Between August 26 and August 31, 2000, at around 12 midnight, much of the world's collected wisdom concerning photosynthetic bacteria was wandering the streets of Barcelona, Spain, looking for the right restaurant and wondering how to get home after the subways close. During the day, however, attention was riveted on the Xth International Symposium on Phototrophic Prokaryotes or (during Alex Glazer's opening talk about the life of Roger Stanier) on its historical precedents. There is no written chronicle of the triennial contest, this year a tug-of-war won by the British team (and lost by the rope, which broke midway through the contest). But some scientific high points may be recalled through the memories of a few participants, whose reminisces may be accessed below.

Please feel invited to respond or supplement the accounts given below. This may help tide us over until the XIth Symposium, to be held in Tokyo, Japan, 2003.