Ant's Flat Stanley has his Final Italian Adventure

Hi Ant and everyone! Flat Stanley accompanied our family as we traveled to some more fun places in Italy. One stop we made was in Pisa to view the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

We also traveled by ferry to visit the Island of Elba. It is the 3rd largest island of Italy and very beautiful. An interesting fact about the island is that the French emporer, Napolean was exiled there for 300 days.

Below: This is the ferry that we took to reach Elba. You can see how the ferry opens to let vehicles on and off.

Below: Stanley views a beach and the Tyrrhenian Sea on Elba from a scenic overlook.

Below: Stanley enjoyed exploring the beach. It was not a sandy beach, but it had many beautiful rounded rocks that my boys collected.

Below: There were many boats in the harbor at Elba. This is one that caught Stanley's eye.

We also visited the city of Genova (Genoa). It is where Christopher Columbus was born.

Below: Flat Stanley poses by the harbor with some of the city in the background.

Our big adventure in Genova was visiting the aquarium. There was a wide variety of aquatic exhibits to see and Stanley posed for pictures near some of his favorites.

Below: This is a longcomb sawfish.

Below: A manatee swims behind Stanley.

Below: This is a skate that was in a touch pool. Although it came near us, it never came close enough for us to touch it.

All in all, we had a fun time as we visited Pisa, Elba, and Genova. From the smile on Stanley's face, I can tell that he had fun too.

Thank you Ant for letting us host Flat Stanley for you. He was the perfect guest. He is preparing for his journey back to South Dakota and will see you soon. Take Care!

Your Friend,

Dawn

Flat Stanley visits Vatican City

Hi Ant and classmates! Flat Stanley recently had a fun adventure visiting Vatican City. Vatican City is enclosed within a wall in the city of Rome and it is the home to the pope.

This picture was taken outside Vatican City and it gives you a pretty good idea of what the walls are like all around it.



We visited the Vatican Museums first. The museums are housed in palaces originally built for wealthy Renaissance popes. Parts of these are decorated with wonderful frescoes by the finest painters of the age---especially the Sistine Chapel.

Among all of the different collections at the museums, the most fascinating to my kids were the Egyptian displays.

Above: Stanley checks out some Egyptian artwork.

Below: Yes, that is a real mummy! The containers above the mummy are canopic jars which hold the body organs.

Below: Stanley and the boys pose in front of a limestone sarcophagus.

Below: We thought this was interesting. This is a bronze hollow statue of a cat goddess with the mummy of the cat within it.

After touring the museums, we were off to visit St. Peter's Basilica. In the picture below you can see how impressive it is!

The picture below shows a view of St. Peter's square from the front of the St. Peter's Bascilica.

Aren't these the most interesting uniforms? These men are Swiss Guards and are responsible for the safety of the pope.

I think Flat Stanley enjoyed his visit to Vatican City. We hope to have one final adventure with Stanley before returning him home to Ant. We'll check in with you again soon!

To my dearest Duck, This is the first part of the story about Stanley's trip to India

First of all I want to apologise to everyone especially Duck, because it took me sooo long to upload the pictures of Stanley. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance or time to upload pictures during my stay in India.
Now that I'm back home in Germany I have enough time to tell Stanley's tale!

Stanley was lucky enough to travel India on a Royal Enfield with me up until Christmas. On the December 25th a tragic accident happened, Stanley was stolen with my handbag, but luckily I was able to take some pictures before that happened.

He was staying with me in McLeod Ganj, Northindia (6,831 feet).
What is so special about this place?- Well, it is known as "Little Lhassa" due to its large population of Tibetan Refugees. The Tibetan government in exile is headquartered in McLeod Ganj.
But the most special fact about this place is that His Holiness The Dalai Lama lives in McLeod Ganj, he is the spiritual leader of all Tibetan Buddhist people. In the picture on the right you can see Stanley in a Buddhist temple next to the Tibetan prayer wheels.

This is Stanley on beautiful Sunday morning, having English breakfast on my favourite roof top restaurant in McLeod Ganj. He was enjoying the warm weather very much, considering that back home during November it is VERY cold!

