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26TH NATO/CCMS INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL MEETING ON AIR POLLUTION MODELING AND ITS APPLICATION
26TH-30TH MAY, ISTANBUL, TURKEY
GREAT MEMORIES OF A PARTICIPANT
NATO ITM has the longest tradition and in my opinion it is far most important among air pollution modeling conferences, so I decided to go to Istanbul. It would be a pity to miss an important conference in historical city where two continents meet.
The scientific program started on Monday, but I will report about other activities that made my trip in Istanbul so great.
When I went to buy a visa at Turkey embassy in Ljubljana I got a big map of Istanbul that was very helpful for exploring the historical monuments of the city. On Sunday lots of conference participants wanted to investigate the life of sultans. Quite a big group met unexpectedly in the harem of the old sultan palace Topkapi. In the palace vicinity there are also other interesting monuments like very old, big and beautiful church Hagea Sofia, Blue Mosque and Yerebatan Cistern. In this Cistern the water for the city was kept. It looks like a big underground hall made of “recycled temples” (from the temples in the region over 300 massive Corinthian columns were taken to support the immense chamber’s fine brick vaulting). And for sure you must visit one of the carpet stores where they explain you all the production details and at the end they are disappointed that you are not a rich banker but only a poor scientist….
On Monday the official conference program started. We were transferred from the hotel to Istanbul Technical University. The first day program was held there, because the local organizer Prof. dr. Selahattin Incecik came from there. In late afternoon we took a group photo and then we were transferred again to welcome reception party. It was held in nice restaurant at the Bosphorus shore. After the unofficial meeting in sultan’s palace this was the first chance to chat with old friends and to meet new ones. Interesting talks were inspired by evening view on the sea, delicious food from barbecue, aperitifs and vine. It was really a nice start of the week!
From Tuesday on the conference was held in Surmeli hotel. It has two very nice wide halls were the scientific program was held and lots of other places where conference participants could discuss more or less important ideas. The biggest conference like NATO ITM with around 100 participants has the advantage that it can be held in ***** luxury hotel. And the prices for a room there were only around one third of a usual price!
Conference venue
In this report I will not discuss the scientific details. I can only say that every air pollution modeler could find something very interesting. The detailed program is available on www.dao.ua.pt/itm home page. And do not forget that as usual a book will be published by Kluwer Academic - Plenum Publishers if you did not get the proceedings. It is important that also poster contributers can write a short article that is published. And a poster that does not have too much text to read can be very impressive!
Boat trip
On Tuesday evening there was no organized social events (we should rest for the next two evenings).
On Wednesday afternoon sessions stopped earlier and I had a chance to go shopping with a German colleague. We had a lot of fun, because in Istanbul you have to negotiate for the price almost every where. I learned this skill very easily and beat the prices down also for my colleague. Afterwards he told me, that he would not negotiate at all if he had been there alone. From the money point of view there was another mess in Istanbul. We all became millionaires when we changed dollars or euros to Turkish liras. Some colleagues from the west had quite some problems with this apoens, but in Slovenia we are skilled with almost every inflation and millions that you can imagine.
Approaching the Bosphorus bridge towards Asia
The afternoon was followed by one of the greatest events on the conference. We went to an organized boat trip of the Bosphorus. It was not included in the conference fee, but it was so interesting that only two participants were missing. We started in the early evening and quickly cross the Bosphorus ship “highway”. I was informed that 19 radars control the Bosphorus ship traffic (one colleague exclaimed “I hope they are centralized!!”). Anyway, we safely rich the Asian side and had a long journey to the north under the magnificent bridges. Dinner was included in the price (I still remember the taste of pistachio baklava delicious sweet) and in the late evening we had a performance – waiters showed us Turkish dancing on the deck.
Old towers as seen from the Bosphorus bridge
After Wednesday boat trip near Asia, on Thursday another great event took place. It was the official dinner of the conference. It was held in a big restaurant on the Asian side of Istanbul with a beautiful view over the Bosphorus. The shuttle busses drove over the Bosphorus bridge and on the other side we really got the impression how big city Istanbul is. After every hill that we crossed another populated basin had opened and finally the driver of our shuttle got lost there! Fortunately we found the restaurant on time and enjoy the evening view of the city from the restaurant terrace. The food was really delicious and the official speeches were short. The speeches were given by the local organizer Prof. dr. Selahattin Incecik and Prof. dr. Carlos Borego that is responsible for the series of this conferences. It was announced that next ITM will be held in Banff near Calgary in Canada (I can tell you “off the record” that next organizer was taking notes in Istanbul how to organize a great conference from scientific and social point of view).
Official dinner started on the restaurant terrace
On Friday there were two short sessions and around noon the conference closed. Depending on the flight schedule I had some free time left and I visited old town again with some colleagues. It turned out that Friday conference unofficial meeting point was Capali Carsi – a covered bazaar where you can really feel the traditional Istanbul trade.
Official dinner
To conclude this patchwork of Istanbul NATO ITM impressions I would like to express great thanks to Prof. dr. Incecik for perfect organization of this conference.
Hope to meet you all on next NATO ITM in Canada!
Marija Zlata Boznar
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