Sam PF's Journal - Travel plans again
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10:51 pm
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Travel plans again
Something of a change of plan - it seems I will be wanted at work for the period just before the Ankara conference (which is 11-13 June) - it's the SIPRI Yearbook launch, so all hands on deck for that. So instead I will take holday after the conference, (not going to the other thing), visiting Istanbul then going to Bulgaria, and thence home to Stockholm. The weekend in London for the Bardcamp reunion will be just a weekend in London.
Judging by the air fares at the moment, that reduces the price differential somewhat, though not by much. Anyway, following the discussion on the last post, I am fairly sure I will take the train. Combining the Sofia-London and London-Stockholm journeys as recommended by The Man in Seat 61, I come up with the following itinerary:
Day 1: car to Svilengrad, then the 05:05 (guuuuuh) Balkan Express to Sofia, arriving 11.40. Then catch the sleeper from Sofia to Vienna at 12:40
Day 2: Arrive Vienna 08:57. Spend the day in Vienna. Then the 20:35 overnight train to Cologne.
Day 3: Arrive Cologne 08:42. Spend the day in Cologne. Then catch the 22:58 overnight from Cologne to Copenhagen.
Day 4: Arrive Copenhagen 09:59, then get the 12:31 to Stockholm, arriving 17:35.
Alternatively, I expect there are quicker ways of doing the Cologne to Stockholm journey. Ah, yes, I can get a train from Cologne 10:49 on day 3, arriving (via various changes) at Copenhagen 20:35, then there are any number of trains hopping across the bridge to Malmö, and then I can get the 23:08 from Malmö, arriving in Stockholm Day 4 at 07:47. (Which seems to be rather a lot cheaper than the fancy tilting train Seat 61 suggests from Copenhagen to Stockholm).
I could even go straight into work on day 4. So long as they're not expecting me to do anything involving the use of my brain.
Tags: travel
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![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/19583817/961489) | | From: | ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) atreic |
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| Date: | April 5th, 2008 10:30 pm (UTC) |
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That's a crazy train journey! But rather cool.
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/47496584/948446) | | From: | smhwpf |
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| Date: | April 6th, 2008 01:10 pm (UTC) |
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Well, what can I say, I'm a crazy kinda guy! :)
Hi, do you mind if I friend you?
I just heard you described as someone who uses maths to study the economics of the arms trade. I'm a mathematician who is intending to give up maths to study the economics of climate change.
Plus, the first post of yours I looked at is about an amazing train journey of which I am most envious! (Though my chap is actually currently on his way to Goteborg on the train, via Utrecht and some small town near Malmo, and I've done some long journeys myself in the past).
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/13201138/948446) | | From: | smhwpf |
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| Date: | April 7th, 2008 10:06 pm (UTC) |
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Sure! *peruses journal* *friends back*
I was indeed a mathematician in a previous life, ended up as an economist - mainly ended up looking at the economics of military spending to be precise, rather than the arms trade as such, as the data's friendlier. (Though arms trade is something I've been involved in the campaign against).
Mind you, the maths (econometrics) used for that is totally unrelated to the maths I did in my former life. If there's an economic application for "Infinite Systems of Reductions and Knuth-Bendix Orderings" they haven't found it yet. :)
I imagine you'll be far from giving up maths working on economics of climate change, mind...
Oh yes indeed, I don't mean I want to give up all maths. Just algebraic geometry. If anyone wants to re-formulate market economics in terms of scheme theory, they're a fool. :-)
So how far did you get into the maths world, before you switched to economics? I'm at the postdoc level, just applying to go back and do a masters in economics. It's all very shiny and exciting at the moment!
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/43894214/948446) | | From: | smhwpf |
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| Date: | April 8th, 2008 11:34 pm (UTC) |
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PhD, Warwick. With the Knuth-Bendix and stuff. But I didn't get an academic job, did other stuff - a 'real world' job *shudder* (wasn't that bad), voluntary work, tutoring, and then the economics switch.
Sounds good! Yeah, if you've done maths, catching up on Economics is not hard. Actually, I tend to think one of the main problems with mainstream (Neo-classical) economics at the moment is that they've built up such a shiny and pretty mathematical system for it, and they're so completely fixed in that paradigm, that they ignore the fact that it's completely unconnected to the way economies actually work. We always defend against criticisms of inaccuracies in models by saying, "Ah, but it's only a model", which avoids the question maybe it's the wrong model.
Yes, this is what I always think if economists say that, according to their model, we shouldn't do anything about climate change: "your model's clearly broken, then!". But I'm sure once you're scooped up into working with a model, you forget to ask yourself. Hmm. |
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