Ritorno da Venezia

Back from Venezia after a very enjoyable week! The course in Padova was well-attended, including some afficionados from Roma who undertook the eight hour journey to hear about Bayesian model choice… There were also quite a few people for the seminar I gave at the Università Ca’ Foscari in Venezia.

In all three places I visited, I was impressed by the quality of the renovations in the university buildings: in Brescia, the department of Economics is located in a former convent, including a well-preserved cloister. In Padova, the department of Statistics occupies a very nice building in the town, with wonderful offices and classes. In Ca’ Foscari, the university stays within the rehabilitated slaughter-house and, again, the place is superb! Compared with (all) French universities, the material conditions are much more superior. (Obviously, Italian universities are also suffering from severe woes, from underfunding to inconsistent hiring rules.)

Anyway, even though my main contribution to tourism was to walk to and back from the station every day, I did appreciate the feeling of being momentarily part of this wonderful city, especially in the early morning when I crossed “locals” coming from the station to work in Venezia. The sun was back on the two last days and was warm enough to take the kids to the (Lido) beach, not long enough for their taste (and too long for mine!). We also had an insanely expensive and incredibly good meal at the Hostaria da Franz with an outworldly risotto di seppie a la Veneziana that was so good it was almost a desert… This restaurant is located quite out of the (touristic) way in the Castello district, which makes it even more attractive if not more affordable (even once every five years).