Yaroslavl

The first full working day of the conference here in Yaroslavl, which included me giving the keynote speech first thing. It seemed to be well received, and it means I can breathe a bit now!

It was a great day, hearing about the work that is going on with colleagues across Europe and beyond, and wonderful to catch up with so many friends, as well as start to make new ones.

The evening brought absolutely torrential rain, with the streets flooding so high that the water wake was washing across the bonnets of cars in some places! Very entertaining to watch from the security of our bus.

The dinner event this time was a bit of a talking point - a Latin-themed club, which featured carnival style dancers and singers. I can't quite work out what the hosts were trying to say/show us - that they are modern and cosmopolitan? I don't know really - it was a bit odd to say the least.

Yaroslavl is famous for all of its stunning cathedrals, churches and monasteries - they are literally everywhere you turn. Our host was telling us that many survived because when Stalin was destroying so many, he systematically worked his way alphabetically through all the cities in Russia, and because Y is the last letter in the Russia alphabet, they never actually made it here - incredible what history reveals.