After a few years of seeing the world with Janez (Japan and Russia on ITER, US for the world’s biggest science gathering, Prague for the Descartes Prize ceremony, Turkey and Macedonia to negotiate their entry to the EU’s science programme) I have come down to Earth with a bump. So now it’s Liverpool and Manchester that are my destinations. Not that it’s a bad thing – I had a great trip to Liverpool, as my own version of Mrs Trellis of North Wales will know, and man, I’m looking forward to going to Manchester. Because it’s for the Labour Party conference and can you think of a more exciting time for a political junkie to be at the gathering of the ruling party?! I’ll try to write from there and record the atmosphere. Looking for Europe debates on the fringe has been a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, but there are a few, and somewhat presciently they tend to be about the global financial crisis, so should be pretty interesting.
Off to the South Bank now for the DancEUnion festival, which looks like being pretty well-received. I don’t think I’ll be able to stay for all of it, as I have to pack for 5 days away, which is a real shame, but J told me it’s sold out, so they don’t need me there anyway. How encouraging that there is such an audience for quality contemporary dance.
Best of luck to the Ryder Cup boys. It’s the only way I can bear to watch golf and it’s nice that there’s one sporting event out there with a European team!
And the last thing – Strictly starts this weekend!! I am so excited I can hardly think about it. Even if I will be watching the first one in a hotel room on my own, it’ll be GREAT!