Shots, ash clouds and baboon hugs...

After his busy day at UCL London, the weekend was calling for Lippe - the weekend, and the vet!!! Oh yes, Miss Posh Cat @jazzydacat had to get her yearly shots!!! I don't know much about that stuff, as I was only being shot once, when I had a bad inflammation in my eyes and the vet shot the vitamins right into my neck!!! I guess, she never heard about those painless little vitamin pills... But however, this is not about me... Darn it!!!

Before they took off to the vet, Lippe needed an English breakfast to start the day. Otherwise, the noises coming out of his tummy had been sooooo loud, that the vet would have thought he was the patient!!!

When Lippe's tummy was filled up with sausages, he was ready to leave the house. But where is our poshy cat?! Still in front of the mirror?! As if the pink carrier wasn't stylish enough!!!

Hours later - arrival at the vet's. Jazzy had to find her engagement ring from @cokiethecat first!!! She refused to leave the house without it!!!

Jazzy recognized the place, I will try to translate her expression: "Darn it, darn it, darn it!!! How come, they brought me here again?!" While Lippe still seems to dream about sausages, steaks, ice cream, sweets...

Miss Posh decided to take it all like a lady and to ignore the vet preparing the shots behind her back!!! Lippe did his best to calm her down and to pretend it wasn't him, who took her to this terrifying place. Did she believe him??? Check the look on her face to find the answer!!!

There she is, Samantha the vet, and Lippe got really excited, as he awaited an old grumpy man to be the vet... He tried to catch her eye, but his blue eyes didn't work, Samantha kept concentrating on her job.

We're all feeling with you, Jazzy!!! OUCH!!! But she kept her stiff upper lip and was like "anything going on here???" Lippe was a bit afraid to get prickled himself, so he tried to hide under Jazzy's tummy... And according to the vet, there is enough space to hide, as she mentioned the BAD diet word!!!

Back home, Jazzy and Lippe both needed a nappy. At least, it's not forbidden to dream of treats and you won't need a diet after tasting them!!!

But when Lippe had a look at sleeping beauty Jazzy, he thought, she might be a wonderful fluffy fur bed for him!!! He just had to give it a try!!!

Later on, they decided to play some funny games. Or maybe, the kick was for using her Majesty as a fur bed!!!

But when they turned on the TV, the fun was all over!!! Lippe's beloved BBC News girl told them about the Icelandic volcano with the funny name and the not so funny ash cloud it was sending towards them!!!

Oh boy, they needed protection from the ashes!!! So, they had a little chat about what to do and found the ultimate solution...

I proudly present their efficient little helper to fight aliens and ash clouds!!! The stylish (of course) "bad ash helmet"!!!

The bad ash helmet will soon be available for all sizes worldwide in a shop near you!!!

But the ash cloud did not only bring design awards for the bad ash helmet, it also caused BIG trouble to Lippe's schedule!!! He was set to fly to the USA after visiting Jazzy, but the cloud said NO, no one's gonna fly, where I am flying!!! Naughty!!!

Lippe was grounded and we had to find another solution!!! And the solution was called @Kolo_Martin!!! He offered to welcome Lippe at his house, as his pawson was kept grounded too, not because of the ashes, but due to an illness, which suddenly occured, when she was on her way to the airport, to catch a flight to Texas!!! Because of Judith's Texas holiday, Lippe was originally set to visit Kolo and his family on his way back home from the US and Australia, but destiny brought them together earlier!!!

There was a BIG pawty to say goodbye to Lippe at da Jazzy's house, but no one knew, he would return!!! But that's another story to tell... Oh yes, Lippe wanted adventure and he got plenty of it!!!

Moving on to Kolo was a rather short trip, as the Isle of Wight is not too far away from London and Kolo's pawson Judith even is a born London girl!!! The beautiful isle is located in the English channel 3-8 miles off the south coast of England and you can only reach it by hovercraft!!! What fun for Lippe!!!

The first thing Lippe saw when he arrived, were Kolo's wide open arms, to give him one of his BIG baboon hugs!!! And we all know, Kolo is a professional hugger!!!

Lippe mentioned to be a bit hungry, just a tiny bit and Kolo and his mate @Leroy_Sealion offered him chocolates and a warm welcome tea.

That made Lippe feel at home right away and he told Kolo and Leroy everything he had seen so far. They were quite impressed by his stories!!!

But Kolo had something on tab to impress with as well - his lovely garden!!! He took Lippe outside to show him around.

Lippe just loved Kolo's beautiful balcony with all the flowers and had to check if he could offer a helping hand to water them.

And Kolo had another surprise for Lippe - he and his family have their own football museum at their house!!! At least do they have enough footy collectibles, to open up a museum with them!!!

Lippe was impressed with the World Cup mascots collection...

...and especially with the World Cup Willie toffee tin, which was created for World Cup 1966 in England. I bet, he thought, there were still toffees inside!!! And I'm sure, he would have eaten 44 years old toffees!!!

