a week in the uk (london and Edinburgh)

Ordinarily, I only post photos/commentary for extended sojourns but I am making an exception for a wonderful just-ended trip to the UK. The reason for the trip was an Adelphi Genetics Forum conference on population genomic screening, held at the Royal Society. But I tacked on another four days in Edinburgh, where I have several old friends. The conference was excellent, and I had a great time exploring an area of London (Westminster) with which I was unfamiliar. In London, I also met up with Tobi Schillings, a former Brocher colleague, who just submitted his PhD thesis -- the first photo (and the only one from London) shows us celebrating this achievement in the Ship & Shovell pub.

Ilana Lowy advised me to visit the Sir John Soane's Museum (the home of an influential British architect) adjacent to the Lincoln's Inn Fields (by LSE), and she was right; it was fascinating (and free, though there was a 40-minute wait to enter): https://www.soane.org/

 IThe other photos were taken in and around Edinburgh, where I stayed at the Stockbridge home of Clare Wynter and Gerard Meehan, who apart from providing extremely comfortable lodging, took me on an excursion up the East Lothian coast. I also caught up with Karine Chemla and Bruno Belhoste, just before they returned to Paris, and with Steve Sturdy -- I had worked with his group at the University of Edinburgh back in August 2016. Steve and I met for brunch -- I had haggis -- and then went for a lovely walk in the Botanical Gardens. (I also twice had Cullen skink, the thick Scottish chowder with smoked haddock). 

In front of the Princes Street Gardens

Rubbing David Hume's foot (for luck)

With Steve Sturdy, Edinburgh Botanical Gardens

With Gerard near Fidra

Gerard & Clare