This post was triggered by an article I ran across applauding the Madrid subway system’s recent decision to eliminate fees for pets. (Buen trabajo, Madrid!) I’ve since learned that Madrid’s public transit system, including metro trains, buses, and cercanías local rail, is vast.… Read the rest
I had previously stayed at Kimpton hotels in Portland — the Hotel Monaco, which I’ve reviewed, and the Kimpton RiverPlace Hotel, which I haven’t — but my uncle is a devoted fan of the Mark Spencer Hotel, and finally persuaded me to give it a try.… Read the rest
Put briefly, your pet dog need only be leashed and muzzled to travel on Rome’s public transit, but there is a fee. Broadening the focus beyond Rome, small pets in carriers travel for free on Trenitalia regional and long-distance trains, while there is a fee for larger dogs. … Read the rest
I’ll just admit up front that this is a low point in my life as a blogger: Reader Stefanie sent me two fantastic messages about this trip a year ago — yes, in June 2015 — and I am only now posting them on the blog.… Read the rest
Cottonwood, Idaho is a very small town in a very beautiful part of the U.S. It’s located on Highway 95, a humdinger of a road stretching the length of Idaho’s Panhandle. Thankfully for my nerves, the part we drove was not a twisty, plunge-y part of the highway, but if you like twists and plunges, U.S.… Read the rest
At the top of my list of two-week vacation ideas is a road trip down the Hudson River, starting much farther north, in Québec City and Montréal, then dawdling from Saratoga Springs to New York City. The foreseeable future doesn’t include two free weeks, however, so I’m channeling my energies into planning and researching. … Read the rest
About a month ago, Chloe and I traveled from Seattle to Portland (and back) via Amtrak. I look at that sentence and I marvel: For the past seven years, I’ve been wistfully comparing Amtrak’s draconian pet policy to European trains’ typically generous policies, and praising the rare U.S.… Read the rest
I made a note of this on Dog Jaunt’s Facebook page, but posts there soon scroll out of view, and it would be a shame to lose track of such a useful tidbit of info: One of Dog Jaunt’s Facebook followers turns out to be a taxi service based in Folkestone, a city which is, among other things, at the U.K.… Read the rest
A little note at the end of a Harriet Baskas article electrified me. “The list,” she wrote, referring to pet relief areas on the air (or “sterile”) side of security, “should get much longer soon: There’s a U.S. Department of Transportation ruling mandating that all air terminals that serve more than 10,000 daily passengers have a post-security pet relief area by August 2016.”… Read the rest
Two flights ago, I was progressing through the security line with Chloe in her carrier over my shoulder, and a TSA screening dog came up from behind us with his or her handler. The dog stopped briefly, clearly (to me) having noticed Chloe’s presence, and the handler (also briefly, thank goodness) tensed up.… Read the rest
