Joe’s canvas bags I was bringing to my friend Steve and his wife Sery added another 7 pounds. I am hoping to shed at least 10-15 more pounds of stuff in Sweden with things I am bringing to friends and as Cosmo eats some of his food and uses up some litter.
The flight went pretty well. We were in the window with a father and son next to us. The boy likes cats so he fed Cosmo a little treat before takeoff. I had to pet Cosmo to keep him from crying the first 15 minutes and occasionally the first hour but after I took him to the bathroom thinking he had to go (he was totally bluffing; he just explored the area for a couple minutes before I put him back in the bag), he then settled down with only an occasional struggle to escape. I have to admit I did let him out of the bag in my lap for a bit in the middle of the 11 hour flight when the cabin was dark and everyone was asleep! The United flight crew was appreciative of their gift bags and brought me a fruit plate and cheese plate from first class. Delicious!
Cosmo: Today was the last straw, she did actually let me outside and Dawne took me for a walk, but then I was shoved into my backpack for a car drive. Then I was rushed onto this narrow moving room with lots of rows of seats where the only good thing is that I get my favorite treat, Churus. Otherwise I’m cooped up in my backpack which is sooo annoying. I made my anger known and FINALLY she took me to a small room and let me out of my prison. She kept putting me on this crumpled up blanket saying “go potty” but I just wanted to smell all the interesting smells. During the rest of the flight I tried to sneak out of the bag like I have before but all the side zippers were locked and I couldn’t claw them apart like I have in the past. I thought Ashley and I had an understanding that she is supposed to let me slip out during long flights. Count on her to misunderstand.
At the hotel at last!
Lovely canal ride
Ashley: In Amsterdam, lunch with Sery and her friend was nice though I was quite tired and was out cold in the car on the way to our canal cruise. They dropped us off and Captain Attila welcomed us onto the boat for our canal cruise, giving Cosmo the run of the front of the boat to explore and enjoy the view. Afterwards we wandered about town a bit where Cosmo made quite a few friends including a nice couple and an adorable small girl. However, I discovered that wearing a tank top with Cosmo on my shoulder is hazardous to my health, or at least to my shoulder. I never really notice him lightly using his claws on my t-shirt sleeves as he sits on my shoulder, but without sleeves, his claws are like tiny needles of death. When I touch his paw and say “easy” he does retract them, but at the first sign of alarm, out they come! I ruefully noted that 4 of the 10 shirts I brought are tank tops. Ouch!
Meeting people on the streets of Amsterdam
Take me to my room servant!
Cosmo: It was so nice to leave the moving thing with rows of seats mostly because I was immediately allowed to come out of my bag or sit in the bag with my flap open. We got to take the escalator which I love since I get a birds eye view of things below, as it should be. Our new home was nice though I still haven’t figured out the elevators where we start off one place then somehow move to another place. Strange! But I definitely know the long hallways with doors means we are almost home! I tried to jump down and run to our room but Ashley wouldn’t let me. It was heaven inside! Finally somewhere to settle down, get a bite to eat, and some water.
We didn’t get to stay too long before my leash went back on and I was back in my backpack. We met some of Ashley’s friends and went in a car to an outdoor area for her to eat while I explored a little, then back into the car to a boat. It seemed like a safe boat, made of wood like the bigger, interesting one that Aunt Lisa and Uncle Joe have, and not like the fast black rubber one that dumped me into the water when it slowed down without warning. This one went slowly and I got to explore the front of the boat. What a great view! I got to see things on all sides as we moved by. When I got too hot I could squeeze under something that provided shade. Captain Attila has a calm safe voice. Definitely the best part of the trip so far!
Walking after the boat was a mix of stress from all these bikes whizzing by at high speeds and moments of calm where I got to smell new things or meet some strangers who gave me Churu. That night I impressed Ashley by jumping up onto the highest surface on top of a dresser. She is easily impressed, but that’s because she can’t jump. She also can’t run very fast. When we race I usually humor her by trotting alongside because I can see she is trying her best and I don’t want to discourage her.
