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More sunset

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I’m looking forward to the summer.

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A roman army, recreated in Playmobil. What more could you want?

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Haweswater. We were walking up to High Street, from The Rigg, and back down via Small Water. Very nice walk. We were planning to walk on up Harter Fell, but decided to get back down to Ambleside for a spot of shopping.

So I finally graduated from the PhD this week, some 4.5 years after finishing my MChem. It’s somewhat odd to have a pseudo-medieval ceremony in a university founded in the 60’s, but there you go. At least it wasn’t in Latin or Welsh…

It’s rather strange to visit Warwick again. I’ve been gradually becoming more distant from the place for the last year, but now it feels final. I’ve been working in Guildford since the summer, it really feels like a long time ago that I finished working at Warwick.

Graduating from the MChem feels like a lifetime ago. In some ways that was more of an event than this graduation. Firstly, it was new and exciting, and I was graduating with my class who I’d studied with for four years. This time, it was just the three of us, of who I only knew one of the others. Secondly, at the end of the MChem I was about to start something new, whereas this time I’m already well-established in a job. I think it was worth turning up for, just to draw this line under things and move along.

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These are Printen – chocolately sweets which are regional to Aachen. The original ones are very hard (caramelized), but we had some soft ones which are rather more chewable.

Aachen is a destination for pilgrimage, which is undertaken every seven years, and it is traditional to give the pilgrims some Printen.

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This is half-calculator, half abacus (actually a soroban), which I saw in the Arithmeum in Bonn. Seemed a bit odd to me.

Arithmeum is interesting if you’re interested in counting machines – from the very earliest reckoning tables and abaci through to microchip design. I found the older items more interesting, the modern calculating tools aren’t of so much interest. Well worth a visit, though.

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I spent new year in Germany again this year, stayed in Aachen with Andrea’s brother for a week, and then went down to Saarbrücken for a few days. Had a chance to see some of the sights around the Rhineland, which was pretty interesting.

This photo is the Rhein, in Köln. We spent a day there, doing touristy things. If you want to go shopping, Köln is the place, with an enormous pedestrian area and a massive range of shops.

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Guildford’s Guildhall clock.

Guildford is another one of these places which it is very difficult to take interesting photos of. The countryside is too close for big scenic shots, and the town is not really picturesque (although it does have a good character).

Oh well.

My best photos at Max Hammond Photos.
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Stock Photography at Alamy

The true taste of Sweden – not Smörgåstårte, Janssons frestelse, meatballs or anything else. No, it’s mini Daim bars, imported all the way from Ikea in Croydon (which is really pronounced ee-kay-ah).