Away

I spent ten days in Germany in February at a workshop. The venue was near the city where old friends live, so I was able to stop by and spend a weekend with Jorg and Anja before the workshop.

The weather was beautiful in Melbourne just before I left.

And also beautiful, but very different in Germany.

The workshop was held at a re-purposed palace.

With the ruins of an old castle on the hill.

It was a lovely journey. I spent time with old friends in a beautiful setting, made new contacts for work and discovered new and interesting projects and ideas for research.

And to add a little balance, the trip required a 14 hour flight to Dubai, followed by a seven hour flight to Frankfurt, followed by three hours on the train and then a taxi. And that was just the transit time, not the check-in time and wait time and layover time. My winter wardrobe was not quite sufficient, especially the shoes, for the wet and the mud and the slippery. I spent most of the week tired, although I did ok with the jet lag. I didn't get home until 1:00am Sunday and then had to meet a colleague for work at 8:30am Monday.

But all the good and all the bad has passed. The photos from the trip are lovely.