However, my favorite place is Abruzzi Ristorante, located five minutes’ walk from the busy Piazza Venezia, at the end of the much quieter Piazza Dodici Apostoli. The rooms are cozy and decorated with large prints of various sites in Rome (see above photo), the service is excellent, the food is superb—they specialize in cuisine from the Abruzzi region of Italy—and the prices are very reasonable. Sunday evening is “priests’ night,” when young seminarians from the nearby Pontifical Gregorian Institute gather with their monsignors for food, drink, and gossip. A close second is Taverna Cestia, located in full view of the Porta San Paolo and Pyramid of Cestius—during nice weather, the outdoor seating affords a great view of these ancient structures. A sure sign that the place is up to snuff is that by 9pm it’s full of locals, with their families or dates or friends. Prices again are very reasonable, especially for the quality of food and service. Another good choice, located deep within the Aventine and inconspicuously tucked into the ground level of an apartment building, is Apuleius, which is named after a second century Roman philosopher and is a first-class restaurant with food almost as outstanding as its ancient setting and becalming ambiance. Built into the ruins of the sixth century B.C. Temple of Diana—in the dining room are several original columns with ionic capitals supporting a marble architrave—this restaurant serves excellent food in an elegant, august atmosphere. The service, while attentive, is unhurried—don’t go here if you’re in a rush—and you have time to muse on the ancient ruins a mere few feet from you and to contemplate the legions of people who have gazed upon them over the past 2500 years. Another reliable place is Il Buco (The Hole), founded in 1901 and located on a quiet side street just down from the Chiesa di San Ignatio, in the old part of Rome. Featuring cuisine from Tuscany, it is warm and comfortable, with an early- to mid-twentieth century atmosphere, back before unending hordes of tourists started to descend on Rome; prices are reasonable, and the food and service are always good. Finally, a short walk from Il Buco is my favorite café in Rome, Ritorno al Passato (Return to the Past), smack dab in front of the greatest ancient monument still standing largely intact, the Pantheon. The staff are always friendly and welcoming, even to the rudest tourists, and although the prices, while not astronomical, are not cheap, the view it affords is beyond peer—the Pantheon is one of the wonders of the ancient world. Safely ensconced there, treat yourself to an aperitif, or even a lunch or dinner, as you contemplate the kaleidoscopic array of humanity strolling by, almost as if it were a clip from a Fellini movie: the buskers and the mimes trying to catch an audience and earn a few euro; innumerable couples of all ages, some still in love’s limerence, others bored and annoyed with one another; tourists in transit, pulling their wheelie luggage; the tour groups from Michigan or Poland; police officers on the beat, spiffy in their uniforms, but bored and disinterested; nuns and priests in their finery; the infirm and cripples, limping with their canes and walkers, or else being pushed in wheelchairs; tourists standing on their Segways, all properly helmeted; women with overdone makeup and very tight skirts slowly slinking by as they look about for customers; and the locals going home from work, scurrying by and trying to avoid the out-of-towners. But you really must not sniff and feel superior to your fellow sojourners, since once you finish your drinks and food, you, too, will be part of the unending circus heaving and churning past the Pantheon, the ancient sentinel which for 1900 years has mutely witnessed the foibles, the cruelty, and, yes, even the goodness of humankind.