gustavo, our champion swimmer :)
yesterday was my day off and francesco's afternoon off. we decided to go on a "family" outing (a.k.a. with penelope & gustavo) to the magra river. unfortunately, dogs aren't allowed at the beaches here in italy but they are allowed at the rivers (hence the decision for this outing). we loaded up penelope & gustavo & all the gear into our very spacious smart (hahaha!) and headed out. the magra river runs between la spezia and santo stefano di magra/sarzana. it's not a popular destination because we're right on the seaside (so who would bother going to the riverside?).
after some offroad (talk about 4x4 in my little smart!) we came to a great spot and we had it all to ourselves! the best part was that we were able to have penelope & gustavo off the leash without any worries about other people or dogs (something that hardly ever happens here).
penelope actually acted more adventurous than usual and was the first to wade in (not too far though!). the river is actually really low right now after months without significant rainfall so we could easily wade from one side to the other (it was about waist high on us). we learned that gustavo (once he gains up the courage) is a SUPER STAR SWIMMER! wowowowowowow! and the funniest thing is that he's FAAAAAAAST! he swam so much faster than we could walk! penelope wasn't very confident with swimming so we eventually put her life jacket on her but then we had a little near-drowning experience! while gustavo was swimming he would swim towards us and then try and climb up on us (ouch! i have the scratches to prove it). so when he saw penelope floating/swimming with her life jacket on he tried to do the same thing to her. result: he climbed up on penelope's back thus pushing her completely underwater. kind of like when people are drowning and they cling on to whomever or whatever they can find... francesco dove and pulled him off before it became disastrous (thank goodness!). but that about wrapped up our swimming for the day! penelope & gustavo were both SO tired that they crashed on the way home. last night we didn't hear a peep from either of them. ha!
the creepiest thing at the river was that it was full of minnows (and i mean FULL). when we waded in they would all swim away but as soon as the water calmed a bit they would come in and start touching your legs with their little mouths... EWWW! reminds me of an article grandma sent me about the new pedicures in the states where you put your feet & legs in a vat with little fish in them and they eat the dead skin cells... how disgusting is that?!? i guess i got my own free spa treatment yesterday. ha! ;)
after some offroad (talk about 4x4 in my little smart!) we came to a great spot and we had it all to ourselves! the best part was that we were able to have penelope & gustavo off the leash without any worries about other people or dogs (something that hardly ever happens here).
penelope actually acted more adventurous than usual and was the first to wade in (not too far though!). the river is actually really low right now after months without significant rainfall so we could easily wade from one side to the other (it was about waist high on us). we learned that gustavo (once he gains up the courage) is a SUPER STAR SWIMMER! wowowowowowow! and the funniest thing is that he's FAAAAAAAST! he swam so much faster than we could walk! penelope wasn't very confident with swimming so we eventually put her life jacket on her but then we had a little near-drowning experience! while gustavo was swimming he would swim towards us and then try and climb up on us (ouch! i have the scratches to prove it). so when he saw penelope floating/swimming with her life jacket on he tried to do the same thing to her. result: he climbed up on penelope's back thus pushing her completely underwater. kind of like when people are drowning and they cling on to whomever or whatever they can find... francesco dove and pulled him off before it became disastrous (thank goodness!). but that about wrapped up our swimming for the day! penelope & gustavo were both SO tired that they crashed on the way home. last night we didn't hear a peep from either of them. ha!
the creepiest thing at the river was that it was full of minnows (and i mean FULL). when we waded in they would all swim away but as soon as the water calmed a bit they would come in and start touching your legs with their little mouths... EWWW! reminds me of an article grandma sent me about the new pedicures in the states where you put your feet & legs in a vat with little fish in them and they eat the dead skin cells... how disgusting is that?!? i guess i got my own free spa treatment yesterday. ha! ;)
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