Europe

I was back on a double decker heading for Bristol airport. We were off to Amsterdam for a couple of days. Lots of people were dressed up boarding the plane ready to celebrate the New Year. Some of the men looked really strange! Our hotel was really nice and the staff were so friendly - it was a training hotel. It was really cold so we set off to find me some snow mittens and to explore the side streets. We passed people ice skating and there were huge queues outside the museums mummy and daddy thought we might go to but it was too cold to line up for hours. We had lots of fun just wandering around, going into shops and having big breakfasts. Mummy says the photos mysteriously disappeared on the camera so you won't see the photos from Amsterdam I'm afraid. The next part of my adventure was the overnight train to Zurich. The cabin was tiny and there were 3 single beds on top of each other. We all didn't sleep very well as it was noisy but we saw lots of fireworks out the window. We all loved Zurich. Now it was time for daddy's big surprise - 4 days in the snow in St Mortiz. This was part of his birthday present from mummy and me. It was amazing. The day we arrived was sunny and we got in the furnicular to take us up to our hotel. The views from the top were fantastic. I absolutely loved the 4 kms sled rides with daddy. You can see a video mummy took of us sledding from the funicular. Sometimes it was scary as we were going really fast down the mountain. We went down 5 times. That was the most fun I've had on this big trip. On the first morning, I woke up and it was snowing. There was snow piled up on our terrace. It snowed for 2 days but on our last day, it was sunny again so I played for a long time in the playground. We were all sad to leave as it had been amazing and we promised ourselves to return one day. Then it was off to Paris. I wasn't going to eat snails that was for sure. I did though eat loads of croissants. I had my portrait done in Montmatre.  I was so excited about going to disneyland. I went on the carousel 3 times, and on many other rides. I also got to meet Arial in the Princess Pavilion. We saw our good friend Jonathan and met his new wife Anne. Our fin

On the train in Switzerland

Sledding was SO much fun

Daddy and me made a great team

Our hotel in St Moritz

Snow outside our room

Mummy and me in the powder snow

Carousel in Disney

Mad Hatters tea cup ride

Arial at the Princess Pavilion

Eiffel Tower

Sacre Coeur - Montmatre

al stop was Brussels. We stayed with our friends Steve and Maria Grazia and their 2 sons Daniel and Paul. They have this amazing 6 storey house. I got to play the grand piano and sit next to Maria Grazia as she played some beautiful music. I think I'd like to learn to play the piano when I'm older. We spent the day at the European Parliament (where our friends work) and I got to chair a meeting. Our final stop to end this big adventure was where it had all started
London......

Chairing a meeting at the European Parliament!

Dinner in Brussels with friends

Xmas in England

We arrived back in England for the month of December. Our first destination was Bristol for 2 weeks. Mummy thought our flat was very stylish and it was in a place called Clifton, very close to where our friends  Celia, Joe and Alison live. We saw them quite a few times which was lots of fun - we went to their place, then to a really fun indoor play centre and also to a famous cemetary where Joe and I got to run around and explore. Mummy sprained her ankle quite badly so daddy took me to see Frozen at the cinema and to Bristol zoo. The man who owned the flat delivered a real Xmas tree and asked me to decorate it. We then went back to Bath and I saw my friend Ettie again. There were Xmas lights and decorations everywhere. I was so excited about Xmas. Most of daddy's family arrived on the 22nd and we spent Xmas together. I couldn't wait for Xmas morning. I put carrots out for the reindeers and a mince pie for Santa. I was the first up. Santa gave me the doll I'd asked for that cries real tears and you can brush her blonde hair. I got so many lovely presents. A teddy with lots of different outfits, a new dress, a leap frog tablet, a chef game, some books, and lots of little treats in my stocking. I helped give out all the presents and we had our Xmas lunch with crackers and poppers.  I played a lot with my big cousins and we went ice skating together. Claire and Ellie are both really good so they helped me as it was my first time. Even daddy braved the ice. We also went to a safari park and I saw lots of animals up close to the car. So many monkeys jumped on the roof! I was so excited about going on the santa train and meeting santa at his grotto. He gave me a winged barbie which I really loved. I was a bit sick over the week so didn't eat that much but it was so much fun being with all my cousins.

Bristol park - note blue skies in Dec!

Bristol zoo

With Ellie, Xmas Day

Ice skating with Claire

Daddy and me ice skating in Bath

Safari Park - Longleat 

Santas Grotto - Longleat

Santa train

Meeting santa

My present from Santa

With grandad, Xmas Day

Xmas Day celebrations

With Aunty Cecily and Uncle David

The Xmas tree I decorated

With Claire, Xmas Day

The Clarke clan, Xmas lunch

Rhodes, Greece

The night before we were going on a big Greek ferry, there was a huge storm so we didn't know until the next day if the ferry would be going. Luckily, it was as the storm disappeared so we boarded the huge ferry for our trip to Rhodes, a 3 and a half hour trip from Meis just near Kas. I played hide and seek with Alice. She's been my special friend for the whole big trip. When we arrived in Rhodes, the man who ran the pension where we were staying picked us up. We had to walk down old cobbled streets to get there and we were the only ones staying. In the morning, we had a yummy breakfast in the courtyard and I helped John put everything away. Then it was time to walk through the old town and find the bus to take us to Lindos. I was really excited about going on a donkey ride but then I was so upset cause the donkeys were having a long rest and I didn't get my ride up to the acropolis. I cried a lot. Mummy and daddy said they'd buy me something special to help me feel better so we went in to a jewellery story near our pension run by a lady who had 3 cats running all around the shop. I chose a necklace with a star and the lady told me all about her cats and gave us some Greek food to try. I didn't like the look of those stuffed cabbages so mummy ate them. We spent a lot of time wandering around the old streets and seeing some famous sights but lucky for me, I discovered a great playground close by with rides and a flying fox. We ate lots of yummy Greek food. My favourite was the deep fried small fish. After a few days, it was time to board the catamaran back to Turkey. We arrived early but everyone was rushing to get on. It was leaving an hour earlier so we just made it.  I was excited about seeing Pearl again.

Acropolis at Lindos

Palace of the Grand Masters

Greek Orthodox Church

Flying fox

Medieval towers

Old Town

Our pansion courtyard

Kas and around

I've adopted a gorgeous cat I've named Pearl. She visits every day and I look after her. She has a really sweet little miaow and curls up on the sunlounger with me. The weather just changed a couple of days ago but all of October was so nice. We drove up to a place called Yenikoy above Kas and I could see our villa on the peninsula a long way down. Mummy and I went to a hamam (Turkish bath) at the near-by Deniz Feneri Hotel - the man swirled bubbles in the air and dropped them all over us. We also went on a day trip to the Greek Island of Meis and I saw 2 turtles swimming in the harbour. I've never seen a turtle before - they were so cute. The best thing was the Captain let me steer the ferry all the way back to Kas!Mummy says we're going to another Greek island called Rhodes next week where I can ride a donkey so I can't wait for that. We're going on the big Greek ferry. Whenever we go into town, I run to see if my Turkish friend Ada is around. We play a lot in the square. I think though, that my very favourite thing has been the big party last week for Republic Day. There were, daddy says, 5000 people in the square celebrating and there were spectacular fireworks. I danced with my friends Burfin and Sedona - we had so much fun and were still playing at 11 o'clock that night. We sit most nights to watch the beautiful sunset and often go for walks after dinner. One Sunday we drove to kekova and went on a boat trip to see the sunken city. Mummy and I are doing some getting ready for school activities in the morning. I'm really excited about starting big school when we get back to Sydney.

Captain Ella - on our way back from the Greek island of Meis

Sunset from our terrace

Dancing with my friends Burfin and Sedona

My friend ferit who works in the best pide restaurant in town

My beautiful Pearl

Daddy and me up in Yenikoy looking down to the peninsula where our villa is

the Greek Island of Meis - just 30 mins by ferry from Kas

My Turkish friend Ada

Fireworks - Republic Day celebrations

Being a local- Republic Day here in Turkey

Kekova Boat trip - mid November and still sunny!

Turtle in harbour on Meis

At our villa in Turkey

The day we travelled from Istanbul to our villa was a big adventure. First, our flight was late leaving so we were driving a long way and it was getting dark. Suddenly there were goats on the road and Ahmet, our driver had to swirve to avoid a bad accident but luckily we were all OK, not sure about the goats though. That was a bit scary. When we got to the villa it was dark but mummy and daddy had promised we could go for a swim so that's what we did. The pool's all lit up at night so it was lots of fun. We've been here a month now and I've been swimming nearly every day. I love Kapatus (Sandy Beach) and also going to Liminagzi to kayak. You can only get there by boat. We go into town a lot and I know lots of people now.  I love just playing in the square and watching all the children. I have one Turkish friend - her name is Ada and her parents own a kebab restaurant. We play together quite a bit even though I don't speak much Turkish and she doesn't speak much English. I loved it when Aunty Nicola, Uncle Nigel, Grand dad and grand ma were here - Uncle Nigel played with me lots- he's my favourite. We often get the dolmus (minibus) into town at night. Lots of children stay up late here and at the moment, it's a religious holiday so it's very busy. My favourite things to eat are bazlama (a flat bread) and fetta cheese, gozleme (pancake) with cheese and spinach, kofte (a type of meatball) and seaweed mezze but we don't know the Turkish for that. I'm getting to watch lots of new DVDs as we buy some new ones every Friday at the local market. I have learnt some Turkish words and am getting lots of kisses and treats from the Turkish people. I do miss my friends in Sydney though and Jasper and Miles.

With mummy at Kaputas Beach

Our villa

With grand dad, grand ma, Aunty Nicola, Uncle Nigel at our villa

Daddy and I love the BBQ

In Kas at night

Kaputas Beach - one of my favourites

Kayaking at Liminagzi only accessible by boat