Pisa, Italy, 8-10 Jan 2008.

I did not expect my return to Pisa (first trip in 2006) to be very interesting. Mainly because my last trip there coincided with heavy rain that didn’t allow us to do many things outside. This time, a technical meeting was to take place on Wednesday morning in the University of Pisa, Mathematics Department.

• Wednesday morning: the meeting place is a good opportunity to see some familiar faces again. It is always nice to reunite with old friends (or foes). Yes. I am of course, talking about my friend R2D2. It is a long time since we last met. He hasn’t changed at all. Smooth and cool as always. He seems a bit bored though…
  
  * R2D2 in Pisa is a prototype of the famous Star Wars robot. The motivation was for R2D2 to be used as a tour guide or similar in the University originally, in museums and other sites when (if) it goes in production.
  
  
• Wednesday night: a dinner has been organized by our Italian hosts (how nice of them). It was like my wildest fantasy! Food coming in from all directions and in all possible shapes, tastes, and combinations! I counted them: 11 courses! Pork puree, duck, ham, ravioli with spinach, pork steak, desserts! I cannot remember all of them, but I do remember that I was happy that night… Ah, nothing like a thoroughly satisfied stomach.
  
  The dinner provided the setting for one of the weirdest discussions me as a researcher was able to participate in… It all started when I mentioned that I am not very fond of eating duck because it reminds me of Donald Duck. Huge mistake. It was all downhill from there on. Marco seemed like I touched a sensitive chord of his: cartoons and reality. He seemed like he had this issue stuck into his head for years. I mean, one could even assume that this is the reason he became a researcher in the first place! To find the truth… about Goofy!
  
  With an Italian accent: “You know Gooffffy? Micky’s friend-a? He is a dog right-a? And you know Micky has another dog-a, right-a? Pluto. Now, how come-a Goofffy can talk-a but Pluto cannot-a? Why Pluto goes ‘woof woof’? They are both dogs-a, right-a? So why is this happening-a? I cannot understand-a!”
  
  Note to self: never again mention fictional characters to engineers or scientists that had more than a glass of alcohol.
  
  
• Thursday morning: What’s with the tower? I always laugh when I see the Leaning Tower of Pisa (I know I shouldn’t and I am sorry for this -but it’s so funny!). It is inspiring though, the way they turned an engineering failure into one of the most recognized landmarks in Europe!
  
  And these guys have some serious engineering issues. The angle is frightening! It is nearly 15^o I would say. They say they have stabilized it, finally. But I do not trust them. Hey, they are Italians! They think Chicken is a vegetarian dish -it’s true, I learned this from my previous visit to Pisa…