Below is a candid of Traveler Nell exhibiting her odd fascination with ticket machines.

We headed across town to see the Galleria Borghese.

The bus only took us so far.

Someone lost Patience with Fortitude.

A nice place to sit with you sweetie.

The museum.

But “NO PHOTOS ALLOWED!”

I still snuck a couple in anyway.

It was getting late so walking back to Domus we stopped for a bite to eat. The restaurant we planned to dine in was full up so instead we headed to a place down the street.

I had a prefixe meal of spaghetti and a steak.

It was beautiful, with a hint of bacon in the sauce.

The lemon really added to the flavor and created a kind of sauce to be sopped up.

Nell had the caprese and gave me her olives.

And gnocchi of course.

For dessert I had the tiramisu and a shot of espresso.

on the walk to the hotel we came across a rather pathetic junk shop.

In addition to the puzzles there was what appeared to be a dead parakeet.

Day III ends. Tomorrow…mass with a BIG WIG. Maybe the biggest.

When last I wrote we were on our way to St. John Lateran’s Archbasilica. But visiting Rome is hungry work so once we arrived we stopped to eat at the nearest pizzeria, which turned out to be “King SNCC Di Ahmed H. & C.”; so real authentic. But Mark Bittman recently said in the NYTimes tha tRome abounds with good pizza so we gave it a try.

And it was worth it by a mile. The pizza was sold by weight so we ordered six inches of ham and cheese and three inches of potato and cheese. With a 1.5L bottle of water we came in under €8.00.

Ham and cheese.

Potato and cheese.

Traveler Nell mangia’ing.

Pizzeria Tonde da Asporto was the D/B/A.

This fine pizza received two Traggis. The potato pizza could have used a little more salt.

To cleanse our palate we stopped at the closest gelatoeria where I got a vanilla and chocolate swirl. Jenelle ordered a fragola (strawberry) gelato which she pronounced as “fradg-ee-OH-la” but she was immediately correctly by the Asian fellow behind the counter…”FRAG-o-la”

It was rather small but still a bargain at €3.20 for both.

Up next we headed across the street to the Archbasilica.

This is the back door.

For the enhanced version click here.

A design in the floor.

Up next: DAY 02: Part III

Walking to the train we came across what appeared to be a sadly delapitated church so we decided to stick our heads in for a quick look see.

What we found was Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri and it is a prime example of not judging a book by its cover because inside we found this…

To appreciate this view see the enhanced link here.

Inside it was at least twice as big as our home parish of Queen of All Saints in Brooklyn. And not to brag, but our church is enormous. Here in Rome it wouldn’t cause anyone to blink.

Having been humbled, rightly so, we headed off to the Colisseum.

Because Traveler Nell is sharp as a tack, we had the Roma Pass which allowed us to bypass the regular line entirely. This literally saved two hours of waiting.

A handsome couple of Christians, thankfully a couple millennia late for the party.

Next on the agenda was Basilica St. John Lateran but that will have to wait as my blogging app is bugging out. No point in making you wait for this portion though.

Well, here we are 4,000 miles away staying at Domus Australia in Rome Italy and would you look at the crucifix that is in our room.

I was floored. Turns out this is what is called a San Damiano Cross and it has a great deal of significance to the Franciscans.

As an aside here is a panorama of the Chapel of St. Peter Chanel here in Domus Australia. Traveler Nell’s post will have more detailed photos when it goes up, until then enjoy this and the enhanced version you can see online here.

I hope to have Day 02′s post up tomorrow. I would do it tonight but we have to get up early to go to mass…

At Saint Peter’s Basilica…

In an ordination mass being celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this blog post incorrectly identified the chapel in Domus Australia as St. John Chanel.

After a relatively unpleasant flight, (except for the views like above – the Swiss Alp) the details of which I will leave to Traveler Nell to describe, we finally landed in Rome.

Here is our cab driver from the airport. Two things about Rome’s roads. First-the majority of the streets seem to be cobblestone. Second-the rules of the road seem to be voluntary.

