Bar del Chiostro - Ospedale Nuovo Regina Margherita {Coffee in Rome}

When you live in Rome it can be easy to get inured to the remarkable. I don't ever forget that I am exceptionally lucky to walk past the Colosseum on my way to the grocery store or that the route to my yoga studio includes crossing a centuries-old bridge, but it is my normal.

The other day I wanted to take a different walk home and decided to finally stop at the much written about hidden cloisters in the Regina Margherita hospital. There is a reason that so many people write about this place. Here are my two (euro) cents.

Walk through the gate around the corner from the San Cosimato market and inside the hospital grounds and you will find yourself in a remarkable ninth century cloister. Find a bench in the pretty, scruffy, garden and admire Roman-era marble tubs now used as planters and walk the lengths of vaulted porticos to see fragments of columns, sculptures, and plaques. 

The bar is one of a dying breed of old-fashioned Roman cafes with a plastic sign above the door and bright fluorescent lighting. Order a coffee and stand at the long metal-topped bar and enjoy one of those only in Rome, happens everyday experiences.

Ospedale Nuovo Regina Margherita
Via Emilio Morosini 30

If you are visiting Rome and need medical assistance this hospital has a clinic that provides medical care to tourists and non-residents.