Meet You at the Hospital for Coffee

Americans have plenty of cozy coffee shops, but few are in hospitals, where visitors usually find themselves in bleak cafeterias or pushing buttons on a machine.  So it was with some surprise that we stumbled upon your basic Roman cafe, complete with patio and trimmed bushes, in the courtyard of Ospedale (hospital) San Giovanni, steps from the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano.  We had wandered into the nearly hidden complex one morning, wondering what was inside.  And we stayed to have our standard morning repast: due Americani, uno di cui macchiato (two American coffees [made with espresso, but long, and in a big cup], one of them with milk), and due cornetti (two pastries).  When we returned days later, just to see if we'd been dreaming, the charming, dark-skinned barista remembered our order--but then, what else would you expect?  You're in Italy.    Bill