We have been using self-service check-in kiosks for several years. Usually, we are flying Northwest Airlines out of Detroit Metro. Our last experience was on Dec. 27, ’05, out of Metro, with return on Jan. 20, ’06, from Tampa.

Since we get our boarding pass online, only the luggage remains to be taken care of. We usually take our luggage to the check-in counter ourselves, as Northwest has special luggage-only counters (or we can even use the regular counters if it isn’t busy). The...

Airport self-service check-in kiosks look great and sound great; unfortunately, they are of no value to someone like me because they cannot verify my age.

My wife and I are seniors and we get great prices on air tickets by using senior discounts. I normally purchase tickets via a phone reservation, then have an electronic ticket with e-mail confirmation. Since, at the airport, the machines cannot satisfy the airlines that we are being truthful about our age, we’re always stuck to wait...

Sutri, Italy, north of Rome, was once known as the “Gate of Etruria.” The Etruscan ruins include a very well-preserved theater from 1 B.C. which is almost round; it is still very easy to see the stepped seats, the niches for grand chairs and thrones and the square openings that led to underground paths.

The gates of the amphitheater face a tall, heavy stand of medieval wall, which uses Roman and Etruscan stones, and a rise of auto road that reenters the town.

The main square,...