3/10/2011 Ghent

Ghent, Hotel and University
3/10/2011

I managed a number of things today. Firstly I completed the laundry and ironing and was ready at 9.15am for Tim Deprez who was to pick me up. Very low key as he had a push-bike not a Limo, so we walked to the University. I had washed and ironed my "seminar outfit" and it turned out to be over-kill. There were about 25 post-grads and a couple of staff. The talk went well but I am not sure how much was understood. You never are sure when delivering a presentation in English to a polite foreign audience, although most spoke very good English. After discussion with Tim I gave my "long" talk which described both the GBR bio-diversity surveys and the linked-ecosystem modelling/validation process. I got some good questions but no real enthusiasm for Ecosystem modelling.

I did get an excellent "free lunch" but the Professor could not attend. I do not think she was overly impressed by my talk but then modelling is a complex topic and my presentation was not "entry level". I did make my point to Tim that JCU does some really interesting work. After lunch I got to walk back to the Hotel, this time without an escort.

The second major task(s) for the day was getting money out of my ANZ travel card (via a secure Bank ATM) and getting a ticket for the Ghent to Brussels train link. The train ticket was easy as the ticket clerk was bilingual and understood my problem with schedules. The Bank was not quite so easy but I found a BNP Parnus bank (same as the ones in Paris) and therefore understood how to get inside through the security doors to use their internal ATM. A very much more secure way to get your cash.

I had a long discussion with the Hotel staff re a secure Internet connection and found that my room "Cable" plug simply did not work. In the end I used the WiFi for a quick check of the Credit Card account (used for the train ticket purchases) and found nothing untoward. I also checked my ANZ Travel Card account balance and I am down to 5.20 Euro and 6 GBP. I will try to shift the remaining Euros across to GBP for use in London. It costs 2.20 Euro to withdraw any money so effectively I have nothing but loose change left. Maybe enough for a ticket on the London Underground.

Tonight I check for hotel accommodation in Vienna and maybe for London. I can see that I am nearing the end of my European adventure!

[Later] The Vienna hotel was an easy choice in the end. Rather than dodgy hostels near the railway station I opted for another Best Western that was running a special on a single room. About 20% more expensive than the closest price "hostel" but it has free WiFi and a breakfast! I do have a 12 min walk from the station (according to Google) but I arrive by train just after 9.00 in the morning so do not have security worries; having learnt my lesson from Toulouse. I connected to the Internet via cable on the foyer computer terminal, using my own firewall and anti-virus software. A dedicated hacker could still have got sensitive info but I took all the precautions possible.