I spent the full week in Rome this week, working from the beautiful Bibliotheca Hertziana. Mostly I was writing—rethinking my dissertation, preparing talks for the coming weeks, and getting job materials in order—but I managed a little further hacking by way of this writing, too. If you get the opportunity to spend some time at the Hertziana, I highly recommend it! The coffee is… below average (after a few days I caved and brought in my own beans, grinder, and Aeropress), but the buildings are magnificent, and the administration smooth and impressively functional (it’s in Italy, but “Max Planck” means it’s a German institution). Minus the catastrophic coffee, the conference catering is also quite good, especially the plates of dolce that tend to be provided after the main course. La dolce vita.