16:10"We ARE going to do this, no matter what!" That's what I'm saying as we wait in our second one hour line up, seeing the St. Peter's Basilicia, the epicenter of Rome, and the heart of the Vatican. It's a sweltering 35 degrees out, and water is about $5 a bottle. Gotta love it. But as we enter the basilica, conceivably the world's largest church and most fantastic structure made by man, we are overwhelmed once again.It's really hard to put into words the ...

12:13amSometimes you get those moments that you know will stay with you forever. We had one of those tonight at Navona, Rome's most beautiful Baroque piazza. The cobblestoned pedestrian area follows the shape of Domitian's Stadium, some of the original arches still visible below the church of Sant' Agnese. At the center of the plaza is the magnificent fountain, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, a stunning design of Bernini's. So there we are, it's dark and the piazz...

10:43 amBeen a couple days since I last journaled, mostly because of lack of (free) internet here. The flights were pretty uneventful from Istanbul to Athens, then to Rome. It was beautiful weather, so you could see the Greek Islands, Corinth, and the bottom of the Italy "boot". The kids kept asking how we were going to get from the airport to Anthony's house. I kept saying, "I don't know, but we'll figure it out once we get there". One of the challenges of ...

16:46We're flying to Athens, then on to Rome, and as we cross the Aegean Coast, I feel a twinge of regret that we weren't able to take in those beautiful places along the Turkey's coastline (Izmir, Selcuk, Ephesus). Our original plan was to spend a week down there, but as we started working out the itinerary, realized there was just not enough time to swing it (without spending loads of time traveling). So I make a little vow to get back here someday, without a...

Around 11pmIt's really hard to imagine that a day could be so full of the unexpected as our first day in Isantbul. I mean, we kind of feel like we've seen so much that nothing could really "startle" us or wow us. But for me, Istanbul has definitely done just that. Let me recount the last 24 hours.The bus ride was awesome. I think we all slept very well, up until the Turkish border, where they are VERY thorough. First they check you out of Bulgaria, stamp an ...