flat travellers on the loose again

well, for those of you that are closely following our blog...i know, i know...that's all of you...there is no need to introduce our flat nieces and nephew. but just in case we have some newbie followers i'll tell you a bit about each of them. our real live nieces jane, hannah, ellie & sasha and nephew owen drew pictures of themselves for us to take with us around the world.

the real live jane is an avid reader, she loves to sing and play piano and we love her impromptu performances at family get togethers. the real live owen is jane's little brother who isn't so little anymore...he's 5! he's rambunctious, his laugh is infectious and he can charm anyone. the youngest of the family, the real live yohan, was only a month old when we left so we don't have a flat version of him with us but we still think of him often. we hope to make a stop in vancouver on our way home to see him.

jane and owen just before we left in july 2009

the real live hannah is also an avid reader (is this a result of both being the eldest?), plays piano and loves to dance. we've had a few chances to see hannah's ballet performances and can't wait to see her progress. the real live ellie loves to be silly! she's squishy, goofy and fun...the life of the party :) the real live sasha is sweet and shy...but only until she feels comfortable with you and then watch out! the stuff she comes up with...innocently enough i'm sure...hilarous!

hannah, ellie & sasha (l to r) at our goodbye party in july 2009

who knew we all came from families of chess players. not sure who won this round in geneva, switzerland.

the famous jet d'eau in geneva shoots water 140 meters into the air. both flat penners and petroff were so impressed they insisted on having their photos taken with it.

this is the photo we got in trouble for taking in front of the parthenon in athens. who knew that flat people were symbols and not allowed to be photographed with the ancient ruin. luckily the guards didn't see us take it and the bossy greek lady didn't turn us in. phew!

after the fiasco with the flat penners, the flat petroffs decided to play it safe and had their photo taken in front of the theatre of the acropolis instead. uncle jay wanted to be in the photo too but i wouldn't let him...somehow he still managed to get his arm in the picture.

all of us were disappointed when we got to delphi and the main attraction was closed due to technical difficulties. we had questions for the oracle but we were turned away. the only decent ruin to have in the background was this athena pronea temple. kinda cool...it looks like camouflage.

this is flat owen on the train to turkey. the real live owen likes trains and has always wanted to go to turkey. this is in our 2 bunk berth before we put the beds down for the night time train ride from thessaloniki to istanbul.

we are in the blue mosque in istanbul. we didn't have head coverings for the flat girls but that's ok because you don't need to wear one until you are a teenager. they only let tourists in when there are no prayers in session. the call to prayers can be heard throughout the city five times a day...before sunrise, midday, afternoon, sunset, and late evening.

flat owen and flat jane are pretty brave...they are standing on a tomb in the ancient necropolis near pamukkale, turkey.

flat hannah, flat ellie and flat sasha loved playing in the theatre. this photo is taken after they ran down to the bottom and back again. whew! they sure were sweaty after all those stairs...

hope you are glad to see that the flat people are still alive and kicking ;p we'll keep you posted as they break out of the camera bag on more adventures...around the world. next stops are in asia.

güle güle,

corina on behalf of the flats