In July, the 2015 conference for SMBE (Society for Molecular Biology & Evolution) was held at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Normally, such a conference would have little impact on me, but several of our friends from Tom’s Melbourne Uni days were going to be attending so he signed up as well. In the end, we had a mini-reunion with two friends who’ve been living in Vienna for almost 8 years and are about to move back home to Melbourne with their infant daughter; another couple who are now living in Leipzig, Germany; and another friend who is now based in Sydney.

It was a spectacular treat to have the seven of us together for a huge catch up, particularly in such a beautiful city. The weather, unfortunately, was beastly hot which made sightseeing and exploring really difficult, and sleeping almost impossible.
Nevertheless, while Tom and the others attended the conference talks, I was out and about finding cafés and wandering around museums and galleries. Some of the highlights included: Continue reading Vienna Report →