Italy thus far

I have been doing lots and keep trying to post here but things keep preventing me from doing so. I arrived in Italy on September 3, 2005 and was terribly tired. I went out drinking the night before my flight and got 3 hours of sleep. I thought it would help me sleep better on the flight to Italy but I ended up only getting a very unrestful 3 hours on the 8 hours to Italy (this does not count my flight from Detroit to Newark, NJ first before transfering planes to get to Roma, Italy.) When I got to Roma I had to wait in the airport for close to 4 hours for my parents. I was simply exhausted. We went to go get our rental car and it ended up being yet another hour wait because there were so many people. When we finally got on our way we got so lost it took us 3 hours or so (not really sure because I kept passing out in the very cramped back seat; our luggage almost didn't fit) and we had to stop many times and try to get directions from people who spoke very little if at all any english. This was our first experience in Italy!! When we got to the villa the people took us on a tour and all I wanted to do was pass out. So finally after everyhing was said and done (this couple didn't speak any english at all) my parents were nice enough to let me pass out while they unloaded the car and went grocery shopping. Our first Italian meal was very odd and forced me to get into the mind frame that I will have to be daring and try a lot of things I normally wouldn't try back home. It is amazing what you are willing to try when you are hungry enough. After dinner we simply cleaned up and went to bed.
We spent the week around Roma. We went to a lake, saw St. Peter's Bascillica, Cistine Chapel, Collosium, Pallistine Hills, went to the Pontine Islands and then had to pack up for our short tour across Italy. We went to Tivoli and went to a fountain garden called D'Este. It was simply amazing and loved every minute of it (everything I had seen previously was amazing but in different ways.) We then made our way to Tuscania (sp?) and absolutely LOVED it. We had our first full three course Italian meal and had to order in Italian and I think I ended up eating rabbit.
We then went to Siena and saw the Duomo there at night and thought it was gorgeous. It was way to crowded for our tastes (plan on going back for all the things I didn't see) and made our way to Assisi. There was so much rebuilding still going on we spent a whole 3 hours there before we left. We then arrived in Ancona and hated it. Reminded us of New York City too much so left early the next morning for Macerata. I love this town and see MANY MANY MANY good times ahead. My friends are waiting for me so I will write more about my journy that has started in Macerata another time.