Catalonia

Quick 4-day trip to Barcelona and coastal Catalonia with my mom. Thanks to the cool breeze from the Mediterranean, the weather was great, while regions outside the Iberian Peninsula were experiencing a record heat wave. I explored Eixample in depth and were really amazed by how Barcelonans designed the city to be optimized for walking and public transit. A typical 4-lane road has been repurposed into two dedicated bus lanes, with wide sidewalks and seating in the middle. This pattern is ubiquitous. Buses run straight, diagonal, and vertical routes, moving through the city without needing to turn much—almost like a shuttle network.