You may be reading a lot about my trip to Italy over the next few weeks, so I'll skip the formalities and get right to it. After I say that as much as I enjoyed Italy, two weeks seems like a long time, especially when your country and the cities you know and love are under attack and thousands of innocent people are being burned alive, crushed, and torn to shreds. It's good to be home.

The Touristy Sites

The Colosseum was closed for business when we stopped by, but you can get a sense of the interior from walking around it. (Note to self: rent Gladiator.) Admission 10,000 Lit. ($5)

We came upon the Pantheon from behind, unexpectedly, and after so many Renaissance buildings its ancient dark nobby brick, forming a perfect cylinder, made me gasp. We picked our way carefully around the back of it as a big tour bus nearly ran us over and made our way inside. The rain from the night before had puddled underneath the 18-foot oculus. Raphael and the king Vittorio Emanuele II are buried here. Benches around the perimeter are scarce, so grab a seat when you can. I took a half hour catnap and emerged well rested. Admission free.

The Trevi Fountain: yawn. I'm not sure why Frommer's awarded this claustrophobic little piazza and its artistically insignificant Neptune statue a "must see" star, but I guess it's one of those places you visit just so you can say you've been there.

The Spanish Steps, and there are many of them, lead up to the Trinita dei Monti, the Villa Medici, and the Villa Borghese. In early September they are so packed with people, both tourists, roving gangs of senior citizens, locals, and noisy Roman teenagers, that you have to pick your way among them as if among landmines. The Via Condotti, Rome's most expensive shopping street (Prada, Ferragamo, Bulgari, just to name a few), begins at the Piazza di Spagna and heads west.

The Churches

(See my separate review of the Vatican, forthcoming.)

San Luigi dei Francesi is the French national church, a short walk west of the Pantheon and a block east of the Piazza Navona. The first time we stopped by it was closed for lunch (12:30 - 3:30), but we decided to pay another visit when we were stranded for an extra day after the terrorist attacks. There was a small crowd waiting to see the three Caravaggio paintings, which is why people come here. (Remember to drop a few coins in the box, otherwise the paintings remain unlit.) Caravaggio is one of the masters of the Italian Renaissance, a working class scamp who killed a tennis opponent over a disputed match score (he later received a papal pardon) and died young, but he was prolific and his paintings are among the most beautiful in the world. The Calling of St. Matthew is here, notable for its use of chiaroscuro. Admission free.

Santa Maria del Popolo, on the Piazza del Popolo, contains another two Caravaggios, the Crucifixion of St. Peter and the dramatic Conversion on the Way to Damascus. I feel very lucky to have seen all these Caravaggios, since there aren't many in the U.S.

San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains), a hop and a skip from our hotel, was founded in the 5th century to house the chains that bound Peter in Palestine (you can see them in a glass box), but it's more well known for Michaelangelo's big, brooding Moses atop the tomb of Pope Julius II. Moses recently underwent a restoration, and he looks good. Michaelangelo supposedly carved his own likeness into the beard, but we couldn't find it. Admission free.

