Cityseekr

No Really – Go To Northern Ireland

I am a Norn Iron (Northern Ireland for those who like to pronounce all their syllables) local – and over the years, my sneaky fondness for it has developed into full-on love, compounded even more by the fact that I don’t live there anymore. I was fortunate enough to be able to return recently and was delighted to see that the North, and Belfast in particular, was continuing along its path of charming gentrification. I was less fortunate to be exposed to Titanic Fever – columns and columns of newspaper space were saturated with Titanic trivia, century-old reports documenting the sinking, bemused tourists being asked to give their verdict on the brand new Titanic Experience building – ‘great for the city, sure it is!’. I still had to go and visit it, though – that night, rainbow-coloured lights, like refracted prism beams, were projected onto the building’s imposing aluminum walls. They were dazzling.

 The Titanic Belfast – glorious at nighttime

That wasn’t all that was new for me in Belfast. I like to eat my way around cities so while I was determined to visit old favourites, I sought out new haunts. The Barge, a former canal barge, is moored at the back of the Waterfront Hall and has been lovingly restored into a museum and a café. The food was excellent, and the sunlit, almost Scandanivian setting encouraged even the most hungover of us to start to think about beer again.

The Barge

I never need to be asked twice if I want some cake, so a friend took me to Cakes By James, a tiny cake shop that is literally hidden in a building that it shares with art shops, jewellers and galleries (you have to ring a doorbell to get in, and it’s up three flights of stairs). James Watson, a local who curated his talents at bakeries around the world before returning to Belfast, is a magic cake alchemist; when my friend recommended I try the stout and ginger cake, I looked warily at him. When I took a tiny bite, ringed by cream cheese frosting, I was forced to eat my words. Then more cake.

 Cakes By James

If you’re interested in both food AND history, St. George’s Market  is the obvious weekend destination. Built in the late 19th Century, it is frequently cited as one of the best markets in the UK and Ireland and I would not be inclined to disagree. On Saturdays in particular, there is a broad array of stalls – you can buy a pair of Lego earrings while trying to balance a coffee in one hand, and a Finn MacCool-sized breakfast bap in the other. [...]

On the Road to NYC

When I planned my four-month stay in San Francisco as an editorial intern at cityseekr, I knew exactly how I would end my time in the states: with a road trip across the whole country–all the way from California to New York City! This was a dream that I had for years prior to my internship here in the Bay Area, and now that dream is coming true…I can’t wait for it to start! After my internship ends I will have just one month to take everything in before my visa expires–so we better get a move on!

Two of my friends from Germany and I will start our trip here in San Francisco. I’m very excited to show them the beautiful city where I’ve spent the last four months. From here we want to rent a car and make our way to Yosemite National Park. To be honest, this is not my favorite planned destination on our itinerary. I guess I’m not so much of an outdoorsman and more a friend of the big city. “Big trees…? Big deal…!” However, maybe we’ll get to see some bears…yes…I would definitely like that!

After Yosemite we want to come back to San Francisco, just to be able to take scenic Highway 1 to Los Angeles the next day. We’ve been told it is one of the most beautiful roads to travel by car. Also, many people I’ve met have had lots of things to say about LA and I must also admit that I’m quite excited to see it. Venice Beach, Downtown, Hollywood–so many places to see in so little time! Most of all I’m excited to go to Universal Studios, as well as checking out some of the fancy LA nightclubs. [...]

Wine for the Weekend, Vol II: Bogle Simply Boggles

If you happened to read and enjoy our first article in this series, then you already know that we here at cityseekr are tasting our way through various inexpensive wines that can be found at your local grocer, often for less than $10. This installment of “Wine for the Weekend” highlights two wines from the Sacramento-based Bogle Vineyards.

Bogle Vineyards is a family-owned and operated group of vineyards, a winery and a tasting room that is located on the Sacramento River delta in Clarksburg, California. With over ten vineyards along the delta and nine more throughout the rest of the state, Bogle is indeed a California wine maker to be reckoned with.

However, the good thing about most family-run vineyards is that their wines tend to take on a flavor and substance that reflects, in some cases, several generations of honing the family’s own unique wine making craft. Truly, in the wine trade, age and tradition are of the utmost importance when producing wine of tremendous quality. Bogle Vineyards exemplifies this traditional ideal in wine making, at a price that most can afford.

This time we will explore two wines of both the zinfandel and chardonnay variety: [...]

How to be a Tourist in San Francisco

Hi everybody! My name is Hannes Huebener and I’m from from Leipzig, Germany. The other day I faced an urgent problem when my parents came to visit me in San Francisco: what should I do with them?

So far, I’ve spent four months as an editorial intern for cityseekr. When my parents decided to fly into the city a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to make sure the time we spent here together was worthwhile. I also wanted to show them everything this beautiful city has to offer.

So, what to do? Instead of walking to every major sight on our own, my parents convinced me to go on one of those super touristy hop-on, hop-off bus city tours. At first, thinking about boarding one of those buses and being degraded to a bloody tourist once again didn’t really appeal to me. I very much wanted to think of myself as a “local” during my last month here. Ultimately though, I decided to leave those silly resentments behind, and, since my parents were buying the $35 ticket, I agreed to become a real tourist once more and jumped onto the open-top bus.

Photo courtesy of Open Top Sightseeing

And what can I say, it was actually a great experience! You can hop on the Open Top Sightseeing tour buses at any of the 20 stops that are spread out all over downtown and west San Francisco. With the ticket, which you can buy at any stop, you earn a 24-hour pass to get on and off the buses that come by every 20 minutes. Also, on each bus there is a tour guide that will supply you with entertaining stories and information concerning the area and the surrounding sights. [...]

Wandering in Glasgow

Years ago I was traveling through the UK with my friend Matt. We were both teaching in France at the time and in the fall decided to take advantage of the generous Toussaints holiday to explore life on the other side of the channel.  We started off in London and took an overnight bus to Edinburgh; after a few days exploring the highlands, we arrived in Glasgow on a crowded blue and yellow bus on October 30th. We had booked an early morning flight to Dublin on November 1^st, so that gave us only a day and a half in the city.

I never really thought I would make it all the way to Glasgow, but we embarked on this trip with no real plans, expectations, research or reservations—so I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised that we would be spending Halloween in Glasgow. The weather had been rather gray since we arrived and it had begun to drizzle as we descended from the bus and onto the damp Glasgow street. We had found a hostel (generically called the Euro Hostel) about two blocks from the train station, on the corner of Jamaica and Clyde Streets.  Compared to the hostel where we stayed in Edinburgh (which still ranks as my worst hostelling experience ever—rampant theft, filth and fleas), the Euro Hostel was a breath of fresh air with a clean, modern design and maple wood bunk beds. After settling in, we started walking. With no map in hand and no real idea about the layout of the city, we wandered. I had caught a nasty cold in Edinburgh (probably from that nasty hostel) so I quickly found a drug store and bought cold medicine and cough drops.  We were still trying to accustom ourselves to British business hours. Popping a cherry-flavored drop in my mouth and relishing the immediate effect, we continued walking, this time away from the busy shopping district. [...]