After looking at the pawsom football collection, Lippe had a chat with the Gunnersaurus, who has a very important job - he is working as the FC Arsenal London mascot. He had a lot to tell about being such a famous mascot and Lippe started to think about replacing Hennes, the living billy goat, as mascot for FC Köln, when being back home...

Later, Lippe went up to the balcony again, to enjoy the beautiful view, Kolo has from his home. He can see Portsmouth on one hand...

...and Southampton on the other.

But this was only Lippe's first day at Kolo's home and there is sooooo much more to tell... And I promise to catch up with my next post sooner!!!

But to let everybody know - Lippe already entered the US shores and is currently with his first US host @grrlysquirrel, who lives near Boston, MA!!!

Where is my Nobel Prize?!

On his second day in London, Lippe went to work with @jazzydacat's human sister Miss Trea. And "dat Trea", to say it with Jazzy, works at University College London (UCL). Pretty much fun, fun, fun for professor Lippe!!!

But you all know it - Lippe can't start his day, without his breakfast!!! As he is a good looking chap, it is not necessary for him to spend much time in front of the mirror, he rather has his toast, egg and English breakfast tea.

Then, Miss Trea took him to the bus stop, where they had to wait for the bus, to take them to Bloomsbury.

Lippe got his own London Oyster card from Miss Trea and he looks very proud of it!!!

They soon arrived at UCL and Lippe was really impressed!!! University College London was founded in 1826 and has the highest number of professors of any university in the United Kingdom. They have 648 established and personal chairs and I guess, Lippe got chair number 649!!! But at UCL, they also have the highest number of female professors, and hearing this was music to Lippe's ears!!! But wait - ears?! Okay, let's say, they are hidden inside his head!!!

However, UCL was the first university in England to admit students of any race, class or religion and it was also the first to welcome women on equal terms with men. And look, Lippe got picked up, right after entering the hall...

Nowadays, UCL is ranked fourth in the world's top ten universities and Nobel Prizes have been awarded to 21 former academics and graduates. In October 2009, Professor Charles Kao was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physics. There are students from more than 140 countries outside the UK studying at UCL.

At the South Cloisters, Lippe met Jeremy Bentham, who is considered the godfather of UCL. Mr. Bentham lived from 1748-1832 and was a philosopher, jurist and legal and social reformer. He faught for the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women and animal rights!!!

Today, Mr. Bentham lives in his wooden cabinet called the Auto-icon!!! And believe me, it's really him!!! As requested in his will, his body was dissected as part of a public anatomy lecture. Scary!!! Afterward, the skeleton and head were preserved and stored in the Auto-icon. Mr. Bentham's skeleton was stuffed out with hay and dressed in his clothes. Scary!!! But now, it's getting REALLY scary - for the 100th and 150th anniversaries of UCL, Mr. Bentham's Auto-icon was brought to the meeting of the College Council, where it was listed as "present but not voting"!!! I guess, that's fine English humour!!! By the way, the Auto-icon has a wax head, as the original head was badly damaged in the preservation process. But it has been displayed for many years, together with the Auto-icon. And yes, it's getting scary one more time - it has been stolen during student pranks on more than one occasion!!!

Lippe also had a look at the Koptos lions, two monumental limestone lions from Early Dynastic Period. They have been repaired from many fragments and reconstructed by gap filling. What a relief to see, he's unable, to break them into thousands of tiny pieces again!!!

Then they went to Miss Trea's working place. She is secretary to the Undergraduate Teaching Committee and prepares all the Agenda, documentation and Minutes for circulation to all staff connected with undergraduate teaching. That must be a tough job, but Lippe came to offer her a helping hand...

...I said, Lippe came to offer her a helping hand and not to steal her rice crackers!!! Oh boy!!!

But Lippe found a job as printer boy - that means, he kept playing with the printer...

After playing and probably breaking the printer, Lippe had to check my bloggy, to make sure he's satisfied with the way I'm writing about him and his journey!!! He did not send me a letterbomb home, so, I guess, I'm doing okay...

I'm glad, Miss Trea found some time for working, while Lippe was fooling around, as she is also responsible for the production of Undergraduate Departmental Student Handbooks, which cover general information, course outlines, provisional syllabuses, aims and objectives.

And Miss Trea is editor of UCL Science, a glossy magazine which has a circulation of 13,000!!! Now, guess what - they mailed me issue 23 of UCL Science and I found a very interesting question inside!!! "Do you get sunburn from starlight?" What do you think??? I've learned, the risk of getting sunburned from starlight is even smaller than the threat of being killed by lightning. But it's a good headline for a scare story, isn't it?!

Miss Trea and Lippe made a break and she took him to the Slade School of Fine Art's, which is one of the UCL's most outstanding departments. And let me tell you something - mom's friend has a sister, who went to the Slade School of Fine Arts too!!! It's a small world!!!

UCL has many famous former students!!! They range from Mahatma Gandhi to all members of Coldplay and now, Lippe is standing in a row with them!!!

After a long hard working day, Lippe urgently needed to find a loo...

