Stanley tastes Simits

What do you know about simits?

Simit is a Turkish word and it is a circular bread covered with sesame seeds

They are delicious. Crunchy and yet soft inside. We tore off pieces and shared them as we worked our way through the city with our cameras, filling them with cream cheese sometimes.

We bought our breakfast simits from street vendor close to the school where Di used to teach. He remembered her and she remembered teasing him about being her Turkish mother because she used to buy her breakfast from him.

They're lovely with olives and all kinds of other things too.

Love
Flat Stanley, who is thinking of moving to Istanbul xx

Flat Stanley photographs a sleeping dog in Istanbul

I loved this dog.

He was sound asleep under a Turkish flag.

The Turkish flag is red with a white crescent moon and a star in its centre and was inspired by the Ottoman flag.

There are 3 main legends about the Turkish flag but I will leave you to find out about them if you are interested.

You see, I'm meant to be packing my bags to leave for Flanders Fields in the morning. Di and Gert are taking me with them to remember the ANZACS from World War One and to photograph a soprano singer ...

I never know what I might be doing next.

Love
Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley checks out the Taksim Tram in Istanbul

This is the tram that runs down the centre of İstiklal Avenue. The street is one of the most famous avenues in Istanbul and they told me that nearly 3 million people visit this street in a single day during the weekend at the height of the tourist season (I think), although the Turkish people enjoy wandering here too.

I wonder if it is true?

Anyway, we took a ride on the tram and had the best time.

Flat Stanley visits Istanbul's Grand Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest covered markets in the world! It has more than 58 streets and over 1,200 shops.

Somewhere between 250,000 and 400,000 people visit it daily. You can buy anything there. I was amazed but then again, I think I was amazed everyday in Istanbul.

Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror began building it between 1455 and 1461, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent made it much bigger in the 16th century. We were lost but it was fun because we saw all kinds of beautiful things.

Di bought scarves as gifts for everyone ... even for me. I'll bring it home with me, Van Jnr.

Love
Flat Stanely.

Flat Stanley tastes Gözleme

The lady in the photograph let me take some photographs of her at an organic market in the city of Istanbul.

Gözleme is a savoury traditional Turkish pastry. The pastry is rolled out, filled sealed and cooked over a griddle and I love it. Di does too and she always makes sure to find gözleme and a good cup of tea whenever she visits Istanbul.

Hmmmmm, my favourite filling was .... potato but I also loved the spinach and feta cheese mixture. All Turkish food is so good though ... I'm fatter, Van, I think I'll have to come home in a big box.

love
Flat Stanely.

Flat Stanley meets an Istanbul Cat

This cat was trying to eat me while I was trying to take his photograph!! I was lucky to escape with my life!

I'm teasing but cats are everywhere in Istanbul ... EVERYWHERE.

The people of Istanbul feed them and take good care of most of them. I noticed the happiest fattest cats lived near the fish markets.

Rumeli Fortress, Istanbul

Di, Gert and their Turkish friend, Yakup, took me up to visit this fortress high on a hill above the Bosphorus Strait after we had photographed sunrise on the Asian-side of Istanbul.

Can you see the Europe to Asia bridge in the distance? I talk of it in the next post.

This fortress was built by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452, that's 557 years ago. It's a beautiful ruin, with tall grass and wildflowers and it only cost two dollars to visit.

We climbed up onto the walls inside and sat in the sun for a long time, watching the huge ships, small fishing boats, jet boats and all kinds of other boats pass by on the water.

Can you imagine, this huge fortress was built in a big hurry and they finished it in 4 months and 16 days on 31 August 1452!! The bad news, the sultan was building it so that he could take over Constantinople and rename it Istanbul.

These days, Rumelihisarı (as the Turkish people call it) is a museum and an amazing open-air theater for various concerts during the summer.

Incredible!!

Flat Stanley photographs an Istanbul sunrise

So ... what do you know about Istanbul?

I have learned that Istanbul is in a country called Turkey and that the official population is 12.6 million people but that there are far more people living there really.

Istanbul is an ancient city and it used to be called Constantinople. It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and the Bosphorus is like a huge river between two continents.

Yes, Istanbul is a city on two continents!!
One half of the city is in continental Europe and the other half of the city is in Asia. And even more amazing is the fact that there are two huge bridges that allow people to drive over the Bosphorus, from Europe into Asia and back to Europe again.

This photograph is one that I took of sun rise on Leanders Tower in the Bosphorus Strait. This tower is also known as the Maiden's Tower and was built by an Athenian general called Alcibiades in 408 BC ... 2417 years ago.

I loved Istanbul.

Love
Flat Stanely

Flat Stanley finally writes home about Istanbul

Hey Guys,

I'm back and I am exhausted!

We were working 10 hours days over in Istanbul, taking photographs for the guidebook we hope to publish and then, in the evenings, we would process all of the photographs from our magical days in the city. Di is wayyyyy behind because she takes far too many photographs.

Anyway, here is a photograph of me enjoying a typical Turkish breakfast on a rooftop hotel balcony in the city of Istanbul. On the plate you will see black olives (Di's favourite), green olives, slices of bread, white cheese (goat I think) and then you can't see it so well but there is another kind of stringy cheese that was delicious. The tomatoes were so tasty and we had 3 small Turkish teacups of cay (tea) to wash it all down.

