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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Bill Barton and David Clarke
have just returned from a visit to the site of ICME-11 and send this
"Postcard from Monterrey." It's good to have some
personal impressions such as this.<br>
*******************************************************************************<br>
POSTCARD from MONTERREY<br>
We have just returned from watching “The Sleeping Giant” come to
life.<br>
This is a show at the Steel Museum in Monterrey, situated in the old
mill,<br>
and where the furnace comes to life with light, sparks and noise. It is
a<br>
great museum, different from anything I’ve seen before.<br>
This is the last day of four in this great city. We have been meeting
the<br>
ICME-11 people, and visited the ICME-11 site, and stayed in one of
the<br>
city hotels where many of you will stay. We were bussed to the site,
but<br>
it will be quicker and easier to go on the (safe) metro: ten minutes,
no<br>
changes. Then a short stroll through trees to a spacious and cool<br>
university. It is all air-conditioned (which will be necessary—bring
your<br>
hat in July), and the rooms, especially the larger auditoriums, are
state<br>
of the art. In fact the plenary will be in a large (again
air-conditioned)<br>
marquee—when we say large, we mean large.<br>
The organisation is well-advanced, so much so that we are already
looking<br>
forward to a smooth conference with everything we could want as<br>
participants. Computer access, gathering spaces, projection
facilities,<br>
efficient catering,...<br>
But this is a postcard from Monterrey, and it is really that which we
want<br>
to communicate. The city is spread out amongst tall craggy peaks that
make<br>
it pleasing on the eye. It is a city known for its museums and art<br>
galleries (as well as the Steel Museum, we are told that the Glass
Museum<br>
is also very special). Many of them (e.g. the Museum of Modern Art)
are<br>
close downtown to where most participants will stay, two or three
blocks,<br>
which even in July heat is accessible. And in another direction the
same<br>
distance is a major pedestrian shopping street (mall in the old
sense),<br>
City Hall, squares and parks. We are very taken with this aspect of<br>
Monterrey. This is not the second largest Mexican city for nothing. It
is<br>
clear also that Monterrey is the centre of natural beauty and
conservation<br>
areas.<br><br>
Yes, getting here was easy, but the other thing is that we have
found<br>
everything (from hotels to transport to food to drink) relatively cheap.
A<br>
taxi from the airport is about $US 22 which compares well with both<br>
Auckland and Melbourne for example. Taxis are safe (unlike Mexico
City),<br>
walking around is safe, the hospitality we have been given is just
great.<br>
The food is fabulous: those who have never been to Mexico will not
have<br>
tasted Mexican food like you get here.<br><br>
We think that, so far, Monterrey has been undersold as a destination.
We<br>
are sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised, and we both have several
things<br>
already on our minds to do when we return.<br><br>
See you here in July.<br>
Regards<br>
Bill & David<br><br>
Bill Barton, Auckland<br>
David Clarke, Melbourne</blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Peter Taylor,<br>
Professor<br>
Dept. Math&Stats<br>
Queen's University<br>
Kingston ON<br>
613-533-2434</font> </body>
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