Fly-By Art

So often, our first impression of new places come from the "transition zones" that we arrive in and depart from.  Train stations, bus terminals, airports, ship yards- all of these spaces are functionally built and designed to transition travelers and their baggage.  And, to a large extent, they tend to all bleed together into that mental monolith of "transportation hub".  We don't usually receive our first breath of "place" or perhaps "otherness" until we break out of these zones.  But every once in a while, I've found some niftiness, even here.
For example, I was once on a tram between terminals at an airport in Zurich, and they piped in sounds of local animals.  I rode along in the company of baahhing sheep and cow bells!  Also, during a 6 hour layover in Shanghai, I spent a good deal of time baffled by the four-spigot, hot/cold water fountains- baffling!  Recently, flying through Chicago, the moving sidewalk carried us beneath these nifty hanging sculptures, and I thought them very pretty:

I suppose it's all about finding things to appreciate, no matter where you are!