Things to Do in North America

SoHo, or "South of Houston," is located in lower Manhattan and is renowned for its stylish boutiques, art galleries and trendy restaurants. The neighborhood is more relaxed than Times Square but can still get crowded due to its popularity with shoppers. Stroll down the cobbelstone streets browsing stores like AvaMaria for shoes and accessories, Onassis for American menswear with a Japanese flare and Legacy for vintage pieces and antique jewelry. Additionally, you can admire the work of talented artists in galleries like Agora Gallery, American Primitive Gallery and the Brooke Alexander Gallery. Make sure to also walk down Broadway to take in the cast-iron buildings, as SoHo showcases the largest collection of this type of architecture in the world. For a drink, Jimmy at The James Hotel is a sleek rooftop bar with 360 degree views of Manhattan, 508 Restaurant & Bar is a gastrobrewery where you can pair craft brews with gourmet plates and The Room is a sultry wine and beer bar. For those who want to explore further than SoHo, Greenwich Village, Little Italy and Chinatown are all within walking distance.

Now home to Brooklyn's Chinatown, this historic area is bordered by four neighborhoods: Greenwood Heights in the north, Borough Park in the east), Bay Ridge to the south and Upper New York Bay to the west. Originally a European immigrant community that formed around the Bush Terminal, the largest shipping, warehousing and manufacturing complex in the U.S., and later the Brooklyn Army Terminal, Sunset Park experienced its greatest boom between 1895 and the end of World War II. The building of shipping and trucking facilities in nearby New Jersey gave rise to suburban sprawl, and many of Sunset Park's immigrants left the area in the 1950s and early "˜60s in pursuit of employment.

The area's empty rowhouses lost value, creating real estate opportunities for new immigrants from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. These people brought a vibrant mix of Latin shops, design and flavors to the area, some of which still remains today. The increasing Latino population, coupled with a mid-1970s wave of Christians from India, inspired much of Sunset Park's still-lingering Norwegian-American community to bid the neighborhood farvel ('goodbye' in Norwegian) by the 1980s.

As those immigrants exited, Cantonese people were taking their place. Soon after, a larger influx of Chinese from Fuzhou started moving in, and since the late 2000s, a Mandarin-speaking community has started to grow here. The result is a full-fledged Chinatown in Sunset Park, a district of Buddhist temples, shops, restaurants and grocery markets often called Little Fuzhou.

Once a quaint outlying village, Tlaquepaque has been swallowed whole by Guadalajara. That said, the "town" retains its identity and feels more laid-back than Guadalajara proper. Tlaquepaque was originally known as a shopping Mecca for traditional ceramics and glass, and the town still boasts some of the best high-fire ceramics in the country. In addition, the area now abounds with galleries and boutiques selling Oaxacan rugs, Guerrero masks, fine leather purses, high end jewelry, antiques, traditional clothing, and all manner of rustic furniture.

Tlaquepaque is touristy but pleasant. Many shops and galleries are housed in Colonial mansions, and the pretty town plaza is worth a stroll. If shopping gets old, check out El Parian, an enclosed plaza ringed in bars and eateries where you can order local specialties like birria, a spicy beef or goat stew. El Parian is also a good place to hear mariachis, especially on Sundays when the locals flock and sing along.

Two local museums, the Museo Pantaleon Panduro and the Museo Regional de la Ceramica, have excellent displays of artesania, or folk art. Both museums are housed in old buildings that are worth a wander. Entry is free of charge.

Tucked away in a beautiful southern mansion once owned by William Scarbrough, (better known as one-time president of the Savannah Steamship Company), Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum is both a garden oasis and step back into the past history of the great era of trade between England and America during the 18th and 19th Centuries. The collection of this historic museum takes you through the history of shipping from tall ships to steamers with expertly-crafted model displays, while the garden is a prime example of a 19th century parlor garden and is the largest garden of its kind in the historic district of Savannah. The Scarbrough house itself is a museum, built in 1819 and one of the best examples of the Greek Revival in Savannah, sure to please any architecture buff.