Busy Times in Northern Italy

by | Jul 7, 2009 | Culture and Society | 4 comments

P1000117

I had intended to use today’s post to talk about yesterday’s sessions here in Aosta, but it’s going on midnight here, and tomorrow will clearly not afford any opportunities to write. Tuesday turns out to be our sightseeing day. We leave the hotel at 9:00 and head for Verrès, where we visit the Mechatronics Laboratory of the Politecnico di Torino. Then we head up into the mountains, visiting the Bard fortress, with individual visits to the Museum of the Alps. After lunch at what is said to be an excellent restaurant called La Polveriera, we go to an exhibition called ‘Verso l’alto, l’ascesa come esperienza del sacro’ — Towards the heights: The ascent as experience of the sacred. Then to dinner at the Hotel Notre Maison, where we are promised traditional Aosta Valley food.

Image: The Aosta town hall, where our opening sessions were held. Later, we moved to the Hotel Europe.

P1000139

As for tomorrow, we don’t get back to the hotel until midnight. No more today or I’ll be late for the bus, but I’ll hope to get more posted on Wednesday, when we return to our scientific schedule. Until then, imagine me bumping up narrow mountain roads looking at Alpine scenery in a bus stuffed with space scientists!

Image: A motley crew. From left to right, Giovanni Vulpetti, Claudio Maccone, Greg Matloff, Les Johnson, as we stood outside the hotel waiting for last night’s banquet to begin. If these guys can’t get us into deep space, nobody can.

← Previous Article First Day in Aosta
Next Article → Aosta Update for Wednesday

4 Comments

  1. Adam on July 7, 2009 at 4:50

    Hi Paul

    Wow! The heroes themselves! Shame they don’t get more adulation, but then it’s a small world in the Interstellar Conspiracy…

  2. James M. Essig on July 7, 2009 at 7:21

    Hi Paul;

    Sounds like you are having a great time. This reminds me that I need to visit nothern New England, perhaps northern Maine later this Summer so that I can check out the beautiful night skies. I think there is a meteor shower coming up around August 10, 11.

    Anyhow, I am happy that you are having such a great vacation. I showed my mother some of the pictures you posted in yesterdays threat, and she was amazed at the beauty especially the one with the tall mountains in the background.

    Regards;

    Jim

  3. george scaglione on July 7, 2009 at 9:46

    GLAD TO HEAR it is all going so well!!!!! please keep us advised as you get the chance . have a good time must be neat to be there! your friend george

  4. Paul Titze on July 7, 2009 at 11:18

    Sounds like you’re having lots of fun Paul, good to see the A team there too!

    Cheers, Paul.

Now Reading

Charter

In Centauri Dreams, Paul Gilster looks at peer-reviewed research on deep space exploration, with an eye toward interstellar possibilities. For many years this site coordinated its efforts with the Tau Zero Foundation. It now serves as an independent forum for deep space news and ideas. In the logo above, the leftmost star is Alpha Centauri, a triple system closer than any other star, and a primary target for early interstellar probes. To its right is Beta Centauri (not a part of the Alpha Centauri system), with Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon Crucis, stars in the Southern Cross, visible at the far right (image courtesy of Marco Lorenzi).

Recent Posts

On Comments

If you'd like to submit a comment for possible publication on Centauri Dreams, I will be glad to consider it. The primary criterion is that comments contribute meaningfully to the debate. Among other criteria for selection: Comments must be on topic, directly related to the post in question, must use appropriate language, and must not be abusive to others. Civility counts. In addition, a valid email address is required for a comment to be considered. Centauri Dreams is emphatically not a soapbox for political or religious views submitted by individuals or organizations. Human comments only, please -- cut and paste from AI will not be acceptable. A long form of the policy can be viewed on the Administrative page. The short form is this: If your comment is not on topic and respectful to others, I'm probably not going to run it.





Advanced Propulsion Research




Beginning and End







Archives