* Id: Erice * Revision: 2 * State: submitted * * Log: * Revision 1 1999/07/27 Roel van der Meulen * Initial submitted version. * * Revision 2 1999/08/15 Roel van der Meulen * A few small changes. I goofed up and initially put this as * EriceSicily-1 because Roel didn't tell me that this was an update to * an already-submitted article and I didn't notice. * * Checked-out 2000/02/04 Aaron Rice Return-path: Received: from pop.argonet.co.uk by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.0.5) for mrs@localhost (single-drop); Mon, 16 Aug 1999 12:01:25 +0100 (BST) Received: from (strw.strw.LeidenUniv.nl) [132.229.214.2] by golden.argonet.co.uk with esmtp (Exim 1.82 #3) id 11G4L9-0002u3-00; Sun, 15 Aug 1999 18:45:03 +0100 Received: from beerze.LeidenUniv.nl (beerze [132.229.214.9]) by strw.strw.LeidenUniv.nl (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id TAA27431 for ; Sun, 15 Aug 1999 19:45:02 +0200 (MET DST) Received: by beerze.LeidenUniv.nl (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id TAA16073; Sun, 15 Aug 1999 19:43:12 +0200 Message-Id: <199908151743.TAA16073@beerze.LeidenUniv.nl> X-Sun-Charset: US-ASCII Subject: real submission now: Erice From: vdmeulen@strw.leidenuniv.nl (Roel van der Meulen) To: mseaborn@argonet.co.uk Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 19:43:12 +0200 Envelope-to: mseaborn@argonet.co.uk Delivery-date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 18:45:05 +0100 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456 %t Erice, Sicily, Italy, Earth %n R %s Town Of Science %a Roel van der Meulen (vdmeulen@strw.leidenuniv.nl) %d 19960617 %d 19990727 %i %x %k Medieval, Science, Italy, Sicily, Tourism, Castle, Gastronomy %e Erice is a little medieval-looking town on top of Mount San Giuliano, the highest rock (752 m) in the North-West of Sicily [1]. It looks out over the Mediterranean (0 m) with three little islands to the South-West, and on clear days you can even see Tunesia, Africa. You can see a plane from south to east, a bay north-west, and several hills that obscure Palermo from sight from the east to the north. At the foot of the rock there is the city of Trapani. The major features of the town are the abovementioned superb scenic view of this part of Sicily, the town's medieval character and its scientific centre. A lot of effort has been put into preserving the medieval appearance of the place, particularly the town plan with winding, cobblestoned and very narrow alleys and little squares. There are about 60 churches in this small town, and several museums of medieval craftsmanship. At the edge of the rock there are two castles: one in ruins, originally built upon the site of a temple, and one restored and still partly in use. This is one of the better places to enjoy the views. The castles border on a very nice park where you can give your feet and eyes some rest while smelling the plants and flowers. Throughout the village there are many restaurants, which all serve delicious (sea-) food. If you're on holiday in Sicily, and the weather is good, I think it's worth while to give this village a short visit. I would recommend spending the night there in one of the hotels, so you get both sunset and sunrise, and you can enjoy a lovely meal. Moreover, you can walk down to the beach in the morning and dive in for a little swim. If the weather isn't so good, then you'll probably have an experience of quite literally walking in/on the clouds. It's funny to actually see the clouds come into town, when the weather changes from good to bad. I was in Erice in 1996, during a summer school. It was brilliant! Here you must know that the main purpose of the village is to host scientific meetings of all sorts. If you get the chance to go to a conference in Erice at the Ettore Majorana Scientific Centre in a time of year that is bound to give you sunny weather, you would be a fool not to go. Everything is at walking distance: the conference centre(s), the restaurants, and the hotels. These have courtyards with flowers and some trees that give a comfortable shade and a perfect environment to practice science in. There is even a satellite link to the internet. While I was there, the conference fee included two three-course hot meals a day, obtainable in any of the many restaurants, with a minimum of fuss. Engaging in both astronomy and gastronomy, I had a great time there, and I hope you will have one too. [1] Italy resembles a boot. Erice is at the tip of the toe. %e *EOA*