Hello from Bonn

Stefan and I, we are currently in Bonn for a workshop on "Black Holes in a Violent Universe." Bonn is the former German capital and a quite charming city, though not what you'd expect from a capital. So probably a good thing Berlin has taken over the burden. Germany is collectively in a good mood these days since the Germans won Friday's soccer game, and everybody is looking forward to Sunday's game.We're staying in a small hotel near the river Rhine. Needless to say, our room is on the 4th floor without elevator. On the other hand, we have a small roof patio. And here's what we found looking out of the window on the side opposite the patio: A small staircase leading to a platform (the top of the downstairs windows) with railing. That little walkway ends then, leaving you with the only option of a 4 floors' jump down on the paved street. I was thinking it might be the emergency exit, but the evacuation plan on our door points another direction. So not sure what this is. An invitation for suicide? A diving platform in case the river floods?My talk about the black hole information loss problem went very well (slides here). I wish you all a great weekend."You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother." ~ Albert Einstein