UFO IX Davos 2013

I was fortunate enough to attend the bi-annual UFO conference again this year. The organizers have a knack for picking nice places (e.g. Monterey in 2011 with the Banquett in the Aquarium and a tour of NIF to boot) and this year was no exception: Davos, Switzerland. And they offered short courses on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, which meant that
a) I had to arrive on Friday and
b) the opportunity to Ski on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Good stuff!

Thanks to an unusually long winter with lots of snow, skiing conditions were still excellent. Sunshine and no wind made things even better!

 

BMW had a marketing event for their new 'xDrive' (no, I didn't win the car...):

Overall, very beautiful scenery and great conditions:

View from my hotel room wasn't too bad either:

After the short courses we had a traditional Cheese Fondue up on the Jschalp. There I found out that Ursula Keller (the inventor of the SESAM) and her husband are not only avid skiers (as one might expect) but actually enthusiastic Windsurfers, too - who knew?? I invited them to visit us in the Gorge for some 'real' windsurfing...

Monday evening was Apero time in the Bolgen Plaza: a chance to meet old friends and new acquaintances from around the world and discuss the impact austerity has had on the various scientific communities. 

Wednesday evening: Conference dinner at the Schatzalp - apparently the place that inspired Mann's 'Zauberberg' - very nice place. The sledding in the late afternoon was a bit disappointing: the snow was too wet and correspondingly slow, ah well. 

Thursday afternoon's program consisted of visiting the highest beer brewery in Europe ('Monstein') and a snowshoeing excursion. I bowed out of that one - jetlag and a mountain of emails needed to be worked through...

Friday evening I had a chance to visit Nina in Zuerich, which I hadn't seen in many, many years and meet her husband Robin for the first time. Good times! We had dinner in 'Kaufleuten' and I enjoyed two rare treats: their company and a 'real' Wiener Schnitzel!

Pictures of the conference may follow (if the organizers make them available). 

Oh, the actual conference? Yes, talks were great and plentiful! Next stop: China, 2015...