... but what do you do when you get there?

It is said that, "All roads lead to Rome." Our road took us to Rome last week. The trip had ups and downs. I won't go into a description of the sights - other sites can do that better than I. We stayed four nights, enough time to hit the highlights: the Colosseum, Pantheon, Roman Forum, and St. Peter's Basilica. We missed the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel because lines were very long and opening times were very short. Instead we went to the Doria Pamphilj Gallery. It was nice because it was not crowded - everyone else must have been waiting in the Vatican Museums line. The weather was pleasant, 55-60 deg. F, partly cloudy most days, and far better than the snow that was accumulating in Denmark.

We had a funny exchange at the hotel. Upon leaving to go touring the second day, the desk clerk asked us to leave our key. We hadn't done that on previous trips, I guess because we just left without passing by the desk. We did as requested after another guest confirmed that was normal. Upon returning and asking for the key to room 501, the response was "Impossible! Impossible!" (pronounced: eem poss EE blay). Not knowing our Italian numbers, I think he must have thought we were asking for the key to room 51, which does not exist. This was funny because we had only dropped off the key (to the same person) a couple of hours before and the hotel was rather small with few guests in the low season of February.

A second source of the giggles was when, after a large hotel breakfast (with tea, coffee, juice) we took a long walk to the Pantheon. By the time we got there, nature was calling to the extent that we said, "There's the Pantheon . . . . THERE'S McDONALD'S!" McDonald's . . . restroom for the world.

One not-so-funny event was getting pickpocketed on the Metro. I write this only as a bit of catharsis, but I prefer not to talk about it because it brings back the frustration of knowing I'd been targeted and taken advantage of by the seedier elements below street level. I was aware of the risk, keeping tight hold on my wallet and passport, but didn't think anyone would be interested in my two-year old digital camera.

In summary, Rome for me falls into the same category as what used to be New Orleans - a nice place to visit, but wouldn't want to live there. Like New Orleans, there are some rough edges in Rome that diminish the experience a bit, but the amazing sites make it worth a visit.