Traveling in Italy - with Cats!

In this episode we talk all about our adventures and misadventures of traveling with our cats throughout Italy. 

Among other things, you’ll hear about:

- The “redecorating” that our cats did in a Tuscan apartment;

- The time Hoover got clinically depressed; and 

- Hoover’s big showdown with Napoleon.

We recorded this episode from our rental place in Chianti region, to which we transferred ourselves for two weeks with the cats!

Want to know more about us and our travel services? Find us at: 

www.LittleRoadsEurope.com

www.facebook.com/LittleRoadsEurope

We craft small-town driving itineraries for travelers to Italy, Ireland and Scotland.

And our "alter-egos" as musicians:

www.OrsiniVirtuosi.it

Transcript

TRAVELING AROUND ITALY W CATS podcast notes

Note: This is not a complete transcript, but rather the show notes we write in advance to prepare for the episode. 

INTRO: 

Welcome to Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond

Today we’re talking about TRAVELING WITH CATS, 

Among other things, you’ll hear about:

- The “redecorating” that our cats did in a Tuscan apartment;

- The time Hoover got clinically depressed; and 

- Hoover’s big showdown with Napoleon

[music up then down to 20%]

This is Matt Walker          …and I’m Zeneba Bowers - 

We’re recording while sitting on the terrace of our tiny home in Italy - so you’ll get a sense of the sounds of life in our little town - complete with church bells, cats meowing, motor scooters and trains and the town’s daily siren, and maybe… 

“ … we’ll be talking about traveling in Italy with cats, in today’s chat - here on Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond.”

[Music up then fade out]

For those of you who don’t know us: We are professional musicians and also travel writers and consultants, living and working here in Italy for over 6 years now. 

If you want to learn more about us and our lives, you can find us on our website LittleRoadsEurope..com, on our socials, and here on this podcast, which we’re going to do unedited, as if you’re sitting here chatting with us - 

…and by the way, the intro music ecc ecc — 

So let’s get to talking about traveling with cats!

One of the things I learned from moving to Italy was to think outside the box - think about what I want to happen and allow my mind to be open, and see if there’s any logistical way to make that happen

We wished we could travel but to have the cats with us

Searched for places that allow cats, shocked to discover that this was fairly commonly accepted

1st time was Narni festival, even though only 45 minutes away

Super hot, had to be at gig 6-10 hours a day, hard to be there, no common area to sit except a public bar

So this solution was a relief, especially having a place with a pool also. 

Also needed place w AC, can’t cat-proof a rental place. 

Became a vacation for the cats too, because the heat is always hard for them

Did this the next summer - Barely broke even, maybe netted 100 bucks

[One rental place, neighbors had Napoleone the chihuahua, big showdown with Hoover who was twice his weight but absolutely terrified)

Eventually decided we could do this independently of a gig, worked it into research trip instead.

Travel in cooler months gave more options. Because we do this with them, it has really allowed us to slowly explore these regions over and over

Decided 3-4 hour drive was maximum we could handle w cats meowing all the way

Packed 3 cats into Fiat 500, litterboxes, feeders, food, pellets, etc (as well as actual stuff for ourselves), SOMETIMES INSTRUMENTS TOO (plus stands, music ecc) Gets ridiculous

Unloading is almost as hard as loading

Chianti 13th C  medieval tower converted - after that we try to find place that can pull up to, and few or no stairs

1st thing we do is look for  stuff they might break or scratch and put it away, then put huge flannel sheets on furniture to protect it.  Meanwhile they are investigating every nook and cranny. Travel like this really keeps them young

We only really ran into one major damage problem: Wallpaper in apartment that the cats scratched, we trimmed it and covered w aluminum foil

In ancient tower, cats didn’t want to climb all those stairs which were so old (except Coconut). NO AC, so at that time we were traveling with big screens, and also screens with duct tape. After this we decided “this is not worth it” and stuck to places with AC

Modena place - guy didn’t let us open shutters, even though it was winter 

Parma place - depressing space, half basement, small window only

— “ADVERTISEMENT” BREAK —

That reminds me that we need to stop for a word from our sponsor - - - - 

- - - just kidding, we don’t have any sponsors - and we’re not looking for any either, we want to keep this an ad-free show.

So today’s show is brought to you by: A Good Idea. And today’s Good Idea is: 

Think outside the box when it comes to…. Well, anything. A lot of great things happened for us because we made the choice to do something unusual, something others thought was crazy. Our Grammy nomination, where the entire recording project was double the size of the annual budget for our ensemble. Our collaboration with a publisher, who helped us put together all five of our books. Moving with cats! Actually just moving at all. 

That’s not to say that everything is possible if you just want it to be, of course that is not true. But often we dismiss an idea, or a dream, because it seems unlikely. We’re just saying, allow yourself to imagine unusual ways you can make your dreams a reality. 

_______________________

That’s it!

… So anyway, where were we?

Funny thing is, these places are double or more the size of our house. Over time we learned what worked and what didn’t, how to make better choices. Every single time, we are grateful for the trip, but also so glad to return home, because even though our house is tiny, it is really perfect for us. Would be better with two bathrooms though

Also we bring toys and harness/leash to take them for walks, especially in pool places like this Chianti one with the lawn

One funny thing: when we go away, we always try to organize workers to come and do work on the house, if there is any to be done. We live in a 500sq ft, or 50sq meters house, with just one big open space. So when there is work going on, Socksie and Hoover and constantly, endlessly underfoot, “supervising”. So we try to get the workers to come when we are not here, which is just an extra complication. This time we are having some tile work done, a bathroom and kitchen fan replaced, and a couple other little things. Over the years we have come back home to a variety of conditions! So sometimes when we come back it is a major cleaning project right away. 

Ask us anything: Are you going to get more cats?

OUTRO: 

I think that’s a good place to wrap it up here - we hope you enjoyed joining us for this chat about driving cats around Italy! 

If you enjoyed what you’ve heard, please give us a like or a good rating on your favorite platform, and tell your friend about us…

And don't forget our “Ask us anything”, where you can send us questions and we’ll answer them in a later episode.

We talk about a wide variety of topics here on this podcast, from travel tips to slice-of-life stories - we’ll post a new episode every Tuesday. 

So catch us next time - we’ll see you down the Little Roads… CIAO!