Whippet Snippets

Whippet snippets: in print

Ribsy and Mirabel had a bit o' fun last night trying out Blurb's bookmaking software.

The book they ended up creating is very simple, but you know what, the end result ain't too shabby considering it was their first time.

You can preview the first 15 pages - and even order it, haha! - from the Blurb bookstore.

That's the neat part. For business folks, for writers, for photographers - Blurb is a cool way for them to share and publish their work, and maybe even make a few bucks while they're at it.

The stars are back

Ribsy and Mirabel are determined to not let the cooling weather diminish this summer's blog action. Here's a visual memo, posted to themselves, to keep the momentum going.

Who says you can't go home?

Ribsy and Mirabel twirled and jumped and ran with delight, pawing with affection over the return of Boy and Girl yesterday. Hooray for routines again!

Being the ever-so-curious pup that he is, Ribsy went sniffing through the 1000 plus photos on the digital cameras and found numerous furry creatures. Turns out Girl was busy snapping photos of anything on four feet from fancy white horses called Lipizzaners, to feral cats, to - gasp - other whippets.
Jealousy aside, Ribsy is happy to see that they looked that they had a good time.
Ribsy would have been all smiles too, had he eaten all the food that they did. Hmph. Oh well. He is just glad that his people are back and all is right in the world again (although staying at Daphne and Niles' digs definitely had its perks).

Ribsy and Mirabel, we're almost home

Guest blogger girl writes:

An epic 12 hour trek from Ljubljana to our hotel by the airport in Budapest has us feeling exhausted. Managed to upload the hundreds of remaining photos that we took, an am wondering how best to share it. Think I will cull them down. We each used a camera so you can imagine all the duplicate shots we took at minutely different angles. I'm pretty happy with most of them, though, and can't wait to post more when we get back to the Hammer, and to Ribsy and Mirabel.

I missd them terribly, I know the Boy did too, though he doesn't always say it. But randomly he will bring up their names, and we both smile with anticipation over the prospect of seeing them tomorrow. Yay!

It is sad, though to say goodbye to another vacation. So many memories and not enough time to see them all or really savour the ones we did manage to make our way too. Highlights for us definitely included a mountain-top, completely walled village called Motovun in Croatia, where you have to park your car at the bottom of the hill and make your way up on foot.

Another standout in our very brief dip into Croatia was Rovinj, a picturesque seaside town on the Adriatic. It was in a market there that we saw an adorable painting of a whippet in a gallery window.

The most magical place? Probably Lake Bohinj in our new favorite country Slovenia.

Honorable mention- for Boy anyways, goes to Predjama Castle, wedged for over 700 years into a Slovenian cliff.

More to come when we get back!

Wet in Slovenia

Guest blogger Girl writes:

We picked up our rental car yesterday in Ljubljana and spent one last night in the city ~ at one of the top ranked hostels in the world, Hostel Celica. Converted from a prison into budget accommodation each of the 20 private rooms was an actual cell back in the day. Now 20 artists have each spun their own artistic yarn to create 20 unique layouts. To top it all off, original bars grace each doorway.

Off bright and early this morning to the Julian Alps, through many switchbacks winding their way through old villages, valleys and lush forests. But early this afternoon the rain struck. And it has been relentless. Took a short hike to see a waterfall and we are drenched. The good news is that beer is ridulously cheap and so is accommodation in a room of a local lady´s house close to the lake.  Had a wonderful meal in a cozy family run bistro ~ a plate of local cheeses, Slovenian sausage, corn hash, potatoes, and sauerkraut.

Going to wait out the rain tonight, and will hopefully have the opportunity to take some photos that do this beautiful part of the world justice.

OH! Saw our first Slovenian whippet today! A handsome muscular tan specimen named Philippe. How cute is that?

The horse and hound

Guest blogger Girl writes:

After two trains and a Euro dance trash music-filled bus ride which totaled 10 hours, we were successful in our journey from Budapest to Ljubljana (we pronounce it LOOB-YANNA, which hopefully is not too much of a bastardization), Slovenia. So we switched gears from Hungarian to Slovene, from florints to euros, and from curt to not-as-curt-but-still-curt.

The Loob is a beautiful old medieval city - seems just slightly bigger than Victoria - with a lively Old Town framed by cafes, pubs, restaurants, and the occasional dragon, with the Ljubljana Castle up on the hill watching over all the action.

   And also in the Old Town? A fast food joint specializing in gigantic horsemeat burgers, and a pet boutique (or butik as they say in Slovene) flanked with a pair of flashy ornamental whippets. Disappointingly everything inside catered to the purse dog crowd but it was nice to see our skinny hounds appreciated as the works of art that they most assuredly are.

Quick Pics

Guest blogger Girl writes:
A few photos from today's Budapest sightseeing - highlights included a charming cobblestoned village north of the city and Statue Park, a unique round-up of 40 or so statues, memorials and plaquettes from the Communist era in Hungary, arranged in an eerily stark, no-nonsense fashion.

Hungary whippets

Guest blogger Girl writes:

Arrived in Budapest, Hungary, safe and sound on Saturday afternoon. Have thoroughly enjoyed the sights so far, which have included the Royal Palace, a Turkish bath, a sobering museum dedicated to the country's occupation by the Nazis and the Communists, a public market with more sausage stands per square metre than possibly any other place in the world, and a Labyrinth below Buda Castle.

And spotted on the very first morning in Budapest: 2 whippets!!

Stirring it up

In the past few days Ribsy's ears have perked up suspiciously as Boy and Girl talk excitedly about somewhere hungry? He doesn't really get it. He did find this photo on Boy's laptop though, and suspects this is what's making them hungry. Hmm, thought Ribsy. Looks a bit, erm, ghoulish.

Whippets of mass destruction

Don't be fooled by the innocent faces of Mirabel, Ribsy and Daphne. According to this research study, whippets are in the top five of the most destructive dog breeds. Yep, these little whips apparently stir up more damage than beagles, Jack Russells and labs! And topping the list as the Supreme Destroyer of the House? Great Danes.