Some of the ruins and monuments seen along the way to the hotel.

Our hotel Domus Australia is a location set up by the Roman Catholic Church in Australia. It opened in the past year and is incredible. Here is the setup in the room for hot beverages.

The TV has a lot of available channels, almost all in Italian. Though occasionally you can find a familiar program in English.

Heading out into the city it is clear very quickly that you can’t go 15 feet without coming across a beautiful church.

We headed to the main rail station Termini to buy a Roma Pass. Feeling peckish we stopped at the Autogrill where we had rice balls (arancino) pizza margarita and two cokes.

I’ve decided the waitress asked us to clarify whether we wanted regular or diet coke because we’re American and not because I’m a larger fellow. The food arrived room temperature but it was still tasty. Although at €25.60, a bit pricey. The location loses also points because a beggar came up to us during the meal.

All in all in am awarding Autogrill S.P.A. at Roma Termini one Traggi.

Traveler Nell is a wonderful vacation planner. She managed to arrange for us to attend an ordination mass at St. Peter’s Basilica celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI himself. We received instructions to head to the Bronze Doors to pick up the free tickets.

Since we were there we decided to head in and get a sneak peak at the church.

First thing you notice is that the place is enormous. It could take hours to view the entire location if parts weren’t closed off. Photographs do not convey the sizes involved.

Above, people praying before Blessed John Paul II.

This next photo may be the best one I took at the Basilica.

Here is a composite photo of the main altar.

After enjoying our brief visit at St. Peter’s we headed back to the hotel. On the way back we stopped for dinner at Risorante Abruzzi at Piazza SS. Apostoli.

Nell found this location listening to the Catholic Guy on SiriusXM Radio. He never mentioned his favorite restaurant by name but she thinks she was able to identify it by the clues he had given.

We started by sharing an appetizer of prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella cheese. Bene.

For our main we each had the rigatoni carbonara. Molto bene.

We shared our dessert of profiteroles and I had an espresso.

On the way out I took a shot of their antipasto prep station before I hit the head.

Now they do charge for the bread and they push the bottled water. But at only €45,90 it was an incredible bargain. Even the prison toilet with a gimmicky door lock couldn’t dampen our experience.

Therefore Ristorante Abruzzi receives a full FOUR Traggis.

After dinner it was a quick walk to the bus and then onto Termini then to the hotel.

After checking our luggage we stopped by Señor Valdez’s cafe for a quick beverage until we noticed…

The incredibly long lines at security. Traveler Nell’s Qantas status means zero outside that small world, even in the bosom of the OneWorld Alliance.

I had a ginger ale. In Nell’s spent Shirley Temple glass.

Please notice the entirely un-derivative marine cracker.

The other thing we did that day was head to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the annual clash between the mighty Magpies of Collingwood and the Essendon Bombers. That year the Magpies prevailed in a walk, thrashing the Bombers by 65 points.

Unfortunately this year we do not have the luxury of fantastic tickets and Social Club passes. We have an overseas flight in less than two days and the game is scheduled to start at 12:40 AM! It appears as though the FoxSoccerPlus channel is broadcasting the game live (even though it is listing St Kildare v Freemantle from last week.)

I’d love to stay up and see if it indeed is being broadcast but with one last day of work before our holiday, I think it is time to sack out.

Update: Fox Soccer Plus HD is re-airing a half hour program explaining the AFL. I hope this bodes well for an ANZAC Day replay tomorrow night.

We had a wonderful time and as you see above I even got to see the dish in Parkes, NSW.

And it turns out waiting was a great idea because it gave Nell extra time to practice at being an amateur travel agent. As a result we will be galavanting across Europe for over two weeks. The map below details our plans.

While we are gone I shall endeavor to provide a daily update when Internet service allows. Eventually Nell will provide a greatly detailed post of all we do.

Until then, please to enjoy.

