I said to my wife. She always complains that it's too hot, too expensive and smells. Why go then? Mind you, if you go by car it's a nice drive through the Alps in Austria or Switzerland. And she did see the Pope once (in Rome, not in the Alps).
No, it was a couple of years ago when she went to Rome. She spent 4 days there and I asked her what she did all the time. She replied "I did as the Romans do".
You are correct, technically it would be going through Italy. Unless you went to Italy, then, having arrived, you made a last minute decision to go to San Marino instead.