In my experience, to get to know a city in its proper context the best time to go out and explore is Saturday morning - Saturday afternoon. Stores are open on Saturdays and you can usually find an open market or two just by wandering, and the streets are wonderfully void of business types just out to grab lunch. Best of all, there's a harmonious mix of wide-eyed tourists walking around with their heads pointed upwards trying to take in everything and relaxed locals just out to either do some shopping or grab a cup of coffee on their free day. It's a good time to get a feel for a city and its flow.
A Sunday morning is about 180˚ from the hurried-but-pleasant atmosphere of its Saturday counterpart. Store fronts, normally with doors wide open inviting you in, are closed and dark. The streets are mostly empty and there's an unsettling quiet. Locals are sleeping in and the only tourists on the streets at this time are the ones with the really huge back packs who just want to get a picture of themselves in front of a monument and move on.
But I like Sunday mornings. They show a different side of a city and its citizenry. I like the quiet. I like that the only people I see out are extremely motivated tourists or senior citizens up to go to mass. I like that I can hear church bells more clearly than on any other day because there aren't enough cars out yet to dampen the music.
Sunday mornings bring streets littered with the remnants of Saturday nights before Monday morning's cleaning crews can get to them: cigarette butts, plastic water bottles, crushed beer cans, an occasional club flyer. And they bring the odd balls - those that don't quite follow the exact rhythm of their neighbors. It's a different way of getting to know a city.
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