When in Rome

ComputingEnvironmentOpen SourcePersonal

I just got back from a very pleasant week in Rome at the Cocoon Get Together, catching up with old friends and colleagues.

I would really like to thank Simone Gianni and his team for doing such a great job of organising and running the event, plus Gabriele and Maurizio for various extra-curricular activities they arranged : )

Rome is a beautiful city, the weather was lovely, the last touch of summer (my photos so far).

I have just published the talk I was honoured to give, the other talks are available [here][4].

Being such a guilt-ridden eco-freak (and having flown to the [West Indies][5] twice this year already) I decided to go by train. London to Paris on [Eurostar][6], a night staying with friends, the [Artesia][7] sleeper to Rome the next night.

I love travelling on trains, you meet people. Our couchette compartment was a magnet all night for drink and wild conversation. British, Italians, French, Russians and Americans, it was a gas.

The downside is that it is really expensive compared to flying and our sleeper carriage was in a very poor state of repair. I was in the same carriage in both directions, it had 2 toilets, 3 washrooms. 2 of the washrooms had the door broken off, 1 toilet and washroom had no water.

But everyone was so nice about it : )

[4]: [5]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharkbait/tags/westindies/show/ [6]: http://www.eurostar.com [7]: http://www.italiarail.com/tickets/IR/IR-Artesia.asp?AFF=TRE