The Salesianum (Rome, Italy)

After a couple days in the Salesianum, a retreat house / hotel / resort-ish place located 30 minutes west of Rome, I've been able to explore most of the main areas, and have been impressed and unimpressed... 'whelmed' and 'underwhelmed,' as it were.

Sign for the aula magna (grainy due to iPhone picture taking in the dark).

Starting with some of the best... most of the General Chapter will be held in the 'aula magna,' which is relatively state-of-the-art. The auditorium has seating for 250 (something around that number), and has a pretty complex but functional A/V system. I will soon be writing up a post about how we're taking the video from the auditorium and putting it online for general consumption... that will probably be posted to OpenSourceCatholic.com.

The inside of the aula magna - pretty nicely arrayed, imo.

Other than the auditorium and the main dining area, the layout of the place is confusing as heck, and (in my estimation) built in the 60s or 70s; the architecture screams of a modernist influence, considering the plethora of right angles and roofs, level variations, and right-angled hallways.

One of the many rooms/hallways. Always looks the same. Confusing as heck.

I haven't yet had a chance to tour the outside, though I know there are some scenic areas, and more than a few beautiful (and very large) palm trees. There's also a walkway that leads into a pine forest, which I'm eager to check into.

Tomorrow I'll be touring the city of Rome for a bit, and meeting up with some seminarians I know from the North American College (NAC). Then it's back to the Salesianum!