Back here again

Here being Florence, or more precisely the hills up towards Fiesole. Thanks to JD for being a lovely foreground centre of interest to allow me to get a blip whilst we waited for a taxi to take us first to my hotel and then into town.

It was a very long day - starting with an 0345 alarm call. I made my connection in Schiphol, although I must confess I was worried I wouldn't when the captain announced an air traffic control delay stopping us from leaving Edinburgh on time. I found the numbers of people at the conference mildly anxiety-provoking - I'm only just really getting used to crowds properly again. In the end it was fine, and good to see some old friends. But when there was a queue for the drinks at the after conference reception, JD and I decided we would be better off scoring an aperitivo in the city, before I went on to the conference dinner and she went home, having also had not just one, but several long days.

A lot of interesting people at the conference - not just academics, but politicians, EU Commissioners, officials, both national and European. I met someone in Barnier's taskforce who told me some very interesting things. I'll be keeping in touch!