Yesterday and today I enjoyed visiting the INFN Ferrara division, where I gave a talk on “Searching for dark energy off the beaten track” (slides here). I really enjoyed these two days, especially since I got to catch up with three long-term collaborators but especially friends of mine: Martina Gerbino (who was the postdoc following my day-to-day work during my PhD, and without whose help I certainly wouldn’t be in my position today!), Massimiliano (Massi) Lattanzi, and Thejs Brinckmann. The Ferrara cosmology group led by Paolo Natoli is really fantastic: young, dynamic, talented, diverse, and with a wide range of interests! If Padova is currently the best place for cosmology in Italy, I have no doubts that Ferrara is definitely one of the top places to look out for in the near future (but let’s hope to put Trento on the list soon!), especially in light of Martina’s ERC Starting Grant and the group’s commendable strategy of investing in very young people. Non-scientific highlights included tasting salama, a delicious local specialty, which I highly recommend trying if you get the chance!