Stepping off the train from Madrid in Vitoria-Gasteiz, a city of 252,000 in the Basque Country, northern Spain, felt like stepping into an alternate universe. The doors of the station opened to a cool December evening. I walked down a wide street lined with...
Steps toward the car-free city I haven't posted in a while because, frankly, I'm finding it difficult to make myself sit down and write, or even just stay indoors, in a city with so much going on, especially when it's sunny and up to 20 degrees out! So, I'm...
Modern architecture, transportation and nature Shifting attention from the old to the new, and turning on my “Planner” antennae, Montpellier seems to have achieved a nice balance of density and livability, at least in the neighbourhoods close to the centre. The...
Fes and Marrakech My first couple of days in Morocco, in the medina of Tangier, were a bit of a shock. Coming from a city where people hardly even make eye contact or speak to strangers, it was a very different experience being stared at, called out to, sized up, and...