Yup, it’s nearly February and we’re finally publishing our first post of 2020… and yes, it is a review of 2019. But since our 2018 year end review (i.e. the COTAs) was so popular and fun to write, we didn’t want to skip it this year!
First off, the elephant in the room: where the hell have we been?
Well, if you’re subscribed to our newsletter (and if you’re not, you should be!), then you’ll know that in December we went to rural Spain to do a Workaway project. We were there for a month and absolutely loved it (as you’ll learn below). However, there was limited internet and even more limited electricity. And honestly, it was nice to be a little off the grid for awhile. But it meant we didn’t get a lot of work done on the blog.
After our Workaway we arranged to come to Sarajevo for a few months, and gave ourselves a few weeks to get here. In that time we visited Gijón, Spain (one of our new favourite cities), Bilbao, Ljubljana, and Zagreb.
Anyway, those are our excuses.
Oh, I also have a horrendous cold and since it turns out the pollution levels in Sarajevo are some of the worst in Europe, if not the world, I won’t be going outside much for awhile. So it’s a good thing we love our apartment because we’ll be staying in and doing A LOT of work over the next few months. Don’t get me wrong, though, we’ll definitely be enduring and visiting all the dark tourism sites in Sarajevo and beyond (of which there are many).
Now, without further ado, our 2019 Cultura Obscura Travel Awards (or COTAs for short). We’ve restructured slightly from last year, so there are a number of nominees (in no particular order) and then a winner at the end of each category.
READ: All of our COTAs
Grey = Dagney
Blue = Jeremy
Quick Stats
COUNTRIES (& CITIES) VISITED DURING 2019
(Not all written about – yet!)
– UK (London, Norwich, Isle of Wight, Sheffield, Battle)
– Morocco (Marrakesh, Imlil, Tangier, Meknes, Chefchaoune, Asilah, Larache, Rabat, Salé)
– Germany (Berlin)
– Czech Republic (Prague)
– Latvia (Riga, Salaspils)
– Lithuania (Vilnius, Kaunas, Panerai, Elektrėnai)
– Poland (Warsaw, Krakow)
– Croatia (Zagreb, Ozajl)
Despite having written about it in 2018 (and potentially more in 2020!), we did not go to Estonia last year. Therefore we did not include it in our 2019 COTAs.
As a side note: We stand by all of our selections for last year. However, as we went to a lot of the same places this year, we didn’t want to just repeat what we said last year. Vilnius is still hands down our favourite city. The place we stayed there last year, we stayed in again and it was still dope. But we wanted to mix it up this year. Plus, we did go to new places this year and had totally different experiences in some of the places we visited previously.
The point is, Vilnius is great and you should totally visit.
The COTAs
Best Museums
You might notice a lot of these are from Warsaw. I’m not really implying anything, but it’s something you might notice…
Nominees
Shipwreck Museum (Isle of Wight)
Our newsletter’s Museum of the Month for December last year, the Shipwreck Museum is a testament to individual enthusiasm. This is because everything there is part of the personal collection of one man – Martin Woodward, a professional diver who started bringing things up from shipwrecks around the Isle of Wight in the 1960s.
Over the years it’s built up into a very comprehensive collection. Well displayed, informative, interesting, and fun! Plus it has some cool pirate mannequins, and there’s a treasure hunt for those who enjoy games (like me). Check them out here!
Interactive Pinball Museum (Warsaw)
Another of our Museums of the Month, this time from June. The main reason why the Interactive Pinball Museum is on this shortlist is in its name. All their exhibits are fully operational, you get all-day entry and, as we mentioned in the newsletter, there’s a bar.
Sure, it’s not the darkest museum we’ve been to, nor the most serious. But I can’t deny it was one of the ones we enjoyed the most. So, here it is.
Dollhouse Museum (Warsaw)
In a word, delightful. Located in Warsaw’s most imposing building, the Palace of Culture and Science, the Dollhouse Museum offers a glimpse into history through one of the most innocent and creative craft outlets available.
