I have never cared very much about country or nationality… but I do know when I find home! And it is precisely in meetings like this that I find the niche I crave for all the time.

Well organised and generous, no-pressure, multinational and multicultural it has become a truly European event where unbridled Science and specifically Palaeontology has found a safe place. Now that the Covid nightmare has gone away, for a while at least, the venues are opening again and the rest flows easily.

Wondertful entourages from Greece, Italy, Scotland and Catalonia were prominent. I even had a very enlightening talk with Sanjukta Chakravorti about the hazards and difficulties to be a prominent woman palaeontologist in India,

This is my first brush with Sabadell, Barcelona since we did Gondwana Studios‘ Hatching The Past precisely at the same venue some eight years ago… this time however I was invited to give a talk in a big auditorium…. needless to say I was a little rusty and not extremely satisfied with my performance but the wonderful audience made for it and I never felt uncomfortable… they got the message, I’ve been told!

So comfortable were we that our little stall with posters and books was a gathering place for many fantastic discussions and extremely interesting talks… including a stream of dozens of young Palaeontologists that came to tell me how the grew up with old books…like Random Houses’s “Dinosaurs The Ultimate Encyclopaedia” (are you listening Thom Holtz?… we are growing old!) or the Gee/Rey Field Guide to Dinosaurs…. if we managed to inspire all these already grown-ups aces into getting into Palaeontology, well, my mind can rest easy for a while… that is what we have been working for all these years!

The stream or fvisitors were also treated to some figures from Dinosauria Creatures that I have been customising lately… and were baffled to see some of the posters reflected very faithfully in the models. Needless to say, the auction was an obligatoruy attraction… although it was indeed swealtery!… I have to say we were well-fed all along the meeting!

Apart from our own personal success, all in all a success between the presentations and the Posters (incredibly informative and many new dinosaurs showcased). ,So thank you Carmen Nacarino-Meneses and Soledad Esteban and her worldwide known “Transmitting Science” courses entourage, for the invitation and hospitality… and all those that made us live yet another unforgettable including Bernat Vila, Angel Galobart, Jeff Liston, Dr. Christian Klug, Filippo Bertozzo, Chara, Darío, Marc (Sole”s son) and so many that I can’t name all. All of you was what made our stay extremely worthy…. and of course, Carmen Naranjo, recently upgraded to “Bionic Woman”, whose help would be invaluable with broken arm and everything!

.These meetings area beacon of light in the middle of so much fake news, nationalism. bigotry, misinformation and disunion… and as Soledad would say: