A weekend in Barcelona for our annual company "kickoff" event. These Flamenco dancers were part of the entertainment.

Barcelona. The towers are a funicular chairlift from the harbour to Montjuïc.

Supports like tornados designed by Gaudí in Park Güell.

The Basilica of the Sagrada Família, passion façade.

Mixed architectural styles spanning centuries.

An "engineering" tour of Tower Bridge in London, including areas not normally open to the public, such as this old control room.

Part of the steam-driven mechanism that was in use until 1976.

An accumulator that was once used to store hydraulic pressure.

One of the bascule chambers where the counterweight descends as the bridge opens, showing the hydraulic props used to lift the roadway off the bearings when the bridge is closed.

2011

I visited Chicago again (for work) and this time made it to the Aquarium and took a couple of videos.

These jellyfish looked good as well. I also visited the Field Museum and Moreton Arboretum.

Here are the Carshalton ponds and river Wandle, near our house.

We had a very nice few days in Geneva in the summer. Of course Lake Geneva and the Jet d'Eau are visible from everywhere.

The archeological digs under the Cathedral were unexpectedly fascinating with layer after layer of history, and I was pleased that my new camera worked well in low light.

Lots of momentous decisions have taken place here at the United Nations.

There's some great architecture around, old and new, like these Gaudiesque flats.

Even if visitors aren't into art galleries I try to quickly show them some of my favourites in Tate Modern and the National Gallery as we pass.

On the day of the Royal Wedding, we closed our street and had a party despite the risk of rain, as is the British tradition. I helped supply some music.

Local businesses donated some great raffle prizes, and the local police and fire brigade showed up, to the delight of the children.

I often show visiting colleagues and friends around London. This is a view I see every day walking from London Bridge station. Near here there's The Tower, Monument, St Paul's, Southwark Cathedral, Borough Market, the Golden Hinde and the Clink.

There are dozens of sights around Westminster - the Cabinet War Rooms, Parliament, the Abbey, Downing Street, Whitehall, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Chinatown, Soho, Covent Garden.

If the center of London is closed (this time it was for the Marathon), there's always South Kensington and the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, V&A, Albert Hall and Hyde Park.

I try to make time for the tour of the Globe Theatre, which has lots of interesting detail about Shakespeare and life in his time.

A day at Royal Horticultural Society Gardens, Wisley to see the butterflies in the glasshouse.

Lots of very colourful butterflies - our cats would have loved it!

Some nice bonsai as well.

A weekend in Prague for the company "kickoff". These trams are now a stationary café. Marks and Spencers provide a familiar touch.

Prague felt very European (and cold). We rode up to the castle on a vintage tram.

Houses are rarely as decorative these days, sadly.

2010

We had snow here in London in December, which is unusual and caused (almost) all transport to cease.

There were some interesting icicles when it melted.

All very pretty, but everyone was trapped at home, and a concert I was supposed to play (violin) in was cancelled.

In October I started a new job at Informatica and went to the suburbs of Chicago for two weeks of training.

Lots of interesting architecture, skyscrapers and museums. This is the "silver bean" at Millennium Park. The Institute of Art near here was fantastic.

There's an atmospheric elevated railway "the el" here forming part of "the loop".

Some back streets look like the set of "West Side Story".

The Chicago river - which has had its direction reversed, so it flows away from Lake Michigan, reducing pollution of the drinking water.

The Chicago lights sprawl for miles, seen from the 92nd floor of the John Hancock building.

I used the train for the 30 mile journey to the city centre one day. Railway stations here don't have fences or platforms, and freight trains are more common than passenger ones.

Suburban houses in the centre of Naperville, the closest town to the office.