You can spend hours (and we did) gazing at dozens and dozens of dollhouses of all shapes and sizes, from all over the world. They also host temporary mini-exhibitions as well. When we visited, there was a temporary exhibition of contemporary depictions of local Warsaw legends in miniature, including representations of the Zapiecek Legend, the Mermaid of Warsaw, and the Golden Duck.
To top it all off, they have a secret, Narnia-esque entrance that you can enjoy when you visit!
World of Hat Ethnic Museum (Riga)
It is a cruel irony that I enjoy hats in many varieties, yet my head is not suited to any of them. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the World of Hat – the world’s most comprehensive and extensive collection of hats!
By comparison, I look awesome in pretty much every hat #sorrynotsorry.
The collection is another private one, this time of anthropologist Kirill Babaev, who began collecting hats and other head-coverings from all over the world and showcasing them in this little museum in the mid 2010s. The breadth and variation (and scale!) of these items of clothing is a marvel in itself, and each hat comes with an individual history of its culture and acquisition. A must-see for anyone passing through Riga. Check out their site here.
Winner
Invisible Exhibition (Warsaw)
Honestly, I’ve never been to a museum quite like this. It’s immersive, it’s thoroughly enjoyable, and above all, it’s a transformative experience. Coming out of the Invisible Exhibition I had a new appreciation for and understanding of the world. It sounds hyperbolic, but it’s true; and that’s why it’s our pick for Best Museum 2019.
The Invisible Exhibition invites visitors to experience the world completely without the sense of sight. It is pitch dark inside, and parties are led by a blind curator through various rooms and environments.
Whilst inside, your other four senses work overtime to try and describe to your brain everything you are no longer receiving from your eyes. Domestic rooms suddenly feel cavernous, and the everyday objects within them take on a whole new mental form. There’s the opportunity to try and guess famous artwork replicas from touch, and a nerve-rattling section where you have to cross the street “outside” …
It’s fun, it’s challenging, we’ve never been to anything like it, make sure you don’t miss out! You can learn more about them on their website.
Best Monuments, Memorials & Cemeteries
NOMINEES
Animals in War (London)
It’s something people don’t usually think about, what with warfare having escalated to the point where machines do a huge portion of the work, but animals were once an integral part of any battle, I’m sorry to say. Horses, mules, dogs, even elephants have at some point or another been brought into conflicts they neither understand nor wish to be a part of.
On a roundabout between two busy roads in London, the Animals in War memorial stands as a tribute to those poor creatures who “served and died alongside British and Allied forces in wars and campaigns throughout time”. The statue is well designed, with effigies of the animals marching in a line through a gap in the stone to the park just beyond. We found it elegantly moving.
“They had no choice” the memorial states. Indeed.
RELATED: Dark & Unusual Things to do in London
Dżok The Dog Monument (Krakow)
As animal lovers, this simple little monument broke our hearts.
Dżok (Jock in English) was a black dog whose owner had a heart attack and died at the Grunwaldzkie Roundabout. Dżok waited for a year for his owner to return, living off of scraps provided by sympathetic locals.
After a year, he accepted his human would not return and allowed Maria Müller, a widow, to take him in. When she died in 1998, a heartbroken Dżok ran away and laid down to die on the train tracks. He was approximately nine years old.
Some people claim Dżok’s story is 100% true, while others claim it is a Cracovian Legend. Either way, he is now immortalised in a park along the Vistula River, located between Wawel Castle and the Grunwald Bridge.
Chiune Sugihara Memorial Park (Vilnius)
This memorial park is definitely one of the prettiest memorials we’ve been to. This is mainly due to the dozens of cherry trees planted there in 2001 by Waseda University, where Chiune Sugihara, the subject of the memorial, completed his entry examination into the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1919.
While working as the Acting Japanese Consul in the Republic of Lithuania during WWII, Sugihara issued thousands of visas to Jews fleeing the holocaust, at great risk to his own life, effectively saving around 6,000 lives.
