Sunday 10 April 2011

Academic tourism


I’ve borrowed that phrase from one of my colleagues here in Zagreb. It’s a wonderful part of our jobs that we are often given the opportunity to travel for work. Conferences are obviously one way to work abroad (and add on holiday time); so is being a visiting scholar. So far in my career I have been to various parts of Canada and the U.S. including Hawaii, Mexico, Jamaica, Spain (twice), Germany, and now Croatia (plus Slovenia and Austria as side trips). I know I will one day go to Australia. And, of course, many of my colleagues in English routinely go to the U.K.

I haven’t seen much of Croatia yet (except for Osijek), though when Arlequino gets here [hurry up and get here Arlequino!] we will travel all over this country. On Friday, after my class was over, my colleague V. and I went to a small town not far from Zagreb. Samobor is a lovely Baroque town with well cared for streets and buildings and an absolutely gorgeous park. The town is built along a small river, with densely wooded hills as a backdrop. Of course, it’s spring, so the greens are light and fresh. The air was clear. We spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around and we both felt restored by the experience.  


 




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