Tuesday 22 April 2014

sun in Glasgow

The 65th British National Science Fiction Convention, or “Eastercon” as it is usually known, was this year held in Glasgow, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  It was the usual excellent collection of talks, panel discussions, and other events, focussed on Science Fiction.  This year the science talk theme was especially strong, with Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell as the science Guest of Honour, bringing us up to date on recent advances in astronomy, and a collection of three talks from researchers from the University of Strathclyde, on the science behind some science fiction.

So the con was great fun, as usual.  Not so usual was the weather.  Here’s the obligatory “photo from hotel window”, showing the anomaly.

seagull and armadillo through glass

We had a good view of the Clyde Auditorium, or “Armadillo”, next to the River Clyde itself. That strange circular flying saucer shaped building just behind it is the Hydro.  And that even stranger blue area behind them both is the sky.  It was warm, sunny, and clear for the whole time we were there.  That was quite a contrast to last year’s Eastercon, in Bradford, where there was snow on the ground!

We had flown up to Glasgow on Thursday evening, so had a little time to kill before the con started on Friday.  We had planned to go into the city, but a combination of getting up late and the glorious weather meant we instead opted for a stroll along the Clyde, in shirtsleeves.

looking west along the Clyde
the Crowne Plaza con hotel, and the Armadillo, from across the Clyde
imax, Glasgow Science Centre, and sky

No comments:

Post a Comment