Conference.3

On the first evening of this conference four years ago I was lucky to get to watch England thrash Australia in a T20 cricket match - including a 21-ball 50 by Jos Buttler - in the company of a dear colleague, И, and a famous Australian academic. [Anyone who follows cricket will appreciate how satisfying it was to see England win in the company of an Australian!] Although England began their test match against India today, all the tickets were sold by the time I decided to go to the conference. So, the best I could do was make the pilgrimage to the ground in search of atmosphere, and take its Turf zone. This was done thanks to a kind steward letting me go a couple of metres past a barrier!

Earlier, my talk went well, and there were a few last conversations before the conference finished at lunchtime. These were mainly with young researchers, with no benefit to me other than the tonic that is contact with the young, and the knowledge that showing myself to be approachable is never a bad thing, and that I was once in their position.

My train has been cancelled, so I've got an extra two hours to kill, allowing me to eat a paella with a beer in a city centre "Cuban" bar. I'm tired, so maybe I'll sleep on the train back.