The cherry trees were planted to represent the “hope that … friendly relations between the Republic of Lithuania and Japan will deepen and blossom”. They surround a path that leads up through the park and into an amphitheatre with a statue of a woman releasing an arc of birds up into the sky. The area is often frequented with people resting, relaxing and picnicking, which suits the mood perfectly.
Bikernieki & Rumbula (Riga)
Although different memorials, Bikernieki & Rumbula often stand together in our minds as they commemorate similar incidents. Both sites were massacre sites just outside of Riga used by the Nazis. An estimated 25,000 were executed at Rumbula and another 20,000 at Bikernieki.
Today they are both beautiful and heartbreaking memorial parks in the forest.
Rumbula is also significant because it was the only Holocaust memorial on USSR territory that any local Jewish community was allowed to install. After the fall of the Soviet Union more were erected, including Bikernieki, but for a time, Rumbula stood on its own as a tragic reminder of what had happened during WWII in the Baltics.
WINNER
Brethren Cemetery (Riga)
Also known as the Brothers’ Cemetery or the Common Graves, the Brethren Cemetery is the largest gravesite we visited in 2019, and serves as both the resting place of and memorial to thousands of Latvian soldiers who died between 1915 and 1920 in WWI and the Latvian War of Independence.
The monument has three sections: the Road of Contemplation, featuring a long walk along a wide, tree-lined pathway, up to the Terrace of Heroes, where can be found an eternal flame burning constantly on a raised dais, and beyond that the Graveyard – an beautifully planned area lined with small hedgerows and individual stone plaques dedicated to the named and unknown alike.
The place is quiet, humbling and peaceful, with detailed stone sculptures at either end. Standing watch over the Graveyard is a statue of Mother Latvia and her fallen sons. Underneath her is an urn containing 517 handfuls of earth from all the counties of Latvia.
A lot of work has gone into this monument, and it pays off magnificently. If you visit Riga, make sure you head to this fitting tribute to the fallen of war.
It’s worth noting that this is only part of a much larger cemetery (The Forest Cemetery), which has several different sections. Also, Latvian cemeteries are stunning so you should check one out.
Best Day Trips Taken
NOMINEES
Lixus (from Tangier)
Despite some issues getting to Lixus (as highlighted in this post), we really enjoyed our day trip to Lixus and nearby Larache.
Lixus is a surprisingly large archaeological site that was once home to an important ancient city in Mauretania Tingitana (a Roman province of the ancient empire of Mauretania, which is now Morocco, Algeria Cueta, Spain and Melilla, Spain – not to be confused with modern day Mauritania).
The site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on 1 July 1995, and personally, it’s criminal it hasn’t been upgraded. This place is amazing. For such a large complex, it’s incredibly well maintained and culturally significant.
However, I suspect the lack of recognition might be partially due to a lack of visitors. We were there for several hours and didn’t see a single other tourist until we were leaving (a family was arriving).
If you’re in Tangier, definitely take time to go out and see it. While we didn’t get to see Volubilus, visiting Lixus more than made up for it, especially as we had the whole place to ourselves! The staff were also very friendly and knowledgeable.
Elektrėnai (from Vilnius)
Elektrėnai is pretty much halfway between Lithuania’s two largest cities: Vilnius and Kaunas. It is home to around 14,000 people. It’s a sleepy little soviet-esque town and we enjoyed wandering around.
However, its real draw for tourists – and why we were there – is an old abandoned soviet-era amusement park. The park opened in 1986 and closed it’s doors in 2013. It has since been left exactly as it was, making it feel somewhat reminiscent of Chernobyl (in photos, at least. I imagine Chernobyl to be much different in real life – Elektrėnai is also significantly smaller).
The park’s official name is Children’s World (or Vaikų pasaulis in Lithuanian), but is often referred to as Jet Star 2 after its rollercoaster.
When we arrived there were a few teenagers around, but otherwise we had the place to ourselves for at least an hour. We’re suckers for an abandoned spot and we loved wandering around Elektrėnai.
As an added bonus, there’s a pretty cool looking church around the corner.
