When I was in the US this last trip, my colleagues saw my house keys and wondered…do you actually use that key to get into your house? After 8 years I’ve become pretty immune to keys which I consider “skeleton keys” – long, imposing keys that are used to open deadbolts on big doors here in Italy.

I actually saved a longer skeleton key from a previous apartment – I thought I’d take a picture of it so you can see just how big they are compared to regular keys. The blue-topped one is the one that I use to get into my current apartment.

Have you had any exposure to skeleton keys?