view from a conference accommodation window

I am attending the Unconventional Computing workshop an the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily.  I’ve wanted to attend an Erice event for a long time now, as it is a famous location for scientific conferences.  So I was concerned when I caught Covid, but fortunately I recovered in time.  I arrived at the centre about 3am (due to a more than three hour delay in my flight; thanks Ryanair).  The weather forecast is full sun all week, so I was surprised to see this out of my window this morning:

However, the early morning mist had mostly lifted by the first break.  We trooped up a stone sprial staircase from the lecture room to the tearoom, to be greeted by a most fantastic view: the room is open to the scenery:

The photo just doesn’t do justice to the effect.  The light is amazing.  Going closer to the opening (taking care to avoid falling down the unmarked black steps against the black floor on the way) gives a wonderful view over the historic town of Erice:

Look closely at the roofs, and you will see lines of rocks on the tiles.  Why?

And looking further out we see this magnificent view over the Mediterranean:

After this break, it’s my turn to present, on less than five hours sleep and with a bit of a post-Covid cough. Let’s see how it goes!