This rat is a bit too large
Walking around Amsterdam
Where are the squirrels?
Ashley: The next morning, KLM was wonderful for our flight to Gothenburg. The crew kindly allowed Cosmo to be either under the seat or in my lap as long as he was connected to my seatbelt. I’m not sure if it was because of the giftbags or not, as they were super nice and engaging with ALL the passengers. KLM for the win! I will certainly use them in the future. They also gave everyone a warm sandwich for a snack (though they gave me an even better beef and veggie meal from first class as a thank you). I left Cosmo under the seat for takeoff but it was nice for him to see us land so he could start to understand what the plane is doing. I wish I had pulled him out for takeoff but I wasn’t sure if that was okay since “all carry-ons should be under the seat” and I didn't want to take advantage of their kindness.
Cosmo: The very next day we got back in one of the long rooms that move with rows of seats. This one was much smaller and we were not in it that long, and even better, Ashley took me out of my backpack and let me sit on her lap though she wouldn’t let me explore like I wanted to. She kept trying to get me to look out the window but there were no birds or squirrels there, just large white things above and below me. There was a guy in the seat in front who kept making funny noises at me, but he also rubbed my nose which I liked. Finally at the very end of the trip I could see some things I recognized, trees and buildings. We must be coming downhill from a very tall mountain very fast like a giant escalator. Then there was some bumping as we switched from the escalator to the ground.
Pool roof!
Ashley: My friend Elin, another former Bruiser, met us at the airport and we drove to her new house they moved into 4 years ago. It has a pool with the coolest “roof” cover (see pics). Each section easily slides on its own track and you can extend the track to slide completely off the pool. It would be the perfect solution for our HOA pool at home which gets too cold in the winter but we can’t do a solar pool cover because of the drowning risk. Incidentally the pools here are much simpler. Instead of pouring cement, they build the floor and walls from wood and then put in a plastic liner and fill it. The liners last 15-20 years!
I saw my first handball scrimmage. Their youngest, Amanda, scores a lot of goals and it was a lot of fun to watch the videos of her playing and then live scrimmage. Handball is the 4th biggest sport here and is played with a small ball (about 5” diameter for youth) like a soft soccerball and reminds me a bit of basketball except it is on grass or indoors, you can run 3 steps without bouncing, and you throw into a goal to score like hockey or soccer (see video).
I also put my engineering skills and my almost non-existent sewing skills to use and stitched a couple sports bra pads Elin found for me onto Cosmo’s backpack so he would have a place to put his claws. Initial tests seem promising. We’ll see how Beta testing does this trip.
me and Elin
nice walk in the woods
on Midsommer
Cosmo: Ashley’s friend Elin picked us up and took us to our next new home. This one is large with two stories and several people with quite a bit of noise so the first thing I did when I got there was locate an open window and escape to the outside. I had a great time until it started to rain and I had to come home. The next day we took a trip to a field where I desperately wanted to play in the fields but Ashley was so mean and kept me in the backpack until we walked all the way to the back field where some girls were running around throwing a ball. I was allowed out but there were tons of people everywhere, girls on one side and boys on the other, with nothing to look at. Worse yet, as I stood there looking around nervously, a boy crashed to the ground right behind me almost taking me out!
Then when I was allowed to explore a bit and wandered into the tall grasses by the swampy river she yanked on my leash when it was time to go and threw me off balance so I partly fell into the swamp getting my back and one hind leg muddy. Then she gave me a hard time about it and made me sit there while she got out several wet wipes and wiped me all over. That wouldn’t be so bad except for constantly chastising me at the same time. When we got home, she doused me with warm water and shampoo until my lower body was drenched in water, then very roughly rubbed a towel all over me. She left me clipped to the fence for a few hours, but I got the last laugh. When they let me in a few hours later, I slipped out the back door and was gone for 3 hours! I would have stayed out all night except I was hungry.
This featured blog entry was written by nutmeg2000 from the blog Europe 2026.
Read comments or Subscribe
