Lindau Nobel conference - the boat trip to the island of Mainau

Friday was a special day at the Lindau Nobel conference. The official program was over but, instead of letting us all go home, the organizers did something better - a day trip on a boat to the island of Mainau where, while still under the influence of the proceedings, the participants had a chance to relax and walk and chat and enjoy the nature. What a great way to finish the event!

As the underlying theme of the meeting was the worry about Climate Change and sustainable development, it is quite fitting that the trip was on board of MS Sonnenkönigin, a solar-powered ship.

This was also an opportunity for some friendly rivalry between the province of Bavaria, where Lindau is, and Baden-Württemburg where the island of Mainau is located (the griffin and the elk are the provincial symbols).

The boat trip was the opportunity for the province of Baden-Württemburg to showcase their own investments into science and technology, as well as their efforts towards a more sustainable and ecologically friendly economy. The second deck of the ship had a number of computer stations, each highlighting one of their universities, institutes or companies.

The province's minister for science and arts gave a brief note to the passengers, explaining the geological history of the Lake Constance, a little bit of history of the province and the highlights of their investment into science and technology.

Although we boarded the ship at 8am, the champagne and beer were served immediately. I stuck to coffee on the morning ride. And sausages, of course. The trip is about an hour and half long, so there was plenty of time for me to go to all three decks and the roof, to catch a few more "victims" for my minute-long video interviews, to catch and have a few minutes of relaxed conversations with a couple of Nobel laureates, and to enjoy the music program.

More pictures on Flickr.