What a year!

A year of personal and professional exploration.

One year ago, today, I headed out the door for a year-long sabbatical. The professional core of that sabbatical was my Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship at Imperial College London, but I also enjoyed meeting colleagues at University College London, during visits to universities across the UK in England, Scotland, and Wales, and at conferences in France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The year was academically very productive! And the year also presented incredible opportunities for travel, much of it described in this blog. Here’s a quick summary, with one photo per month. Each month’s heading is a link to the blog posts for that month, and the bullets link to a few travel highlights.

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Lisbon in two days

A return to my 1979 home turf.

We traveled to Lisbon for a weekend of sunshine and memories. My family and I lived just outside Lisbon in 1979, so it was a treat for me to return to Lisbon with my parents so we could re-visit some of our favorite places, eat some our favorite foods, and re-connect with some of their lifelong Portuguese friends. (And, as I wrote yesterday, to hike through the wildflowers and green forests of Monsanto Park.)

Praça do Comércio. Lisbon.
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Lisboa – Monsanto

Hiking around a high point in Lisbon.

As part of three-day holiday-weekend visit to Lisbon, I took advantage of the beautiful late-spring weather to hike the trilho azul de Monsanto (blue trail) loop around Parque Florestal de Monsanto (Monsanto Forest Park), the largest green space in Lisbon, perched on a hilltop overlooking the city. In the cool morning air, I had the entire park virtually to myself – with blue skies, a gentle breeze, and wildflowers blooming.

Lisbon’s Monsanto Forest Park contains a diverse range of forest habitats.
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