Of distinction?

Usual early start, and everything went well until I got to Amsterdam. Possibly the longest walk I could have had to get to passport control, and then another long walk to take me to a place where I was supposed to get a taxi where I waited more than 45 minutes for transport. I was extremely cross both at the taxi firm and at the people who had organised this who had been - to put it mildly - cheapskate in the arrangements they had made (they had initially suggested public transport, but I was not on for that). It turned out that others had experienced the arrangements made for us as similarly lacking in a certain "class", and were also irritated, and there were ongoing stories with taxis, insufficient funds for dinner, and a horrible hotel. It didn't get the whole process off to a good start, and I missed the start of the meetings. Thanks for that. One of the oddest things on arrival was being asked at passport control if I was visiting the Netherlands for a holiday. I looked at the man incredulously.

We spent the day in a room surrounded by these pictures of their ancestors. The funniest thing of all - or maybe sad not funny - was that the only picture of a woman on the walls was a terrible blurred photograph of a woman typing. It wasn't labelled, but others were able to identify her as a pioneer woman law professor. I didn't overall feel that best Athena Swan practices in terms of making different groups feel included through the physical environment were necessarily being followed. To say the least.

Anyway, they were all a nice enough bunch, and we got through the day without any more major mishaps.