I was thinking in the night about the inter-connectivity in my life. Jack’s Mum, Anne brought a home-made sponge cake around on Friday and I was so pleased that it gave me an opportunity to tell her about the beautiful letter Jack had written to us the previous week. Anne and I go back a long time as she was the project worker for the Merseyside Association of Writers Workshops when I first worked for the University over 20 years ago. Jack had enclosed a photograph of when he had come on holiday with us in 2001. We are in Vienna on a horse drawn carriage doing the Easyjet/train/Croatia combo.
Our first holiday backpacking on trains was in 2000. We had decided to go to Croatia; Chris, Alex, Jim and I. When I was doing my research in ‘99 I found this webcam, It is of the Faculty of Informatics, University of Zagreb:
http://www.foi.hr/FOI_Korzo.html
I watched this webcam for a year – saw the seasons change, watched the Millennium come in. I decided I wanted to visit Varazdin.
This photo is of me in Varazdin on the Jack holiday 2001. The webcam/photo is one up from the postcard/photo!
This is also the view from Renata’s office window. This weekend Renata is working on a Tempus Individual mobility grant application for her to come to Liverpool for a month.
I met Renata in 2004 at a University of Staffordshire Conference and thanks to Mee Foong again at Graz in 2005. Since then several times both professionally and on holiday. I sent a photo to Renata last week, of this summer when we are on the island of Tribunj. We had just eaten an amazing lunch of prawns and fish cooked by her friend. Renata is roaring with laughter at something Chris had said.
The inter-connectivity continues as the photograph of Vienna reminds me of Brenda, Dan and I going to the wonderful Leopold Museum. I particularly liked the Gustav Klimt picture Tod und Leben (Death and Life). I am sitting here with a cup of tea in my favourite mug which has this picture on it. I bought it in Ljubljana with my friend Franja.
