It’s that time of year when I usually go to Vienna for a week to attend the EGU conference (as little as possible) and wander around a load of museums (as much as possible). But, having been every year for the last 3 years, this year I was faced with a profound sense of apathy. I’ve seen all the things I want to see in Vienna, some of them repeatedly, so I felt I needed a break from seeing them for a fourth year in a row, and I certainly wasn’t going to spend a week entirely at the conference[1]. So, I only went for two days, flying out on Monday evening and coming back Wednesday evening.
To be honest, I’d been lukewarm about going at all[2], but my supervisor pointed out that I had enough funding to cover it and actually had something to say, so I’d may as well go. So, go I did to deliver a talk on what I’m currently writing up into a paper[3]. And to get paid for going to visit my friend doing a PhD in Vienna. That was a useful bonus.
I did wonder about the wisdom of only going for two days, as it rather turned the whole affair into a bit of a rush and left me little free time and two late nights due to the timing of the flights, but it actually turned out to be an inspired piece of prognostication. This was because, on the Saturday preceding going, I developed a rather nasty bout of flu[4], which was unattenuated by Monday. What I wanted to do was stay in bed with a large vat of ibuprofen and a ready supply of chocolate. What I had to do was travel 800 miles to Vienna. It was not one of my all-time favourite days. Admittedly, we’re not quite talking the boat episode in Greenland, but I was distinctly unhappy. Though probably not as unhappy as all the people who had to sit next to me on the plane and various trains, all of whom were probably thoroughly infected. I arrived at my friend’s flat, where I was staying, a bit after midnight and promptly went to bed. Weirdly, I was feeling a bit better, but still not great. Fortunately, I improved considerably through Tuesday into Wednesday, such that I was no longer terribly ill, if still coughing a bit and having suffered a nosebleed due to having blown my nose so much, but was just rather tired. I managed to stagger through the light conference programme I’d prepared over those two days, and deliver my talk successfully[5], but was absolutely bushed, shrubbed and treed by the time I got back to my room in Cambridge at 01:00 on Wednesday night. If I’d done a full week in Vienna, I’d have had to face the choice between spending most of my time in bed, making the whole thing a bit pointless, or risking turning myself practically comatose by trying to keep up with the hectic whirlwind that is a major conference. So, two days was about the right amount.
It was a useful trip, and I managed to get in a visit to the Georgian restaurant I found a couple of years ago, as well as spend a bit of time with my friend, but I really hope that next year I don’t have to go at all. Certainly if I’m ill. You just need a break from these sorts of things occasionally. Now, I’m actually off for the week back home to my parents’ house, where I intend to make a dead sloth look full of élan vital. After that I should have caught up on all the sleep I lost by coughing myself awake at odd points for several nights….
[1] I’d go mad.
[2] Not least because of Brexit. For all I knew, I was going to end up stuck in Vienna with an invalid passport because the government suddenly did something stupid (remember – I was committing myself to going in January, when we had even less clue what was going on). Admittedly, Vienna’s a good place to be stuck, but I was faintly aware that I might end up in a tricky situation.
[3] About which I hope to have some news fairly soon.
[4] At least, I think it was flu. It felt like the plague, but it probably wasn’t that. It really felt like it though.
[5] I think it was successful. I didn’t freeze, stumble or forget anything, and no one asked any awkward questions, so they were either happy, or so utterly bored that they literally didn’t care any more. Or stunned by how amazingly good/bad it was. I feel the most probable option is the first one – moderate contentment.
Aiya Helcarda 