Paneriai (from Vilnius)
Paneriai is a wooded forest about 15 km (9 miles) from Vilnius. It was used as a massacre site and mass grave during WWII. Although the victims of Paneriai were mostly Jews, the Nazis also brought Baltic resistance members and other prisoners of war there to be executed.
In July 1941, the Einsatzgruppen (Nazi death squads) sent thousands of Jews from the Vilna (Vilnius) Ghetto there to be executed. Once the first wave was killed, they forced others to dig graves and bury them.
There are six burial sites at the Paneriai complex, all of which saw multiple massacres and house the remains of thousands of bodies.
It is estimated that approximately 100,000 people were killed there. However it is impossible to know for sure, as so many bodies are buried within that excavators cannot tell exactly how many without digging up and disturbing all the remains.
An emotional, but important day trip that we think anyone visiting Vilnius should take.
WINNER
Salaspils (from Riga)
Salaspils was a former concentration camp, officially called Salaspils Police Prison and Re-Education Through Labor Camp. The German name for the camp was Kurtenhof. The camp was opened in late 1941, and remained in operation for nearly 4 years.
During this time around 12,000 prisoners passed through Salaspils, 2,000 of which died at the camp. The camp is now predominantly remembered for its cruel treatment of children. Of the 2,000 people who died within, over one third were children. Although many ultimately died of diseases like measles and typhoid, poor living and sanitary conditions would have only exacerbated the illnesses.
Today, the former camp has been converted into a somber sculpture park. Many of the memorials around the park are dedicated to the children of Salaspils. Most unnerving, however, is the low reverberation of a heartbeat continuously pounding as you walk throughout the memorial site.
Salaspils is located about half an hour’s drive from Riga, Latvia. However, on foot and public transport it takes a bit more time. We also combined it with a stop at the Rumbula Forest Memorial (article pending), which also added some time.
READ: Beating Hearts: Visiting the Salaspils Memorial Park
Best City for Street Art
Yes, we know London street art is amazing. No we didn’t include it because a) we featured London street art in the COTAs last year (even though we didn’t have a specific street art section) and b) we didn’t actually spend that much time viewing street art in London this year.
Nominees
Krakow, Poland
As a cultural hub, you can’t do too much better than Krakow. The food, the architecture, the history, the vibe, the people … so much variety and character collected in one place! Fortunately, this variation also extends to its street art.
Krakow has street art that is by turns literary, political, historical, fantastical, and thought-provoking. Dagney and I talked it over, and we agreed that Blu’s 2011 mural “Ding, Dong, Dumb” has the best combination of these, making it our joint favourite. It is also just one piece among a wealth of artistic creativity. Have a read of our article covering Street Art in Krakow for a closer look at them all!
I love how he says we “talked it over” because initially we disagreed and it turned out the piece he wanted to include wasn’t even in Krakow.
Kaunas, Lithuania
There’s SO MUCH street art in Kaunas – and it pains me greatly that we have barely any pictures of it. We were there on a flash-visit to get to the Ninth Fort Memorial, and time was too tight to just wander around hunting for murals (which is my preferred way to find street art). As such, we mostly had to watch from the windows of buses as we glimpsed snatches of colour and shape around the distant corners of buildings.
Fortunately, just around the corner from our overnight accommodation was this excellent piece. Unfortunately, we don’t know what it’s called or who painted it, so if you do then please let us know in the comments below! I think I like this best because it was so unexpected (like many pieces in Kaunas), just put up on an empty-looking half-built house in the northern suburbs.
Also, we had some compensation for our lack of exploring, because many of the older buses in Kaunas have been decorated with murals, and if they stop for long enough, you can enjoy them as well!
Asilah, Morocco
The coastal town of Asilah might be slightly off the beaten path for the casual tourist, but it just happens to be a little gem when it comes to street art. The medina is full of painted walls, with various styles and subjects on show – all eye-catching, all enjoyable.
But while the medina is where the bulk of the murals are located, my favourite one is actually at a junction on one of the main streets, which is great because it means that that many more people get to see it every day.