Stanley was a big part of my daily life! Everyday he was with me when I volunteered at the Rogpa Shop & Cafe.
Rogpa is Charitable Trust, where volunteers sell coffee, tea and pastries, to financially support the Rogpa Baby Care Center.
Single mothers from the Tibetan community send their kids to the Rogpa Baby Care Center for free, so they can attend work and make a living.
So Stanley was helping me every day prepare tea and coffee for the customers and also he would help me bake the brownies and other cakes I had to prepare for the day.
In the background you can see the lovely manager of the cafe, Sangmo, she also like Duck very much!


Tomorrow you get the second part of Stanley 's India travel....

Hugs & Kisses

Julia

Bull's Flat Stanley's Final Trip with Pictures

The last city that Bull's Flat Stanley visited was the City of San Antonio, Texas. One of the unique things about San Antonio is that it has a River Walk that runs through downtown and is just beautiful. We took Flat Stanley on a river boat and walking tour.

The guide on our boat tour was happy to pose with Flat Stanley and made him an integral part of the tour. He had a lot of fun with Flat Stanley, who even met people from England and Australia.

While we were touring the river, a lady was walking along the area and when I held Flat Stanley up to take a picture she waved and said, "Hello Flat Stanley, welcome to San Antonio", we thought that was really awesome.

As you can see from these pictures, it is just a beautiful place to visit. We ate lunch at a beautiful outdoor restaurant and Flat Stanley enjoyed listening to Hispanic music played at our table by two wonderful musicians.

Then...it was on to the Alamo. Flat Stanley was very lucky because a Texas Ranger was happy to pose with and welcome him to the Alamo.

The Alamo is beautiful and has several other buildings in the courtyard. There is a Library and the courtyard is filled with beautiful flowers, trees and shrubs. It has been preserved and is a vital piece of Texas history.


Well...as I sign off for the last time, Bull's Flat Stanley wants to tell you how much fun he had, how many places he visited and most importantly how much history he learned about our country. Thank you for the opportunity that we had to take Flat Stanley on all of his adventures.

I love you Bull, and hope you enjoyed reading all about our travels.

Aunt Jan

Bull's Flat Stanley's Final Adventure

Greetings Bull and Classmates,

I want to thank you for the opportunity to spend the last few months sharing adventures with Bull's Flat Stanley. It has been so much fun and I want to let you all know that many people, every where we went, did know about Flat Stanley and they were always excited to see and hear about his travels.

The final adventure that we shared with Flat Stanley was in San Antonio, Texas. We went on a tour of the RiverWalk, which is miles of waterway through downtown San Antonio, which is a city steeped in culture and beauty.

Bull's Flat Stanley Adventures in the South

Greetings Bull and classmates...

Flat Stanley has been having quite a few adventures since leaving Minnesota on February 11th. He's traveled through Iowa and Missouri and then stayed in VanBuren, Arkansas for two days to visit family and tour the Ft. Smith National Historic Site in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.

Flat Stanley is in one of the original cannons used at the fort when it was built in 1817 to keep the peace between the Osage and Cherokee Indians. The park includes the remains of two frontier forts and the Federal Court for the Western District of Arkansas and Indian Territory.

In 1871 the Army closed the fort and in1872 the Federal Court moves in due to the lawlessness in the area. In 1875 Judge Isaac C. Parker arrives to dispense justice. He was known as the "Hanging Judge" and the gallows from which many people were hung is on the right. In 1896 Judge Parker died and in 1961 Congress authorizes Fort Smith National Historic Site.

When Flat Stanley finished touring the site he became a Junior Ranger and two of the park rangers bestowed him with that honor. He received a booklet with the history of the fort and a badge, which will be coming in the mail soon!!

Then it was on to Oklahoma where Flat Stanley saw the Trail of Tears. Between 1831 and 1845 many Indian tribes were forcibly moved into Indian Territory (now known as Oklahoma). The Indians suffered many hardships during these moves hence the name Trail of Tears.

Flat Stanley arrived in Rockport, Texas on February 15th where he has seen many of the birds and herons and even loons from Minnesota that migrate south for the winter. The whooping cranes flock to this area from Canada. They are a beautiful, large bird standing four to five feet tall and they spend their winter in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, which is 55,000 acres and home to deer, Javelina (wild pigs), armadillo, alligators and other animals and birds.

