Flying east again

Second star to the right and straight on 'till morning. Here we go!

Food machines

Bad news: the bread maker (on the left) isn't working.

Good news: the soft serve ice cream maker (on the right) is doing well.

I'm sure there's some hidden message in this...

Answers!

I like the information desk at the Cambridge Public Library.

Photo: in-flight

This is a photo from my Iberia flight back to JFK.  I had never seen this before: a video camera positioned on the tail of the plane broadcast the view during our taxi, takeoff, and first ten minutes of flight.  It was cool.

Photo: Getxo

Another one from Getxo, Spain, just outside Bilbao.  The suburb is set on a hill.  There were moving walkways on this particular street (uphill direction only) and it totally blew my mind.  

Photo: Bayonne

Bayonne, France, another cool city.  The Basque influence here was similar to what I saw in Spain, but also very unique.  I visited here in December 2003 and it's mostly unchanged since then: beautiful city, lots of chocolate shops.

Photo: Luz-Saint-Sauveur

Sleepy little Luz-Saint-Sauveur, France.  The town is set in the Pyrenees, right at the base of the mountains.  There wasn't nearly enough snow yet: it looks more like springtime than December 29th.  

Photo: San Sebastian

This was a very neat town on the border with France.  

Photo: Getxo

This is the fisherman's village in a town just outside Bilbao.

Photo: Bilbao

I think it's pretty much required to snap a photo of the Guggenheim.
Here's the flower-covered puppy out front with his "doghouse" behind,
as it's called affectionately.

Photo: Barcelona

I visited Barcelona over the weekend.  I really loved the city.  I got to see all the big sites, have some really good food, and meet some really great people.  And there were these giant pasta shells around the city.  I didn't get a great photo of them, but I snapped this one. 

The pasta, called galets, were there because of a traditional Catalan soup with this type of pasta which is served around Christmas.  There's also a tradition of kids beating a Christmas log with a stick to get their presents.  I only half-understood that custom as it was explained to me in Spanish and broken English.

Photo: Madrid

Pork delivery at the local meat and cheese shop.