The Hotels

The Hotel Duca d'Alba (on the Via Leonini) is a 5 minute walk from the Colosseum, and 3 minutes from the Cavour metro stop (Cavour is one stop from the main railway station), on a narrow cobblestoned street lined with trattorias and small shops. The rooms have basic modern furnishings but elegant touches: chair rail moldings, boldly striped wallpaper in hues of wine and pumpkin, framed lithographs of ancient Rome. Elegant floor length window treatments match the wallpaper. The rooms are well lit: two ceiling lights, two bedside lamps, a table lamp. The baths are handsomely tiled, with toilet, bidet, and clothesline in the shower. One had a half bath, the other a full bath. Plenty of ledge space above the sink, and tons of mirrors. The A/C was a little weak. The rooms also featured a minibar, armoire, safe, and TV. The hotel hallways are narrow and winding with walls covered in mustard colored fabric or stucco. Four of the rooms have balconies, but ours weren't much to speak of, opening out on a cramped courtyard and featuring outdoor carpeting. Since it's on a back street, you aren't as likely to hear traffic or other noise. Our rooms faced the back, and were virtually soundproof. The Duca d'Alba is hardly palatial, but cute and packed with charm. The complimentary full breakfasts included fruit, croissants, scrambled eggs, bacon (swimming in liquid fat, unfortunately), ham, cereal, juices. Skip the coffee, unless you want a mouthful of melting tires on hot Nevada asphalt. There is a small but elegantly furnished lobby, lounging area with bar, and breakfast room. The staff is friendly, speaks excellent English, and is extremely helpful and courteous. The Filipino bellboy's son who serves at breakfast is cute enough to be in Menudo. Room rate: 340,000 Lit. for a double ($170).

Out of necessity, we stayed at the Hilton Rome Airport at the end of our trip because our outgoing flights were at dawn. About 30 miles outside of Rome, a half hour train ride (the Leonardo Express, normally 17,000 Lit. but 20,000 Lit. late at night for some reason), the Hilton is sterile and not especially sumptuous in appearance, but with quite a few amenities and luxuries: real and faux marble bathrooms, heated towel racks, bathroom scales, miraculous non-fogging bathroom mirrors, fitness center, swimming pool, tennis courts. Somehow in spite of paying less than the regular rate, we ended up on the 5th floor, the Executive Floor, with its own concierge and lounge serving bar drinks and caviar on toast points until 10:30 p.m., as well as a separate breakfast from the rest of the hotel. You can check out via the concierge, saving yourself the lines at the front desk. There is internet access (expensive) by procuring a keyboard for your TV, although it was unavailable when I checked. The Hilton has two restaurants and a piano bar/lounge, all of which were crowded when we came down for dinner at about 9:30. We were told the wait would be ½ hour, but it was more than an hour before our food was brought, and it wasn't until 10 minutes after we were seated that they even set out our placemats. Meanwhile, we watched as other patrons who had come in after us dug into their victuals. The menu was completely overpriced and the dinner rolls were like granite, but the risotto with red onion fondue and the onion quiche with arugula (from the "onion menu") were tasty. Room rate: 395,000 Lit. for a double, or 204 Euros ($198).

The Food

The trattoria near the Duca d'Alba and the surrounding neighborhood are hit or miss. Our best meal in Rome was the $6 super-thin crust pizza with tomato, onion and mozzarella on the Via Cavour opposite the Ricci. It's about 12-14" in diameter, but so thin that one pizza is the perfect individual portion. We had another good meal around the corner from the hotel (pizza again, with sausage, mozzarella and chicory), although the waiter misunderstood our request for coffee flavored gelato and instead added half a cup of cold coffee to a bowl of hazelnut gelato.

Misfortune struck the next night at a crowded trattoria a few steps from the hotel (we should have taken notice of the large mob of Germans) featuring a menu in 6 languages that boasted, "we serve our fish frozen." Its popularity among the Teutons became apparent as I dug into my gnocchi with "prawn cream", nasty little dumplings and a smattering of briny shrimp in a Cheetos-colored sauce, a truly disgusting dish that basked morosely in its own unworthiness. I don't think I've had pasta that bad since my trip to West Germany in 1988. Another member of our party ordered a pizza that arrived with a sunny-side up egg smack dab in the middle. (It was her fault for ordering a pizza with egg; she expected it to be hardboiled.)

Miscellany

The prevailing fashion for Roman women seems to be very tight, rather sheer white pants overtop a white thong, navel-baring tops, and high heels.

If you are blond in Rome, you will get a lot of stares from men. Maybe there was a square of toilet paper stuck to my ass?

Roman men could well be the most gorgeous of all the races. They tend to wear tight pants too.


Recommended: Yes

Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Sep - Nov