Live like a local: Hackney, East London

Saturday morning
Start the day with grilled chicken wrap with peppers and melted cheese and organic teas at Bread and Butter, 5 Enfield Road. On a good day you can lounge in the striped deck chairs under the poplars. It doubles up as a tourist office for Hackney.

Saturday afternoon
Stroll to the Geffrye Museum (above, geffrye-museum.org.uk), loosely described as a museum of the house. The current exhibition is Swept Under the Carpet, with servants' quarters in a London household from 1600 onwards.

Saturday night
The trendy Arcola Theatre (arcolatheatre.com) offers a variety of plays in a partially restored warehouse. Gritty and noisy, notices warn patrons about smoke, nudity, bad language and crazy lighting.

Sunday morning
The de Beauvoir Deli on Southgate Road (thedebeauvoirdeli.co.uk) offers a great choice of coffees and seasonal dishes. Join the locals and their dogs outside. Or if feeling religious, call into St Paul de Beauvoir church, Northchurch Road an Anglican High Mass with tea and biscuits afterwards. Good organ music and lovely choir with lots of Asian voices and plenty of handshakes for the Sign of Peace.

Seán Beattie feels like a local in Hackney where he regularly visits his son. Share your travel tips for your adopted home with Irish Times readers by emailing magazine@irishtimes.com with 'Live Like a Local' in the subject line