What sort of things could a person do as leisure in a city? And by city, I mean fantasy based. Horses are depended upon for transportation, and the paths are made of stone, but it isn't exactly medieval. I know a person could read, ride horses, play games, buy and trade goods, and go fishing since the city is built along the coast of an ocean, but does anyone else really have anymore ideas?
I think parks in a city are nice. I like the idea of sporting events. Somekind of amusement park with rollercoasters sounds like great fun. Okay, so maybe a carnival would go with what you are describing better. Perhaps ice skating in the winter or flying a kite in the summer. Kite flying in a windy place like the coast would be extra exciting. I imagine I would have to be tethered to the ground with some of the bigger kites and you could so dome amazing stunts with a four line kite or some of the more agile kites.
theater, concerts, it's a little difficult to say when we don't know in what time this story takes place and WHERE. People do different things in their free time depending on where they live, some things are the same, but there are also stuff that are very local. the best would be inventing a local attraction and creating an activity connected to it, to give a little flavour of the place and the people. depending on what activities you choose they say a whole lot about the locals and even about what kind of (and how big) city it is.
I live in a large city on the coast. People fish, as you say, and they sail those little sailboats that fit just one person. The boys put balloons out on the water on corks and fire at them with air rifles (dumb and bad for the sea life, I know). The kids skateboard, play tennis, basketball, and football in the parks all along the water, and people walk their dogs morning and evening (same crowd regularly). Cyclists ride along the cycle paths. The retired brigade do keep-fit walks along the shore every morning, and there are those sport machine things you can go on there, too. People sit in cafes playing cards and backgammon and drinking (tea, mostly) all hours of the day and night. Oldies ride the ferryboats back and forth because it's free in off-peak hours. There's a big wildlife park on the edge of town; you reach it by tram. The hypermarkets are around the fringes of town; people go there to hang out, as well as shop. The city is surrounded by mountains you can explore. You can paraglide, parachute etc or go scuba-diving in summer. There are bars where you can hear live bands play several days a week. Some bars have giant TV screens and people watch football matches there (they can yell there more than when they watch at home and be with friends). You can find most types of food and there are loads of restaurants and fast food places. People go to 'picnic areas' and rent barbeques as well and roast meat or grill fish. There's an open air ice rink and two covered ones, swimming pools, stadiums, horse racing, paintball, go karting, bowling alleys, cinemas, theatres, museums, some old ships you can go on, loads of courses like art and crafts etc etc. There's loads more things too. Did I mention I like my city? The people here are quite sporting and very sociable, so the city reflects that--your city should obviously do that as well.