...and he was wondering, if any student at UCL is being stalked by that lady with the phone!!!

Thank you for this great day Lippe spent with you at UCL, Miss Trea!!! I hope, he learned a lot and he can take over his chair, when he finished his world trip!!!

Atlantis is calling... SOS for Lippe!!!

Oh boy, I'm really behind with my updates on Lippe's trip!!! So, for all his hosts, who didn't hear from me in a while, and for anybody who's interested, Lippe is currently enjoying life on the beautiful English Isle of Wight with @Kolo_Martin and @Leroy_Sealion and will then move on to Meowsachusetts, to meet his first US host @grrlysquirrel (aka my darling)!!! Lippe had to stay a bit longer in UK, as the volcano decided to blow his ashes up into the air, just when he wanted to take his journey across the BIG ocean!!! So, Lippe moved on to Kolo, whos female pawson had planned a trip to Texas, but was held in UK too, not because of the ash cloud, but due to a bug, that caused high temperature on her way to catch her flight!!! She was very sad, but Lippe came to cheer her up...

But that's not today's story!!! This post is about Lexie ( @dogstoyevsky for those of you, who still haven't met her) and her mum and dad, taking Lippe out to their boaty, the Atlantis!!! OMG, Lippe must have been sooooo excited!!!

I talked to Lexie about the Atlantis, and now I am an expert!!! I will give you all the info... right, when I found my fact sheet!!! Ah, there it is!!!

The Atlantis is a beam trawler, which was built in the Netherlands in 1968. I guess, that was when all the hippies started to show up, singing about love and peace and happiness and smoking BIG cigarettes. But back to the topic... The Atlantis is 100 ft in lenght and has a beam of 21 ft. Lexie told me, that "dat is across her from port to starboard". The boat weighs about 105 tons and has a Stork diesel engine 660 hp, with nautical mile range of 4,600.

She was busy fishing (not Lexie, the boaty!!!) for scallops in the Irish Sea until 2003. Then Lexie's mum and dad bought her from Kilmore Quay, Ireland.

They decided to turn the Atlantis into a motor yacht and have been busy working on making their dream come true, during the past seven years!!! And they worked really hard on turning the Atlantis into a yacht, on which they hope to welcome guests one day!!!

They removed all fishing gear, including A frame, winch and beam arms. Then they stripped out bow cabin and fishhold and built bedrooms and en-suite in the old fishhold. They also removed the old galley (kitchen), put in a new generator and reconditioned the engine. Lexie's mum and dad also built a new maindeck structure and a new wheelhouse, spray-foamed all the new accomodation, installed chain and locker, a new deck winch and new anchors!!! That's really exciting, isn't it?!

But there is still a lot to do, to get the Atlantis ready. And so came Lippe and offered his help...

Lexie's dad asked him to show off his skills and make a bowline knot - here is the result...

But he still believed in Lippe and took him into the engine room... And it seems like Lippe did a good job working...

...and resting!!!

He checked the pressure...

...handed out the tools to Lexie's dad...

...and pushed the button!!! And I hope, it was the right one - at least, the Atlantis did not sink!!!

After working hard and taking a bath, Lippe listened to Lexie and her peeps, telling him about heir plans with the Atlantis.

They told him, they have to finish her off inside and water-blasting her outside for painting. Then, they want to move the Atlantis to Malta. Lexie has her own doggy passport and can move with them!!! She told Lippe, as long, as they stay inside Europe, they can go back and forth to the UK. But if they leave Europe, they can not return, as Lexie would have to be in quarantine for 6 months then!!! Lippe was shocked!!! That's impossible, they cannot seperate lovely Lexie from her mum and dad for sooooo long!!!

So, they will stay inside Europe for now, but they dream of getting the Atlantis across the Atlantic one day, or eventually move her to New Zealand!!!

When they are in Malta and Lippe is back from his trip around the world, he is invited to visit them on the Atlantis again!!! And he will be so happy, to see them one more time!!!

But for now, it was time to say goodbye to Lexie and her mum and dad. Lexie gave Lippe one last BIG hug and they both wiped a tear from their eye...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lexie!!! For all you and your peeps did, to make Lippe feel at home with you!!! Seeing the pics of you and Lippe made me and mom smile and brought tears of joy!!! Ich liebe dich, darling!!!

Everybody should check out Lexie's pawsome bloggy, where she writes about her adventures and tells a lot more about the Atlantis!!! It's worth visiting!!!

The next day, Lippe moved on to @jazzydacat in London, who gave him a warm welcome at her house. Please see the video on the sidebar too!!!

Jazzy and Lippe made friends very quickly...

...because she was very friendly and even gave him a little kiss!!!

Then, Lippe met his new buddy Murphy. We already heard many stories about Murphy and we were right, the two have a lot in common!!!

Murphy shared his bed with Lippe and the next day he was going to work with Jazzy's human sister Trea!!! That Trea is a very busy lady, who works at University College London!!! Maybe Lippe got a chair at UCL, we will find out in my next post...