INTRODUCING...LEAH!

Woof! Let me introduce myself; my name is Leah but I am also affectionately known as Leahitsa or Loulou by those who love me! I was born in Greece four years ago and roamed the streets of Athens alone and afraid for nine months until my mom, Karolina, found and adopted me! That´s when my life really began! After adopting me, Karolina and I flew back to Berlin, Germany which was to become my new home for the next three and a half years. I loved Berlin, but it was quite a busy city for me....my favorite adventures where at the "Grunewald" which means, "Green Forest." It was there that I met my first friends, and met my first love: the water! I adore swimming and like to ignore my mom when she calls me to get out of the water! Unfortunately, she knows I can hear her because of my huge ears.....! I had many big city adventures in Berlin and enjoyed every minute of them, but in April of this year it was time to move on....to The Netherlands! Woof!
That´s where I am now....I´ve decided to tell you all about my life and adventures in this beautiful city in my dog blog! You´ll read all about the trips I´ve taken, the sights I´ve seen, my new friends and fears as well as my triumphs! You´ll also hear all about Karolina and Neil who love me dearly and are my partners in crime! So, welcome to Leah´s World! Woof, woof!!!!

Sniffing out England.

In the 2 times I've been of the European mainland to visit something other than a Greek island, we've passed through England pretty quickly and went straight to the wonderfully fresh smelling(but cold)Scotland.... At the start of this year, I got to sniff out a bit of history. This is me and Neil at Hadrian's wall:

Winter Coat ad Advent Calendars.

Neil and Karolina have bee increasingly wearing more clothes recently, so I decided that maybe I would help and do the same and they would look slightly less stupid. I'm not really convinced it will be the latest dogwalk fashion in Milan and Paris, but it sure keeps you warm on the bridges of Amsterdam.

What will be next I ask you? Furry Wellies? Ear muffs? I really don't think so. In fact, truth be told, I don't really need the scarf. I was only doing it for fashion reasons. I think it really makes my eyes sparkle.

Karoina and Neil seem to be eating a lot more food since it started getting cold. They have started eating much mroe sottish food and a lot less grekey sladey things. Which is great news for me, cos Scottish food makes great plate licking food. They have even taken to eating chocolate for breakfast out of a big cardboard box with lots of holes in it. I an't really complain, cos I have a special one too:

Mine is special doggie chocolate. I'm not allowed chocolate.

New Adventures!

Long time no see friends! I've been very busy exploring The Netherlands! I'm afraid I haven't kept up with my blog.....But I'm back!! At the moment I'm hiding in the bathroom because it's raining outside and there's a lot of noise- not my cup of tea....I think I'll stay in here for awhile and when the coast is clear I'll no doubt be out and about on the streets of Amsterdam! Let's see- where did we leave off? Well, I have take many trips since the last time I posted up here. Most recently I was in Maastricht, Lueven, and Brugge with N+K and my new buddies Fraser and Sarah....We had an absolute blast! I even got to have my own backpack!!




I was really quite proud of myself and was the center of attention everywhere I went! I even had my picture taken 3 times- I don't think many dogs have backpacks like mine here......I was also very brave on this trip; we went to Valkenburg which was a beautiful place with a castle and what they called a "Fluweelengrot" which looked like a cave to me! You won't believe it, but I went on a tour of the dark caves too! I have proof:


oops- walk time!! I'll have to finish later!! :)

Is this thing on?

Sorry, camera trouble, was just doing a test shot before I start reporting again.

My Trip to Haarlem

A new resolution: Karolina, Neil and I decided we truly wanted to explore as much of The Netherlands as possible- so as soon as Neil had holidays we embarked on a long adventure of discovering various Dutch cities! They were a little worried about how I would behave- but of course they had no reason to! I was extremely well-behaved! Our first stop was the city of Haarlem. I loved how small and quiet the city was- I wasn´t at all afraid and all the people were very friendly to me....A very nice lady even offered to take care of me while K and N went into a museum...but both mom and Neil knew I was a little sceptical so they decided to visit all the museums another time. We were very lucky that day because the weather was gorgeous, but I noticed K and N turned a different colour....strange.....I didn´t want to mention anything because I love them and didn´t want to hurt their feelings.....I really don´t understand why they just don´t shed their hair like I do....It´s much easier than changing colours....Oh well.....We were following a guide book that told us what path to take through the city....although we really didn´t need it- I could sniff my way around any city...but again K and N seemed a little worried so I indulged them and let them waste time reading instructions! I was on a fact finding mission...animals, food, gardens, canals, it was a feast for the senses!

I met one or two animals, I think they call them cats..but they seemed very afraid of me and one even hissed at me, so I decided to keep my distance....I did get a tad jealous when Neil decided to spend extra time with one of the cats...but don´t tell him....I tried to get his attention by showing him how talented I was...you know the usual thing that amuses humans: bark, bark, tail wag, body spin, etc....but to no avail....Anyway, the point is that we found the cats in what the Dutch call "Hofjes" or "courtyards." These were courtyards enclosed by rows of sweet little homes that were first laid out as monasteries in the Middle Ages. I read somewhere that they eventually took on broader roles for hospitals and inns, or as refuges for orphans, (like me), widows and the elderly. We also saw the main square of the old town, which is called "Grote Markt" where we stopped for some Herring! We took some beautiful pictures of the town hall and the "Grote Kerk" which is a Gothic Cathedral with a 50m-high steeple that can be seen from almost anywhere in the city.