Flat Stanley had an opportunity to cross the gulf on a ferry and drive down to Padre Island where he got to see more of the ocean. The Padre Island National Seashore protects the largest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world.

After visiting Padre Island Flat Stanley wanted to go to Corpus Christi to visit the retired World War II warship the USS Lexington, which is open to public viewing. He really liked the ship and thought the Blue Angel jet was awesome.

Flat Stanley has several more adventures coming up, but he has had so much fun telling you all about the things he has seen so far. He will be going to see the Alamo in San Antonio and will have more stories and pictures to share.

Love you Bull!!

Aunt Jan

Hello from Florida!

Hello to all from Newt in Florida!  We apologize for not writing sooner, but it’s been a busy month.  First off, we’ve been enjoying our great weather here.  You can see Newt enjoying some sun on the balcony of my apartment.  After being back in South Dakota for one week in January, we’ve had our fill of snow for the year. =)

The last few weeks Newt and I have been enjoying a box of local, seasonal produce from the Homegrown Coop.  A bunch of local farmers get together and sell their fruits and vegetables.  They grow them without chemicals that can be bad for your body and for the earth.  For a little bit of money, you can go and get a box of many different kinds of things grown in the area.  All of the food was delicious!  Although some of it was a little different than what Newt and I are used to eating, it was fun to try new things.  We tried a green vegetable called kale and another called Swiss chard. 

Last weekend, there was an event called Arts Fest.  For 10 days, there are 220 art events in four counties (including Orange County where we are) and ALL are free!   All events included are usually ones that would cost money, but Arts Fest is held to get people from the community involved.  It’s nice that they do that, because some people might not ever be able to see some of those things. On Saturday, Newt and I went to the Orlando Shakespeare Theater and saw a play called Pride and Prejudice.  It’s based on a book written a long time ago.  The actors in the play were all professional actors and they were very good.  Some had even been on television shows! 

On Sunday, we went to the Orlando Folk Festival. 

 We saw Native American dancers and folk singers.  We also were able to go into The Mennello Museum of American Art and saw some fun art. 

 At the end of the day, Newt had to rest on a chair outside.  It was a fun, but exhausting day!

Well, we better go off on another adventure!  We hope everyone is having fun and see you next time!

Hello Giraffe!

We flew from the Island of Oahu to San Diego, California, which took almost 6 hours! Our cars and everything in our house were put on large ships, which took 5 weeks to get to our new home. Stanley had a wonderful trip and enjoyed the ride. Stanley has asked me to add a picture of him on a surfboard before he left Hawaii. He then lived on the beach in Oceanside, California which is about 30 miles from San Diego. He could see the Oceanside Pier and watch the surfers from his balcony. Here are some pictures of him on the balcony. Stanley is now in Afghanistan with Nathan and he asked me to tell you "As-Salamu Alaykum"which one of the ways they say "hello" there. He will be posting about it and sending more pictures very soon!! We hope you had a great Valentines Day and got lots of Valentines from your friends!

Love,

Dave, Kelly & Stanley

Jackrabbit's Flat Stanley in the Jordanian Desert

Jackrabbit's Flat Stanley returned from India and set off for the country of Jordan in the Middle East! Jordan is a country that borders Iraq, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Despite being mostly desert in the central and eastern portions, many fruits, like apples, dates and pomegranates, grow in the north. Aqaba is a beautiful port city in the south on the Red Sea where you can snorkel!

Wadi Rum Desert

Flat Stanley in the desert of Wadi Rum

(It's colder than it looks!)

Our Bedouin guide in Wadi Rum. Bedouins are nomadic desert people which means they live in tents and move around. Flat Stanley slept in a tent in the desert!

Looking through the Siq at Petra. A great walk if you're not claustrophobic! The building up ahead is the Treasury (where Indiana Jones found the Holy Grail).

Flat Stanley went to the ancient city of Petra. Petra means "rock" and all the buildings have been carved into the desert sandstone.

Chatting with the locals in Petra.

Can you see the camel? He's "camel-flauged."

Bedouin guides at Little Petra.