I have a million stories to tell you but I need to sleep tonight. The flight from Istanbul, Turkey to Brussels in Belgium is 3 hours and we have walked a million Istanbul miles with the cameras.

Sorry to be so quiet while I was there but get ready for 'Flat Stanley in Istanbul - the Novel!

Flat Stanley's Smoutebollen

IMAGINE ... 7 round deep-fried burning hot doughnuts without holes and you are close to imagining smoutebollen.

They're delicious with that light sprinkling of icing sugar on top ... but so hot that they burn your teeth when you try to eat them and the sugar goes EVERYWHERE!

Brusselse Wafel

Meet Sahara.

There's me, sitting waiting while she cuts up my Brusselse wafel. She's only 4 but she takes good care of me.

Flat Stanley Goes on an Eating Adventure!

Hi Guys,

It is difficult to write this post ... I'm not sure I want to think about food.

Maybe I'll begin by introducing you to Sahara - Di's granddaughter. Sahara and I had the best time yesterday but last night, before bed, we thought our stomachs might explode.

We ate:
frieten (fries)
bitterballen
brusselse wafel (waffle)
smoutebollen
and a huge cheese sandwich!

AND THEN, Di's husband brought home FRIETEN and BITTERBALLEN for dinner. And really, they are so tasty, that we ate them again!!

We ate too much!

Did you know, French fries were actually invented by the Belgians?
It's true.
The call them frieten and they eat them with mayonnaise.

I might stay here a while ... just until I fit back into the envelope.
I'm getting fat, guys.

How the City of Antwerpen Got Its Name.

Hey Guys!

Yesterday was a big day. I learned all kinds of the things about people with names like Antigoon and Silvius. I met Jessie, the daughter of Di and we hung out together for 5 hours. I like Jessie and might see if I can bring her home with me. Sssh, don't tell Di.

Jessie and I had fun. She would lift me up and put me into the corner of any photographs Di was trying to take. We thought we were very funny. You can see how I am smiling in the first photograph.

The next photograph ... don't be afraid but can you see me?
I'm there, right in the bottom of the photograph, sitting at the feet of Lange Wapper, a giant water ghost from Antwerp's past.

Now the story goes that there was another giant called Antigoon living here in the city of Antwerp a long time ago. The River Scheldt runs past the city and this giant used to stop all the ships passing by. He would make the captains pay him money before he would let them continue on up the river.

Some captains dared to refuse and do you know what he did?

He would chop off one of their hands and throw that hand into the river!

One day, a Roman soldier called Silvius Brabo came to the city. The silly giant tried his old trick and Silvius killed him, then chopped off his hand and threw it into the river.

And this story is actually the story of how the city of Antwerp (Antwerpen in Dutch) got its name. You see, in Dutch, 'werpen' means 'to throw' and the 'Ant' at the start of Antwerpen used to have an 'H' in front of it a long time ago. 'H'Ant meant 'Hand'.

We took some more photographs of Silvius Brabo throwing the hand and of ships on the river ... without a real-life giant there to stop them.

Tot straks!
It means, see you soon!

Flat Stanley Rides with the Giant Antigoon.

This might not look scary and I might be smiling but I was SCARED!!!!!!!!!!!!

Silvius Brabo,a Roman soldier

Can you see the man at the top of this sculpture?

That is Silvius Brabo, the Roman soldier, throwing Antigoon's hand into the river.

In summer, this huge sculpture becomes a beautiful fountain and can be found in Grote Markt (the Great Market square), in Antwerpen.

Can you see the beautiful buildings in the background?
They are called guild houses but perhaps I will tell you the story of them another day. We might visit because Di's husband works in one of them. Let's just concentrate on giants today.

I promised you a castle ...

What do you think?
I think this castle is very cool.
And King Stanley sounds good, doesn't it.

This castle is called the Steen (the Stone in English) and it used to be part of an old fortress. It was a PRISON in the Middle Ages.

Do you know how long ago the Middle Ages were??
A clue, this castle is rumoured to be the oldest building in town and there are some very old buildings here.

Flat Stanley Arrives at Di's Place in Belgium

Dear Van and Classmates,

I have arrived safely in Belgium. A little bit flatter than when you put me in the post but safe and in one piece.

So far, it has been interesting.
Belgium is a very small country. It is 11,787 square miles in size and has a population of about 10.7 million.

But you sent me to Di.
She is not Belgian, did you know it? She is a New Zealander and her accent is a little bit difficult to understand.

This morning I had my first traditional Sunday Belgian breakfast.
I might stay here. Do you know, they go out to the bakery and buy bread and cakes?!!

I am sorry to say, I forgot to take photographs for you but perhaps I will do it next Sunday and anyway, it would have just made you hungry.

Tomorrow Di has promised to take me into Antwerp city with the camera.

Some things you need to know about Antwerp.
It is located in Flanders - the Flemish side of Belgium. (The other side is called Wallonia).

In Flanders they speak Dutch (they call it Nederlands here) and the Wallonians speak French. It will be okay for me though, as they speak a lot of English. Di likes this too.

Antwerp's population is 472,071 and it is the home of the world's fourth largest port.

There is so much more to tell you about!
We will visit a castle tomorrow, Di will also tell me where the name of the city comes from and we will talk of the giants who used to live here. I am a little bit scared.

I will write soon.

Lots of love
Flat Stanley, in Belgium.