The 10th conference of SEDI, a loosely affiliated group of researchers studying the deep interior of the Earth, took place in Prague 9-14 July 2006. Since Doug is studying the dynamo effect (which certainly takes place in Earth's deep interior if it takes place anywhere!) and since some good grant money was available, he went. Neely and Jessie came along because, well, when else will we get to go to Prague?

We bookended the week of the conference with two weekends, spending the first in Cesky Krumlov and the second closer to Prague, with a day trip to Terezín. In Prague we walked all over Staré Mesto (the Old Town), Malá Strana (the Little Quarter), and nearby parts of the city. We saw an exhibit of the master of art nouveau, Alphonse Mucha. We also visited an exhibit of the photography of Jan Saudek, went to Prague Castle, St. Vitus' Cathedral inside it, and Strahovsky Monastery adjacent to it. Sick of monochrome Czech food, which is mostly pork and dumplings, we ate at a great Morrocan joint. And along with other SEDI attendees, we took an afternoon trip to Castle Krivoklat and ate a multi-course dinner afterward. Prague has gorgeous architecture, bridges across the Vltava River, and a very famous old clock. And Prague was unusually hot! We stayed busy and tried to stay cool.