What’s the best way to explore a new city?
I love this topic, and having traveled around world I found the best way to familiarize yourself with any city is to his the streets. In America I’ve been to maybe twenty or so cities and always took a day or two to walk around get a feel for it, find the busiest diner restaurant or cafe and sit and eat have coffee and ask questions, the locals know the area inside and out. One of my very favorite cities is Buffalo NY. I spent seven summers there and still after not being there for over ten years I still keep in touch with the friends I made there. One summer I was mugged and my car got broken into in one month and it was happening to a lot of people in our neighborhood so we went to city hall and got the mayor involved and we were able to find two of the three people involved in the crimes and we all went to their trial to insure they got incarcerated and they did over ten years. Another memorable city was New Orleans I spent a week there and left feeling I had lived a lifetime of experiences the music the food the people together it was awe inspiring. The one thing cities in America share is bad neighborhoods give the feeling of danger when out and about even during the day I felt the need to be very cautious. Now in other countries like Thailand which is my favorite country I never get that uncertain feeling no matter if it’s in Bangkok Chang Mai Pattaya the street hustle hits different, they’re not shaking you down for cash it’s mostly prostitution and it’s funny to hear them speaking broken English. Paris is a beautiful city tons of museums and people from all over the world so you have to be alert all the time and it’s a constant hustle from all kinds of people, not a place we want to go back to. Switzerland was so amazing we’re going back in the spring, it’s really the only time of year to be there, every city is very walkable and they have zero crime there. The whole country is breathtaking from every direction. Vietnam was so beautiful were have it on our list of places to return to. For me walking a city gives you a sense of what it’s like to live there, talk to the locals take a taxi ride and strike a conversation with the driver get a little lost or turned around you’ll find your instincts will kick in and you’ll get back to where you started in no time.
