Rome spent two years sprucing up – scrubbed, repaired, or repainted monuments, villas, churches, and fountains, cleaning its buildings and monuments for an expected influx of tourists for the millennial year. All look more glorious than they have in several generations. Cleansed of soot and painstakingly restored to their 17th-century visage, the city’s baroque architectural masterpieces are at their best. But so far the expected rush of new visitors hasn’t appeared. – Boston Globe (Washington Post)