Barcelona

Sagrada Família - book tickets weeks in advance

Barcelona is the most designed city I have been to. Gaudí is everywhere, but the Eixample grid, the Gothic Quarter's layered medieval streets, and the seafront all feel equally considered - the result of a city that has taken its own form seriously for centuries.

La Boqueria before the tourists arrive. Vermouth at noon in the Born. The Sagrada Família taking up the entire sky. A long evening in Barceloneta. Barcelona does not hurry, and the right response is not to hurry either.