Again, unfortunately we don’t know the name of the piece or the artist, so if you do, please let us know below!
Berlin, Germany
Berlin is a huge city. That alone usually means there’s a lot of graffiti about. But on top of that, Berlin has not one, but several different districts that are somewhat (if not entirely) dedicated to street art. Because of this volume, we think it’s fitting to have two favourites here.
The first one, “Wild Common Carp”, we featured as Street Art of the Month in our August newsletter last year. The other is an unnamed piece created for the One Wall Project by Phlegm. Both are imaginative, both are HUGE, and both almost put Berlin on top of the podium for the COTAs this year.
But not quite! That honour goes to …
Winner
Sheffield, UK
Beating out all the competition comes a place I would definitely not have thought of a year ago. Sheffield is a veritable cornucopia of visual treasures, with works by many talented and distinctive street artists from all over the world! “The Birth of Hip Hop”, my favourite of the pieces we saw, I just love – it jumps off the building at me, and I swear in my head I hear exactly the voice of the microphone saying “YO”.
I’m going to let the rest of these murals convince you why you need to head to Sheffield on your next visit to the UK.
If that has successfully whet you appetite, then please check out our article on street art in Sheffield .
Best Night’s Sleep (i.e. Accommodation)
We slept in some very comfy beds this year. We actually didn’t have any horrifically uncomfortable mattresses, although we did have a fair few pillows that twisted our necks and kinda ruined our day.
Still, overall, a pretty good year. Best place was our apartment in Vilnius where we stayed again last year, this time for six weeks. But since by our own rules we can’t include it, here are our other best sleeps from 2019.
NOMINEES
Barmy Badger Backpackers (London)
Wait, hear me out!
Yes, when we booked this place last minute I was incredible put off by the name. It screamed “party hostel” and I was not looking forward to it. It was also fairly expensive seeing as it was last minute in London on a weekend.
However, this place subverted all my expectations and wound up being one of the best night’s sleep I’ve EVER had.
I can’t speak for the dorm beds, but in the private double rooms, the mattresses are SO FREAKING COMFY. If I’d died in that bed, I would have been okay with it. As an added bonus, it had the fastest internet of literally anywhere I’ve ever stayed – or lived, for that matter.
It doesn’t win cause it’s expensive and I had to share my bathroom. Yup, I’m super petty.
=> Wanna sleep on the comfiest mattress of all time? Book here!
Our Airbnb in Zagreb
We stayed in Zagreb for a month this summer and while the city was hotter than hell, our apartment was actually pretty cool – even without A/C. That alone warrants it a space on this list.
However, we also loved our host, Darinka, and her very friendly, lovely dog, Neem. We felt instantly welcomed and being so close to shady Maksimir Park was great for the hot summer days.
=> Headed to Zagreb? We highly recommend this apartment.
Riad Losra (Marrakech)
We stayed in some truly exceptional places during our time in Morocco. After all, Moroccan Riads are on another level!
Riad Losra was the second place we stayed in Marrakech as the first place (which we also loved) was booked up when we returned. But we wound up liking this one even more, so it was a happy coincidence.
Our hosts Farid and Yussuf were incredibly kind and always at the ready with mint tea. The room was huge and had a comfy sofa included. Plus, the breakfast options were immense. We were sad to leave.
=> Looking for a bit of luxury in Marrakech? Book here!
(PS: I’m sure all the rooms are wonderful, but we stayed in the Red Room)
WINNER
Dar Tanger Medina (Tangier)
The first place we stayed in Tangier was not great, as you’ll hear about more below. However, the second place we stayed, Dar Tanger Medina, wound up being the best place we stayed all year.
Although it wasn’t the comfiest, largest or most luxurious place we stayed in 2019, the overall atmosphere was A+. Ultimately, our hosts Souhaib and Abdelghafoun totally won us over with their above-and-beyond hospitality.
When we more or less fled our previous place first thing in the morning, they welcomed us with open arms, plied us with delicious mint tea and biscuits and let us check in HOURS early. And while this is fairly standard for Morocco (in fact the previous place also let us check in super early), they continued to exceed our expectations.
