Don't Live Near A Vineyard? You Can Still Enjoy A Wine Tour

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When many people picture taking a wine tour, they imagine visiting the beautiful wine-producing areas of the country, such as the Napa Valley in California. However, if you don't live near such a location and traveling for a wine tour isn't in the cards, you don't need to give up on your goal of enjoying this type of outing with friends. Even if you're in a city hundreds of miles away from where wine is made, you can likely find bars, bistros, and upscale restaurants in your city that join forces to offer wine tours to connoisseurs. Here are some elements that you can find on these tours.

Wine Discussions

You won't be strolling through the vineyards when you book a wine tour in an area that doesn't produce wine, but you'll get a chance to sample a variety of different products and hear about them from experts. City-based wine tours will often involve either wine industry professionals who are visiting the area or local sommeliers who are highly knowledgeable about various types of wine. When you visit the different stops on the wine tour, you'll sample a few small glasses and get a lesson in each product from someone in the know.

Delicious Food Pairings

Because wine tours commonly take place at fancy restaurants and bistros, you'll get a chance to enjoy some tasty food pairings. When you visit a vineyard for your wine tour, the food pairings will often take place in a courtyard or on a patio within view of the fields of grapes. While this scenery can be nice, it's only one element that makes up the event — and when you take part in a wine tour in the city, you can still enjoy a variety of gourmet fare that complements your wines.

Building Tours

Although vineyards won't be present, the sights at a wine tour in the city can be nonetheless impressive. You'll often find that the establishments that you visit are situated in historic buildings, and this may mean that your wine tour outing includes a tour of these buildings and a brief discussion on their history. Whether a restaurant is in an old mill, a factory, or some other type of building that had an impact on the history of the area, this educational component will augment the experience. Don't let your lack of proximity to an actual vineyard deter you from seeking out a wine tour — you'll be pleased with what you can find even in cities that aren't known for producing wine. 

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12 February 2018

Navigating Public Transportation in a Big City

I come from a small town. It's so small that there is no public bus service—you can walk everywhere within city limits. People drove their cars if they wanted to leave town. At home, I rarely saw a taxi, and subways were something I only saw in movies. Moving to New York City was a shock in many ways, but learning how to get around using public transportation was one of the biggest hurdles that I faced. I didn't know how much to tip a taxi driver or how to find my way around on the bus. However, I did eventually learn. I know that there must be many people who are facing the same learning curve that I was facing a few years ago. I started this blog to help other small town natives like me learn how to get around in the big city.