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Saturday, September 10, 2022

Back to work - AIRO Conference in Florence!

Since we are coming back from summer vacation, I have decided to write a post for our Trade-Opt blog, hoping it can record our wonderful time during PhD together. First of all, a warning, this post will neither be about optimization nor machine learning at all. 

In fact it, will be about Italy, where my colleagues are participating in a conference in Florence. Imagine how nice it is in Florence at the end of summer, with good weather, you can have a perfect afternoon at Piazza del Doumo, surrounded by medieval architects. It makes you start to imagine how bustling this place would be in the past. If you want to explore the art of the Renaissance, then Le Gallerie degli Uffizi would be your next stop. 

However, we are following my collegues from the conference. I will limit myself with the talk about painting and architecture. Maybe I will have one in the future about it, as everyone has a unique feeling when it comes to art. So a round of introduction from the team. 


We have Jonathan, who we usually call Jonny in a friendly way. He is the most active one in our group, and often keeps the conversation flowing during discussion or parties. 

Next, we have Emanuale and Enis. Even though they work in different places (one in Germany and the other in Austria), their first publication in PhD is actually their joint work. As you can see in the pictures, these are their works. Good job guys.


There are other Trade-Opt participants as well, unfortunately, I do not have their pictures from the conference. However, if you want to know more about them, visit our introduction post below. They are Mouna, Cheik, Tondji and Cristian, which comprise half of the Trade-Opt network already.


Finally, the main part, which I want to talk about. It is a specialty in Florence and you should try this when visiting the city. It is called Bistecca alla Fiorentina (or you can say Florence's steak), and yes: I am a meat lover.

The differences of this steak compared to the normal one is that it is made from a breed of Chianina cow ( which only grows in the area of Tuscany), and the piece is huge. It is 5-6cm thick and even weighs up to 1.5kg. The steak only grills for a very short time which leaves the inside of the steak quite rare (so it maynot be for everyone if you do not like rare steak). The Fiorentina steak is seasoned simply with salt and pepper to let you taste the flavor of the meat as much as possible. 

As usual, Italians are very strict with their cuisinse so they may get upset if you ask them to change their cooking to suit your taste. Even though I am not with everyone in Florence this time, as a food lover, I would love to know about the unique dish in the region of Italy, that's why this post. But hey, if someone wants to visit the Tuscany region, please invite me with you :) 


Ending’s credit by Cristian during the closing session:


- Hung Tran

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Back to work - AIRO Conference in Florence!

Since we are coming back from summer vacation, I have decided to write a post for our Trade-Opt blog, hoping it can record our wonderful tim...