On Thursday, I was flying from Gothenburg, Sweden to Athens, Greece via Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, our flight was delayed, due to the strike of the air traffic controllers in Athens. The KLM pilot ultimately decided to forge on since he had heard that the strike would be over about the same time as we were to land but we had extra fuel in case we had to circle. Our plane was about the 10th one to land that afternoon.
I was coming to Athens to take part in the
Network Models in Economics and Finance Conference at which I was to give a plenary talk, which I did yesterday, despite the fact that the university (National Technical University of Athens) was also on strike.
My presentation was on Network Economics and the Internet.
The conference was wonderful although I missed the first day because
I had to give a commencement speech in Sweden, There were speakers from Greece, Italy, Russia, and the US and it was nice to be at a conference with just single sessions (no parallel ones). Speakers were from operations research / management science, computer science, economics, mathematics, and finance.
Lunch and snacks were provided.
Last night, we had the conference banquet at the new Acropolis Museum with a view of the Acropolis and the Parthenon. We watched as the sun set to see the Acropolis then lit up in all its glory. This was an unforgettable evening in which we talked about mathematics and creativity, research, and friendships -- absolutely fabulous.
I thank the organizers: Professors Panos M. Pardalos, Valeriy Kalyagin, and Themosticles Rassias for a conference that we will never forget!
This is my third trip to Athens (always involving conferences) and it is undoubtedly the best!
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