a successful trip

I'll be flying back to Glasgow later today. I am tired but did not actually suffer from jet lag. I seem to have adapted marvellously to the different time zone, sleeping during the night and feeling fresh in the mornings. The first night was hard I have to admit but my colleague and I hit the town and shared dinner and drinks. I then managed to read until about 11 pm local time, which would be 6 am in Glasgow.

I explored the neighbourhood on my first morning here, as the conference was not due to start until midday. I am on foot so can't venture far and cannot really explore Saskatoon properly, which seems a shame. There are an awful lot of big hotels in a small area of town so there must be loads to see and do around town and beyond.

Saturday night we ventured out for dinner once more, I can't remember the name of the place but the food was dreamily good. We then wandered around the downtown, bought ice cream at a London bus converted into a shop and watched a busker for a wee while. It was very vibrant and lovely, jazz festival in full swing.

I also did a spot of shopping, bought a pair of white cropped jeans. I am not quite sure why, it is a bit out of character. I managed promptly to get my credit card locked because I could not remember the code. I thought I did and insisted but I was clearly wrong. It appears that my debit card is not universally accepted here in Canada and I had not choice but to call my bank for help. The wonderful Chris in Coventry stayed on the line while he talked me through options to unblock the card using a cash point. Much appreciate the customer service provided. I am sure I'll be gasping for breath when the next mobile phone bill arrives but for now I am happy.

In other news, I have spent the past four days in lectures and poster sessions, starting at 9 am and finishing at 7:30 pm. I am officially admitting here to missing the breakfast sessions starting at 7:30 am. There is a limit to how much science and policy I can take. There were no lunch breaks! The organiser provided lunch bags for each participant, which we took into the sessions. They were rather nice lunch bags. There is a first for everything! I suppose most participants have come a long way and it is good to cram in as much as possible to make it worthwhile. There were participants from 60 countries, which I thought was rather astonishing.

We had a wonderful farewell reception at the Remai Museum of Modern Art. What a stunning building! Unfortunately, the galleries are closed on Monday, which is the only day I had some spare time. The catering was amazing. There was no sit down food, just several food stations and bars where we could sample truly delicious morsels of food. There was a slow roasted BBQ beef on lentils with some interesting berries on top, cured trout on beet slivers with a dollop of sour cream and capers. There was also tiny fried cubes of macaroni & cheese, slices of pan fried fish with teeny tiny potatoes tossed in vinaigrette. There were sweet morsels of food, too. The company was fun and I managed to make some useful contacts. Conferences are all about networking.

Me and my friend explored another part of town on Monday late afternoon, it was lovely. A long straight road (Broadway) with a good selection of independent shops. The cheese shop was particularly impressive and I also liked the quilting shop. I didn't buy cheese but I did treat myself to a selection of fat quarters. I like choosing fabric on all my trips, it is nice to have small memories pop up when snuggling up with a quilt. After our shopping afternoon, we shared a pizza and a jug of sangria. The sangria was a bit strong, not the traditional kind you might find in Spain. We continued wandering around, eventually making our way back to the hotel. It was a lovely way to spend an evening.

I had a great time. The conference was good, stimulating and also really useful. I haven't made as many new contacts as I would have liked but I have made some. I have also made a new friend, which is really nice. We were new colleagues before the conference and now go home as friends. We had so many good laughs and plenty of interesting chats and I am sure there are many more to come. Success all around.

Right, I must get out of the hotel room for some breakfast. I am also looking for a place to glue the screen back onto my phone, it is held on by two rubber bands (working just fine).  I'll be back with less boring news soon. Wish me luck with the seemingly endless journey back to Europe.

Thanks for stopping by. xx