Nice, France 2018

Science & travel: Nice in less than 24h

One advantage of being a scientist is that while conducting research in a another country or giving a talk at a research institute abroad, you can visit interesting cities and learn about new cultures.

I was very honoured to give a talk entitled ''Modeling the stromal microenvironment in the prostate and gastrointestinal tract'' at the Institute of Research on Cancer and Aging in Nice (IRCAN). The IRCAN is a very new research institute (established in 2012), that is affiliated with e.g. the Nice Sophia Antipolis University, the National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). During my talk at the IRCAN I briefly summarized my research that I have done during last years while working at the Technical University of Munich in Germany and Columbia University in the USA.

Visiting Nice and giving a talk there was my first experience ever in France. During my very short stay in Nice (<24h) I immediately noticed that Nice is a unique place, and it is very different from any city I have been so far. Nice is located in southeastern France, at the Mediterranean Sea. It is a pretty small city, with about 350 000 people living there. In comparison, population of Cracow (where I live now) is twice as Nice's population (> 750 000), whereas in NYC (where I had lived before moving to Cracow) is > 8 000 000. 

Nice is a beautiful city, that was founded by Greeks. Some of the tourist attractions in Nice are: the Promenade des Anglais (seaside boardwalk), old town, the Place Garibaldi (a square), the Place Masséna (a square), Colline du Chateau (castle hill)and the Monastère de Cimiez (monastery). Additionally, from Nice you can take a ferry to Corsica (French island) or travel to Monaco (the 2nd smallest country - after the Vatican).

Last but not least, during my short stay in nice, I had an adventure. After spending almost whole day at the IRCAN, I came back to the hotel to pick up my luggage. After that, while I was waiting for the bus 98 to go to the airport (Nice Côte d'Azur Airport), I noticed a big traffic jam in the city center: a part of the main street was blocked due to the preparations of Christmas decorations. I could feel the rise of adrenaline in my blood as this traffic jam put me at a potential risk of loosing the flight. To rescue the situation, I walked away from the traffic jam's center, I took a tram and then walked away from the city center and then got a taxi to the airport. I made it on time! And could safely back home to Poland.