I know, I know, I'm late! I have gone about 4 or 5 days without typing and updating, man what a slacker. Well believe it or not we have been so tired and drained and busy that I actually haven't gotten a chance to sit down and just type. Where I am at right now gives me a chance however, almost 24 hours worth of chances. We are on our ferry on the way to Greece as we speak, or actually type! Billy is out on the back of the boat taking pictures of the sunset over Italy, a beautiful one it is! We were able to get to the port of Ancona rather early, 3 hour early to be exact. And those three hours were actually five hours before the boat left. We were able to board the boat around 5 oclock Italy time and we headed out to sea around 7 PM. The boat is actually a lot bigger than we expected, maybe have the size of a cruise ship? Not really sure, neither of us have been on a cruise. This is our first "big boat" experience. The boat is basically set up like a cruise ship: there are a couple of restaurants/eateries/bars, a casino, a disco, cabins, decks, etc. Since we had only paid for "deck" sleeping arrangements we found us a booth type area right on the edge near a window overlooking the sea. It's actually a nice spot besides it being near other loud families and the "pool area". I put that in quotes because there is a pool with water in it, but there is also a net over it so no one can really swim in it, odd. We thought we were going to have to keep our backpacks with us but a gentlemen ( a worker, yes) offered to put them underneath and we kept our good stuff (laptop, cameras, etc). At this point, we hope someone steals those darn backpacks. The employees said they're Greek whenever Billy said "gratzi" for taking our luggage. A response of "Hey, we're Greek, we speak English" came in return. So that's good! We are missing English speaking people very very much; it was pretty difficult at first, but we have seemed to get used to Anyways we checked those and came upstairs to hang out. Around 8 PM we had dinner: a GYRO! Yes, no more pizza or pasta. On to the Greek cuisine, mmmm. We split a gyro combo with fries, really awesome. Oh my gosh so good. I can't wait till we get to the actual country to taste the food there! We were so excited about the scenery and beaches we totally forgot about the food. Anyways, backtracking a little bit to I guess Florence? Our day in Florence (July 16, 2006, a Sunday) We woke up, had our complimentary breakfast of course; that has been the only thing forcing us to wake up on those days where we are dead tired. Well our day in Florence wasn't as planned, not like we had a plan, but we didn't really do all there is to do in Florence. We actually walked into town as if we were going to be doing the Academia Gallery where the statue of David by Michelangelo is and then maybe the Utzi Gallery. We did neither. The lines were literally around the block. Instead we walked around town at our own leisure, taking pictures from the outside of many things. Walking through town we came across the Cathedral of Florence, huge. We found out the next mass was at 6 so we decided to walk back to our hotel, nap, and then we would come back. On our way back to the hotel we walked along the river, a really pretty walk. We came across a nice park where they sold snacks and drinks. We ended up splitting a bottle of Spumonte, really good as well, and really cheap. We also shared a "toaste": a ham and cheese grilled sandwich. After our nap, we walked back into town to the Cathedral and attended mass. It was huge on the inside, so much to look at. Of course the mass was in Italian so it was a little harder to follow and understand what point in the mass we were at. After mass we shared a calzone at a small pizza place along the streets of Florence and tried out the famous Chianti. We would have loved to go more into the country side but I think we have had enough of the "off the beaten path" adventures. Next trip: more Tuscany area and wine tasting for sure! That is, when we are rich of course. Well my battery is about to run out. I might have to sum up Rome a little shorter than I wanted to. On Monday we took a train into Pisa, walked to our hotel from the train station, dropped our bags off and walked to the Leaning Tower. The visit was short and sweet. We took our pics, walked around, laid in the grass, and headed back to the hotel. The streets were crowded so we wanted to get back to our hotel as soon as we could. When we got back we had dinner, I think it was pizza, who would have guessed. The rest of the night we sat on the terrace of the hotel and watched the sunset! Moving on to Tuesday we got on the morning train to Rome. Once we got to the central station of Rome we had to do a few transfers to finally get to a station on the outside of Rome. The station was kind of freaky but the campgrounds were staying at said a shuttle would be there to pick us up every hour. We did not have to wait long and the shuttle came around the corner. Good timing! We got to the campgrounds, Happy Village, around 6PM. It was actually a great property and they set us up with a small bungalow type place. We had our own key, own bathroom, own shower, etc. So it was good to us! It even had AC, I don't think any of our hotels had AC yet so that was a big, big perk. Tuesday night we decided to just hang out at the campground, lay out at the POOL, go swimming, do LAUNDRY (oh that was so nice), and eat dinner at their restaurant they had on property. The food was wonderful and not badly priced at all; we shared a small salad, spaghetti, and a small pizza. Really great food and they also had a market to buy waters or soda and whatnot. On Wednesday we took the 930 AM shuttle back to the station and made our way into the center of town. Our first stop was the Colusseum, amazing. It was awesome to see it in person. We did not get a chance to go inside because of the long, long, long lines but we got the pictures we wanted to and moved onto the Roman Forum. This was like a big playground for Billy. He loved it. Who needs a tour guide when you have Billy "Roman Times Expert" Hiegel. We walked through there for a good hour stopping at all the columns, old temples, etc. Our next stop was the Trevi fountain. We did our duty of throwing some mula in. They say when you throw money in the fountain it almost guarantees you will have a return visit. After the Trevi fountain we headed over to the Pantheon of Rome. This Pantheon we went inside because it was free mainly. It was huge and full of great things to look at. And of course last but not least we went to Vatican City. We walked through St Pietre square, walked into the Basillica and the tombs of the Popes. Yes, we saw Pope John Paul's II tomb. These places were also super crowded so the faster we got out the better. All you could hear were the workers saying "Shhh! Silence! Don't stop moving!" Fun, huh? After the tombs we walked through the Vatican Museum which was great and last but not least the Sistine Chapel which was wonderful to see in person! So we did a our whirlwind adventure through Rome. We probably could have gone slower but between the heat and the crowds we both agreed it was time to head back to the campgrounds for a swim. We can always come back in the future but seeing it all now was a nice treat! That brings us to now, on the ferry to Greece. We are so excited to see our last country and what a great one to end with. There have also been a change of plans. Due to lack of funds and more so lack of wanting to be over here anymore we are coming home a week early. This way we can visit our family a little, figure out a car situation, and find a job in St Augustine to start bringing in the money again. Believe it or not we actually miss work. Well more so we miss having our own money at our disposal. Plus we miss HOME and our friends and families so much. Well I hope I eased some of your minds wondering where the heck we were at. We will try to post pics soon too! Love you!