Today's Photo of the Day comes from Flickr user tysonwilliams.com. He calls it: "Chimneys, Casa Milà, Barcelona, Spain" and after researching a bit, I discovered that it's a Gaudi designed building that is now a World Heritage site and it's obviously most famous for the quite spectacular roof and chimneys.

I'm not sure if he used a filter, or if he warmed it up digitally, but either way, it's amazing. Oh, and just in case someone suspects I'm losing interest in aviation themed pictures for the Photo of the Day, note the tiny contrail of a jet in the middle of the picture.

Nicely done, Tyson!

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My first few hours in Barcelona went like this: Wandering around with an outrageously heavy pack on my back, a battered lonely planet in my hands, and a confused look on my face. I was lost, more lost than I think I've ever been. I have a natural sense of direction and a knack for reading maps and yet I still couldn't figure the place out. The city is a maze of busy streets, teeny alleys and meandering walkways. Don't get me wrong--it's not a bad place to get lost in, what with all the beautiful architecture and such--but if you're going to get lost, it's best to do it after you've found a place to leave your baggage.

This photo from Tyson Williams takes me back to the hurried streets of Barcelona. You too?

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Well done Peter, Craig, Carlos A, GirlsGottaTravel, and Frank who even knew its Latin name (Toletum). In hindsight, I suppose my description was actually a dead giveaway. Oh well.

Located 70km from Madrid, it used to be the capital of the Spanish Empire. Architecturally it is beautiful -- this photo does not do it justice. In 1986 it was declared a World Heritage Site for its extensive cultural heritage as a result of the Christians, Jews and Arabs living in harmony here. If you like marzipan, this is the place to get it. As touristy as it is today, I really like Toledo and always take visitors there for a day trip.

What's a country to do when two million residents vote for a man who calls himself Rodolfo Chikilicuatre and looks like an exaggerated (not to mention distorted) version of Elvis, to represent their country in this year's Eurovision?

Although condemned by the press, there is nothing that can be done but laugh and join in the "chiki chiki"!

Eurovision is one of the longest running television programs in the world. It's a singing competition where each country sends a representative; the day of the contest, all participants must sing their respective songs live as the European audience votes for the best song.

Being a continent-wide singing competition, the contest is generally taken seriously, but the Spanish people seem to have a different definition of that as they chose to send the contestant they found most absurd and hilarious. The representing song "Baila Chiki Chiki" is a rap reggaton that includes reference to politicians and to grandmothers waving knickers in the air as they dance the "chiki chiki". Go Spain!

The word is that our Spanish chiki chiki will only face competition from Ireland's rubber turkey puppet Dustin. The contest this year in on May 24 in Belgrade.

Of all the various creatures invading the coast of Spain (including pensioners from Northern Europe), jellyfish are perhaps the least welcome. For a bunch of brainless little, made-up-mostly-of-water suckers, they could be a real pain (the jellyfish, not the pensioners).

The Guardian reports that in November, scientists at the Barcelona-based Institute of Marine Sciences began studying the life cycles of jellyfish off the Costa Brava, and detected large numbers of the Pelagia noctiluca, also known as the "mauve stinger", growing in the winter, ready for an assault on Spain's beaches in the summer.

Back in 2006, 21,000 people had been stung on the beaches of Catalonia, while on a single day in August, 400 bathers were treated at a beach in Málaga. The causes of the jellyfish problem are apparently over-fishing and global warming. Here we go again.

It's difficult to say exactly what was at play in these conditions, but the position and response of this photographer gives a great vantage point of an aborted Iberia (IB) landing in Bilbao earlier this week.

The consecutive photos posted here show a quick time lapse of what was going on in a few scary seconds over the tarmac.

Among the airline community, the general consensus is that wind conditions caused significant shear near the runway, resulting in turbulent gusts just prior to wheels down. After two tries at landing on this in Bilbao the IB flight had to divert to Vitoria for another rough (albeit successful) landing.

So don't rush off to hate on the Iberia pilot. As we learned from last year's One-Two-Go crash on Thailand's Phuket island, landing in high winds can be extremely tricky.

