In a land of great fashion sense, Tommy Hilfiger and The Gap knock-offs are the teen uniform of choice. In a country where the food and cooking have been anointed by God himself, every McDonald's location is packed. Kids tote Happy Meal cartons with obvious pride. While parents consume wine and mineral water as a natural part of most meals, kids and teens reach for a Coke. It's the starkest and purest testament to the power of the American symbol.
Retail service is attentive.
Everything else is hit or miss. The four-star hotel we stayed at was noisy, the amenities subpar and the concierges haughty, bordering on downright rude. On the busiest day of the religious pilgrim's year, St. Peter's Cathedral closed promptly at 6 p.m. Banks refused to exchange currency on Dec. 31 and one of Rome's most popular museums at the moment, the recently opened Borghese, couldn't rent audio guides because the batteries weren't working. Italians love to talk, and it shows. The Internet, however, is another matter.