March 26, 2006

Medicare's satisfied customers say wading through confusing and complex enrollment process for new Medicare prescription drug program is worth it for savings, but say they never could have done without advice from family, friends or counselors from groups like LIFE Senior Services; many beneficiaries say they are grateful to local insurance counselors, rather than government, for steering them to right plan within program, because costs under different plans can vary enormously; photos (L)

Christ the King High School (NYC) defeats Murry Bergtraum High School, 79-66, to win girls' New York State Federation Tournament of Champions; photos (M)

Paul Berman reviews book America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy by Francis Fukuyama; photo (M)

Louisiana State University defeats Texas University, 70-60, in overtime of men's NCAA tournament Round of 8; photos (M)

HOW does Rome taste? An odd question perhaps, but the sort that comes to mind when I read travel accounts that define cities by sights and sounds, colors and tempo. What about the flavor, I wonder, meaning that more literally than figuratively. Say Rome to me and my first thoughts are not of the swirling traffic around the marble wedding cake that is a monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, nor of the eaten-out stone melon that is the Colosseum, nor of the ''Dolce Vita'' set as immortalized by Fellini. Rather, I think first of the creamy foam, or spuma, that tops lightly sugared espresso at the always jammed Sant'Eustachio around the corner from the Pantheon, the coffee bar that I still consider this city's best.