All dogs chipped

Out early as we had to get going in order to be at Maleme by 12:00 for our vet appointment. Stavros is quite flexible but we arrived on time anyway. The previous visit was for Pea and Princess and to have Charlie updated in absentia. This was the turn of Obi and Oskar who has never visited the vet other than as a puppy for sterilisation when they were all done.

We were out for the Early Walk just after six and completed three circuits of the Promontory to assist me in my February goal which is to burn 3,890KJ per day. My daily goal is set at 3,040 making an additional 886KJ. The sky was mostly clear with a good view of Venus and Jupiter. Luis had forsaken his ball early on and Fido was hanging on to his.

I wanted to run, do my core workout and shower before breakfast so as to be ready to leave at 10:15 as I needed to pick up some money for Maria from Manolis’ filling station on the way. I ran to Krios stopping at the bakers on the return leg in order to pick up a pastry for Tony. I completed my workout, showered and was in the middle of my breakfast when a customer arrived who wanted to use the washing machine. I then got into reading the electricity meter for Claudia as they were leaving to go to Elafonissi. My scheduling was now shot to pieces which was a blow as Tony and Ursula were good to go before the appointed hour.

We collected Maria’s money from the filling station and set off to Maleme. It was not too long before the dogs, who were in the rear section behind the back seat were puking. Fortunately, there was some paper on the floor which I was able to dump a little later on. It was a beautifully sunny day so the views of the mountains were as clear as can be.

We were at the vets a little ahead of time so needed to wait whilst he dealt with the previous patient. Obi was first for his chip and rabies jab, followed by Oskar who I though might be more of a problem. Obi squeaked a little but Oskar was fine.

Maria turned up to see Ursula and Tony as she’d missed them when she was in the camping a couple of days previously. They eventually went off to a nearby café whist I dealt with the paperwork. All of the dogs now have microchips and current rabies vaccinations. They are in the government database so all we need to be completely compliant is to take the copies of the paperwork to the local offices and we’re done!

The return trip included a visit to Maleme German military cemetery which is on a hillside above the airstrip they were attempting to take in May 1941 during the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_CreteBattle of Crete. It is the final resting place of some 4,500 men aged mostly in their early twenties but some as young as nineteen. Considering the average age of the combat soldier in Vietnam was nineteen, I suppose this is to be expected. As war cemeteries go, it was in a lovely location and beautifully maintained. It was a good visit on a fine and sunny day.

The journey back to Grammeno was uneventful. I took the dogs out for their evening walk once the Swiss guy with the three dogs vacated the Promontory. The only excitement of the walk was the arrival of a fisherman just as we were about to leave. Unperturbed by his ordeal, Oskar managed to bark at him assisted by Luis. The dogs enjoyed some biscuits and meat so are now snoozing peacefully. I’m eating out of the freezer tonight.