My Mission: Watch and Review Everything Community

First up: the Pilot (Extended Cut)

Pilot (Extended Cut)
I actually have had this episode as a digital download for some time.  It was probably free on iTunes and to be honest, I tried watching it before but didn’t get much past the first segment.  I was afraid it would differ too much from the show in it’s current form to be enjoyable.

L-R Annie, Shirley, Pierce, Troy, Abed, Britta and Jeff

Verdict: it is different from the current show.  It is clear that the cast getting their sea legs under them and learning to inhabit their characters.

• Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) seems to be almost cartoonish in his stupid jock persona.
• Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs) comes off as a little edgier than she would eventually evolve.
• Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown) shows signs of the troubled soul we would meet later on.
• Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase) is the oldster trying to fit in with his classmates.
• Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) if it is even possible, seems even more socially inept.
• Annie Edison (Allison Brie) comes off as far more troubled and near-psychotic.
• Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) comes off as a master manipulator, a role he routinely plays in the study group to this day.

The plot of the episode is that Jeff is a disgraced attorney who needs to get an accredited undergraduate degree.  The school he chooses is Greendale Community College, a place described by Dean Pelton (Jim Rash giving a tease of the role he would eventually make shine) as “Loser college for remedial teens, Twenty-something dropouts, middle-aged divorcees, and old people keeping their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity.”

As an aside, being the proud holder of and Associate of Arts from a prestigious Upstate New York  community college I can vouch for these characterizations as 100% accurate.  This may be one reason I generally cannot stand Chevy Chase.

A Typical Community College Non-Traditional Student (NonTraS)

Jeff is taken with Britta a lovely blonde in his class who, using the information divined by Abed, hatches a plan to get close by starting a fictitious study group.   But as all sitcom plans must, things go awry, and before he knows it the motley gang of characters are sitting around the table in a library study lounge.

I do love Chalupas

Simultaneously, Jeff is trying to wrangle all his test answers from Psychology professor Ian Duncan, a former client of Jeff who was acquitted of making a u-turn on a freeway and ordering chalupas from an emergency call box.  Duncan is intent on showing Jeff the folly of his plan though he eventually acquiesces.

Act as if we have either just finished, or have yet to begin, driving.

When presented with the unexpected and unwanted group, Jeff attempts isolate Britta from the rest by sabotaging the group, setting them against each other.  When this plan backfires he just as easily patches the group up with his sophistry. However Britta sees through his scheme and calls him on the deception.  He confesses to the deception and despite having cheating materials he is shunned by the group.

I thought you were like Bill Murray in any of his films, but you're more like Michael Douglas in any of his films.

But Duncan hadn’t provided the test answers.  Instead Jeff got an envelope filled with blank pages and the gift of a life lesson and “a second chance at an honest life.”

Notice the empty wine bottles. Not everyone learns lessons.

As he leaves campus defeated and dejected he is met outside the library by Pierce then Troy who ask philosophical questions that Jeff deftly answers with sage advice.  The rest of the group slowly congregates and it is acknowledged that once he left, the group lost it’s steam.  After pouring his soul to the group, Britta reluctantly invites Jeff back noting it was his study group to begin with.

Cream of the Creative Commentary Crop:

• Your Commentators: Dan Harmon, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo and Joel McHale.
• Jim Rash (Dean Pelton) was cast halfway through the pilot.
• Joel McHale wearing sweatpants with a blazer apparently was a hotly debated topic.
• They can’t speak highly enough of John Oliver.
• Britta misidentifies Jeff’s phone as an iPhone.
• Duncan text abbreviated Conversation as Con-4-s-8-tion for a net gain of one character.
• The pilot library scenes were filmed at a defunct bank’s training center.
• LA band The 88 provide the music for this episode, the eventual theme song and much of the series
• The episode was dedicated to the memory of John Hughes.

Final Thoughts:

This episode held up rather well to multiple viewings.  I’m glad to see that the characters I love so much have evolved, even Pierce Hawthorn.  I had hoped for some background gags to post screen caps of, but I didn’t catch any this episode.

My blog post palate cleanser episode?  Season 2 Episode 14 Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.