Francesca's place is welcoming and warm and literally just outside the Villa San Giovanni Station on the M1 metro line (the Red line). It will take you about 20 minutes by Metro to get to Duomo and all the other attractions. You haven't got a lot of local restaurants, but there are a couple of great bakeries and a few small shops. There's a supermarket just around the corner as well. Being so close to the Metro line means that you can sometimes hear it go by, but that didn't bother us at all.