I've been through a couple of aborted landings, but never one that has actually touched down and returned to the skies. As docile as my experiences were, they were still frightening. I wonder what people on this flight were thinking.

Before going to Portugal for New Year's, we were advised that we shouldn't even try to speak Spanish there. If you don't speak Portuguese, stick with English because the Portuguese don't like using Spanish, even if they speak it.

I didn't realize how deep is their resentment toward the Spanish until I saw this sign spray-painted on a building in Alfama, Lisbon.

I feel for you, Portugal. In the early nineties, there were similar signs in Prague: "Shut up, or stay in Germany."

Happy belated birthday to Spain's King Juan Carlos, who turned 70 this past Saturday. I was on hand to see the tradition: hundreds of people lining up for a bite of free birthday cake at Puerta dol Sol this weekend. Actually, that's not true. They were lining up to celebrate Three Kings day and get a piece of the Roscón de Reyes.

I'd told you a few days ago about the lottery lines here in Madrid, but even they can't compete with the free cake lines that I saw. The cake was enormous. Most families still celebrate "Kings Day" with the traditional Roscón de Reyes. The cake is eaten with hot chocolate on the night of epiphany when the Wise men come and leave gifts for children. Three Kings are better than one, I guess. Poor Juan Carlos is left behind...

By the way, Hotel Europa (pictured here) is highly recommended. For some 85 euro for two, it is a great deal considering its central location.

I would never pass up the opportunity to spend a few days in Madrid. On my way from Portugal, I couldn´t be so close and not come here for some tapas and paella. When asked if I prefer Barcelona over Madrid (and I have been asked this question more than once) Madrid would get my vote. I can´t really explain why.

There is only so much one can write about Madrid that hasn´t been written already. What surprised me the most is the Spanish obsession with playing the lottery. It took me a few hours to figure out why there has been a consistent, long line (and I mean long, hundreds of people--see picture) at the Puerta del Sol. Then a friend told me that people regularly line up here to buy lottery tickets. ¨The Spanish people are very superstitious,¨ she explained. Apparently, no other country on Earth has such religious lottery-following, even though other countries´s top prizes are much higher than here. The Spanish state-run National Lottery dates back nearly 250 years.

The most eagerly-anticipated draws of the National Lottery are those which take place over the Christmas period, El Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad or El Gordo (The Fat One), and El Niño (The Boy). The purse in El Niño is held on January 6th (hence the line yesterday and today) and the top prize in each series is 2 million euro. You can still buy a ticket, folks!

Some people say that in order to win, you have to buy your ticket at the Dona Manolita, a lottery vending shop which opened in 1931 and has become a Spanish institution. They apparently sell all the winning tickets. Now, that is what I call superstition!

In most Hispanic countries, the day the Three Wise Men visited Jesus (Epiphany) holds more significance than Christmas Day. On the night of January 5, children write to their favorite king (rather than to Santa) for what they want and leave their shoes outside, filled with straw for the Wise Men's camels to eat; today is when they open their gifts.

Yesterday evening, the streets of Madrid's center were packed with people waiting excitedly from 2pm to see the Parade of the Kings that began around 6pm. Today as families spend time together, there is a tradition of eating "Roscon of the Kings" which is a large loaf of bread in the shape of a king's crown, coated with nuts and dried-fruit and filled with cream or chocolate. A gold coin is hidden inside, and it is believed that the person who gets it will have good luck throughout the year.

To reassert the importance of this day over December 25, recently in Madrid there was an anti-Santa campaign to spotlight the existing capitalism around the concept of Father Christmas. It highlighted his unacceptable behavior that included: doping his reindeer, racism, exploiting his elves, relations with the Romanian mafia and general susceptibility to commercialization. There was a demonstration outside the Finnish Embassy demanding the closure of Santa's toy factory -- a cause of contamination in the Scandinavian country.

Based in Madrid, a website has been created for the cause that includes an anti-Santa pro-Kings rap by campaigners dressed as the Three Kings which you can see here; it ends with a stage killing of Santa Claus.