Another year is coming to a close, and here at The Metropole, we editors are once again sharing some recommendations for things to read, listen to, view, or experience in your “off” time in the coming year. This installment:...

Another year is coming to a close, and here at The Metropole, we editors are once again sharing some recommendations for things to read, listen to, view, or experience in your “off” time in the coming year. This installment: our favorite experiences in cities this year and some accessories that will help you on urban adventures.

Urban Experiences

Eric Häusler (Book Review Series Editor): Spending Sunday afternoons in SCHWARZMAN 300 was my favorite urban experience of 2023. After booking an appointment, SCHWARZMAN 300, or to be more precise, the Art & Architecture Collection in Room 300 of the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwartzman Building on Fifth Avenue, offered a beautiful place, isolated from the bustling city, to read and contemplate. Sadly, due to budget cuts introduced by Mayor Eric Adams, for the foreseeable future November 26th was the last opportunity to enjoy SCHWARZMAN 300 on a Sunday.

Kenneth Alyass (Assstant Editor): An Italian American festival in the North End of Boston.

Zeead Yaghi (Assistant Editor): I just came back from living in Paris for a little more than a year. One of the wildest urban experiences I had was walking along the Canal de St Denis, starting from La Villette, a giant park in the north eastern tip of the 19th arrondissement, all the way to the Franc Moissin Bridge, for a multilayered, eye-opening urban experience with first-hand access to the intricate water management system of canals and dams around Paris, passing through marshlands, urban decay, state-of-the-art retail venues, and so on.

Angela Stiefbold (Senior Editor): I spent a fall day in Edinburgh, Scotland, and my ramble along the Royal Mile and hike up Arthur’s Seat rates as one of my favorite urban experiences ever—amazing architecture and craggy outcroppings all in one walk! The Royal Mile is a series of streets that run along the ridge that slopes downhill from Edinburgh Castle, an imposing edifice on the high ground, to Holyroodhouse Palace. Architecture along the way spans the gamut of centuries, from half-timber buildings to St. Giles Cathedral to the modern Scottish Parliament complex—so many places I want to return to. Then just next to all this urban fabric, in Holyrood Park, is Arthur’s Seat, an 823-foot-high hill (extinct volcano) providing breathtaking views in every direction, toward both the city and the Firth of Forth.

Ryan Reft (Senior Editor): Simple, let me thank you, young people, for dressing like it’s 1995 again. I can finally bust out my Beastie Boy long-sleeve t-shirt from the Rosemont Horizon 1995 show I caught just outside Chicago in college. What did Marx say about history again, something about tragedy and farce? In the context of 1990s fashion, that sounds about right.

Urban Accessory

View from Arthur’s Seat toward Edinburgh Castle

Kenneth: If you are going on a day-long exploration of a place, bring a portable phone charger—one with a battery pack. My phone dies after six hours, so having a battery for back-up is so helpful—and there are very few public charging stations or outlets!

Zeead: I don’t know, my phone is usually enough, but a decent pair of walking shoes is essential if you’re gonna hit the pavement for long hours.

Ryan: Running shoes. I ran over 1,000 miles in 2023, and I still find it one of the best ways to learn about or to come to know a city. Biking’s great too, but a bit more equipment intensive. Since I can’t often ship a bike with me and rentals can be pricey, I stand by my assertion and take my running shoes pretty much everywhere.

Angela: The AllTrails app. While you may think it is for hikes where you are trying to get away from it all, you’d be surprised to see how many good walks there are in or near cities. Some trails are along urban greenways, others take you to a high spot where you can get a great perspective on the city.

Featured image (at top): “Canal @ La Villette @ Paris” (2017), photograph by Guilhem Vellut, flicker.com, CC BY 2.0 DEED

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