A place becomes easier to understand when you watch an ordinary morning there.

Sights tell you what a place wants to say about itself. A regular morning tells you how it works: who is up first, what people eat standing, how they greet each other, what the shops and the queues look like before anything has been arranged for visitors. It is the least curated hour of the day.

Get up early somewhere new and sit for an hour with no plan. Buy something ordinary in a normal shop. You will learn more about the place than the same hour spent at anything recommended to you.