Sunday, October 20, 2013

Cool European cats.............


You either do or you don't..................love cats.

Personally I'm a cat person - I like dogs but really 
enjoy cats more. I was the owner of one who made her 
home with us for 21 years and is missed still!



Everywhere we went, Venice, Croatia, the Greek Islands, Istanbul, we were surrounded by cats, mostly feral, always well-cared for by the locals. Some places have programs in place to spay/neuter, everywhere appeared to have people who fed the cats and gave them a warm place to stay. A delightful gentleman, Mustafa - a carpet dealer in Istanbul, shared his cats with us - via his huge photo album on his phone. He cares for 50 feral cats, feeding them and allowing them to rest and pose for him on the colorful carpets. One male came every day for 5 years to eat, one day bringing a kitten with him, then disappeared and was not seen again.
  

The Venetian cats were domesticated and seen mostly peeking from the windows of apartments along the canals....twitching their whiskers in the sunshine, oblivious to the thousands of tourists passing by.


So here I'm sharing some photos of the cats of all colors I met in the Mediterranean.


Our dear English friend Babs loves cats too..........here 
she was taken with the black and white one similar 
to her own kitty back in Blackpool.


One of the funniest cat tales happened here at lunch during 
our shore excursion to Argostoli on the Greek Island of Kefalonia.....


........while seated at a pretty table - loved the tablecloths - on the sunny waterfront.


There were plenty of cats strolling through our legs 
under the tables, all quietly waiting............some of 
the braver ones trying to get in Kim's lap when the 
food was brought out......


.............expecting a taste of this I'm certain!
Note the poor sea bream is smiling - isn't that hilarious.

Kim and I don't eat meat so when the set lunch of lamb was being brought to the table we asked for the 'vegetarian option' and both were served a smiling fish!!! As we do eat fish now and then we were OK with this and it was actually delicious. Perhaps the Greeks consider fish vegetarian. The accompaniments were potatoes and eggplant.




These lazy looking cats were at the monastery......


             .....some were game for photography tips from Rob, 
probably because he came down to their level........

....others just got on with grooming, oblivious to an audience!



Mykonas cats..................an island remembered for 
the great 90's movie Shirley Valentine starring the 
wonderful Pauline Collins.





Greek island cats....................Crystal Serenity 
at anchor while we visited Mykonas.


Sweet kittens.......hard to leave them behind.



Cats among the ruins at Ephesus, Turkey...............




........and Istanbul street cats with manners as 
the tabby waits its turn.......


....while this one found a colorful spot to rest outside a Turkish restaurant.
Yes, a long post, perhaps you skipped much of it if you're a dog person.................but the cats were so adorable I just had to share!
Meow!!!!!

Edited: I just found this post in my archive, apparently I never got around to posting it last year when returning from the trip - probably because I was too busy getting ready to go home to England for the Holidays.

DOGS or CATS......who do you snuggle with?


20 comments:

  1. Dear Mary, We love dogs AND cats. I love the way they interact and how they are company to each other. Great photographs. I see my Stanley cat in several pictures. It does my heart good to see those well fed and well taken care of cats.

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  2. Nice post, I love the photos. Thanks to sharing! hugs from Brazil.

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  3. Cintia, thank you for stopping by and leaving such a nice comment.
    A visit to Brazil is on my wish list as one of my dearest friends is from Sao Paulo (but now lives here).....and I hope to go visit her home some day!

    Happy day - Mary

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    1. Oh nice, be welcome! I'm from São Paulo too and , I also live in São Paulo. I hope you can come in some day =)
      Have a nice week Mary!

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  4. Hi Mary, a delightful post! I certainly snuggle with cats :o)
    Have a great week, hope you're feeling better.
    Hugs
    Rose H
    xx

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  5. Dear Mary, I'm a dog person, through & through but I did enjoy this post, as always it's a joy to travel with you. So glad you finally(!) shared these photographs with us.

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  6. Lovely cats - we both are cat people. I like how they are so accepted in the society and taken care of. Beautiful photos.

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  7. My you've come across quite a few cats on your travels!! They are such lovely creatures though, and wonderful for a photograph :) I admit I'm more of a dog person, but I love cats a lot too. As I browse through your blog my Dad's dog Jake is snuggled up beside me on the couch, both os us enjoying the warmth of the fire on this chill October evening.

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  8. This was a fun post and interesting to see all of the European cats. I like cats OK, but not in love with them. I owned a cat for a while (given to me) and it was a temperamental beast, unfortunately. After a couple of years, I found it another home. I adore dogs. I've had several, most recently a divine Belgian Malinois called Buddy. He died about 5 years old, just one week shy of 12 years old. He was so smart and devoted. Now we are petless, which is just fine for us at this point in our lives.

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  9. Oh wow... I loved every bit of this and will look at it all over again when I am done with my comment. I am definitely a cat person.
    They are beautiful animals aren't they? They all look so well fed. That makes me happy.

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  10. Mary, I love both dogs and cats, though the only cats here at the moment are the collection of black cats that are on my table as Halloween decor.
    Great shots!

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  11. Hi Mary! I love cats!! Cats are my favorite my son's too! This was a lovely post I really enjoyed it!
    Pamela xo

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  12. Your cat photos are very sweet although I'm not a cat lover. I'd rather snuggle with a dog any day. :) And even that took me all my life until 13 years ago when we got our dog. Cats sure do know how to pose and look pretty though. Pamela

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  13. I love this post and I love cats! My husband I I traveled for 3 months back in 2006 throughout Asia and Europe and my goal was to get a picture with a cat in each country. Greece had most of them! When we travel now I still try to meet a cat in each country!

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  14. I prefer dogs but have a cat who is 17 now. I don't want to walk a dog several times a day as I have no yard. Maybe someday...

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  15. Those shots are beautiful and the subjects sooooo cute!!

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  16. I love both cats and dogs and if I had my way I would have one of each!!!
    We always had cats until we moved to our town house, so now I would love a dog, but there is resistance from another member of my household who shall remain nameless!

    These are gorgeous photos - you could write a beautiful travel cat book - you've got the images and a great story line!
    I love all the photos - I'm the biggest softie when it comes to animals or children - in a perfect world there would be no orphans.

    Hugs
    Shane

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  17. I snuggle my Joey Cat. Several in your photos reminded me of him.
    Love seeing the cats along your travels.

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  18. Good morning Mary
    I loved this post because I am a cat lover. After always having at least one and most of the time two cats I am sad that we no longer can have them. One of our grandsons and now my new son in law are very allergic. So if we have cats they can't come to visit. Our daughter just recently had to find a home for her two cats since she was getting married and it was such a hard thing to do.
    We are having a beautiful fall day here. Hope you are too!

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  19. I really enjoyed this post, Mary. There is no doubt I am a cat person but still love our dog, Kane. Your photos are wonderful, especially the cats in windows. Deb

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