British woman brings pet hamster’s ashes 1,500 miles to finally see his favorite European landmarks
It was a wheel-y sentimental trip.
A British woman sent her beloved pet hamster to that spinning wheel in the sky by traveling more than 1,500 miles with his ashes on a tour of his favorite places.
Lisa Murray-Lang, 47, carried Spud in a locket around her neck to visit the Louvre, Buckingham Palace, the Van Gogh Museum and countless other iconic European landmarks last year.
Although the tiny rodent had never seen such sights during his lifetime, he knew a scaled-down version of them all too well.
Spud ruled over a cardboard oasis filled with miniature replicas of the Eiffel Tower, Hogwarts and other models handbuilt by Murray-Lang during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s a nice warm feeling that we’re still traveling together,” Murray-Land, of Birmingham, told SWNS.
“I have a sense that he’s still present on our adventures.
“Wherever we traveled I made sure his necklace was on view. The locket hangs so he’s just above my heart,” she continued.
“It’s so comforting to know he’s with me all the time.”
Murray-Lang’s adventures with Spud started when she first adopted him in June 2019.
She named the Syrian hamster after a character in the Irvine Welsh book “Trainspotting” and immediately set to work making him a cardboard city of his own of both real-life and imaginary worldwide landmarks.
When he passed away in 2022 at the age of 3 years and 7 months, Murray-Land found it only appropriate to bring him across the globe with her.
She first traveled 7,000 miles to Honolulu, Hawaii — a trip that cost her nearly $5,000 — where she spread some of his ashes, but tucked the rest away inside her locket.
That beloved locket has since seen the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre in Paris and Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, and 10 Downing Street in London, before jetting off to Amsterdam.
There, Spud was taken to the Van Gogh Museum and a cat rescue center located on a canal boat.
Lisa, who also has four cats, said: “Spud loved the model of Buckingham Palace I made him.
“He used to stick his head over the top next to the flag and give a royal wave.
“And his first adventure was my cardboard model of an art gallery.
“I put works of art all over the walls and he used to stop and look intently at all of them – so it was important to go to the Van Gogh museum and the Louvre.”
Next, Murray-Lang plans to bring Spud to Harry Potter World.
Although Spud is no longer physically with Murray-Lang, she said having his ashes close to her heart has helped her get through tough moments in the last year.
She lamented that just a touch to the locket made “such a difference” when her 66-year-old husband William spent weeks battling a serious illness.
Murray-Lang has since adopted a new furry friend, Begbie, who has lovingly inherited the cardboard models Spud once called home.
“I made a model of Italy for Begbie. He loves traveling too,” Murray-Lang said.