Not only did they hold onto all our excess stuff when we went to Chefchaoune for a few days, but they upgraded us for free when we returned and told them we’d be staying for another week. And while the room we were in previously was perfectly fine, our new room was the bees knees.
Plus, the breakfast was delicious, the Riad was centrally located and we enjoyed sitting on the roof and watching the shadows of seagulls walking across the canopy.
=> Hoping for somewhere with an extra touch of hospitality in Tangier? Book here!
(If it’s available, we highly recommend the TANJA room)
Best Thing We Put in our Mouths (i.e. Food)
Food makes the world go round. When you visit a place, is it not at least because you want to try the local cuisine? It is for us. However, we are not a food blog. We don’t write posts about great places to eat in every town we’re in. But, of course, we do eat. To eat is to live, as someone has probably said. So here are our most enjoyed eateries from this last year. There are more than we expected. As it turns out, we eat often …
As a side note, I’m so impressed with how much vegan food I got Jeremy to eat – and fall in love with – last year…
Nominees
Abou Tayssir (Tangier)
Just around the corner from our hotel in Tangier, in our constant search for good falafel, we found Abou Tayssir. The seating is minimal, the storefront is modest, but inside can be found a pure gem. The restaurant is owned by a Syrian couple, by far some of the friendliest people we met during our stay.
Their portions are generous, and cooked with obvious enthusiasm for their craft. Going there to eat (which we did on several occasions) was not unlike going to dinner at the house of a favourite aunt and uncle, such was the way we were treated. Abou Tayssir is a must for anyone passing through.
Bang Bang (London)
If you’re looking for a specific kind of asian food, whatever it is, chances are Bang Bang has it. This place is the largest and most varied collection of asian food outlets in the UK. Sushi, ramen, pho, bao, sweet barbecue pork, dim sum … it’s all here. There’s even a citrus-based juice and smoothie bar to wash it all down with.
Every time we’re in London, we make an effort to find our way to Colindale so that we can enjoy what we know will be a LARGE bowl of deliciousness. You can browse the selection (by country if you wish!) here.
*sigh* the Pho is just so good…
Breakfast at Dishoom (London)
I mean, talk about a full English breakfast taken to a new level. The invention and flavour that Dishoom brings to its dishes is something everyone should try and experience. It should be recognised, of course, that we mentioned Dishoom before in our 2018 COTAs post. But that was based solely on their regular menu.
As can often be the case, the breakfast selection of a restaurant can be radically different to its main culinary fare; unfortunately, sometimes in quality as well as content. Happily, though, Dishoom does not disappoint in this regard. In fact, it excels so much we just had to include it in this year’s nominations!
Golem Bakery (Prague)
It sells one thing, and one thing only, but it’s so good it deserves a spot on this shortlist. The Golem Bakery celebrates the urban legend of the Prague Golem by representing him/her/it in sweet biscuit form. They’re sugary, they’re caramel-y, they melt in your mouth and are delectably addictive.
They come in regular or large packs, and they last quite a while, which mean they make for great gifts as well. It should be noted, however, that a lengthy expiry date does not make their longevity a certainty. I did say they were addictive …
They’re also vegan!
READ: The Legend of the Prague Golem
Tel Aviv Urban Street Food (Warsaw)
Possibly the most sophisticated vegan restaurant I’ve been to. Their presentation is top notch, they have excellent smoothies, and their breakfast selection is just as creative as their main menu. Breakfast is also available until 2pm, which fits in very well with our mindset! Plus they serve baklava, which I love.
See what’s on offer right now, right here!
Shout out to our fellow dark tourist, Gemma, for telling us about this place since most of the other Warsaw vegan guides I read didn’t mention it!
Taste of India (Krakow)
What can we say? We love Indian food. It may not be particularly Polish, but Taste of India does what it does so well, we don’t care. The food here is so good it brought us back after just two days! The creamiest sauce, the most buttery naan bread, meat that just falls apart and perfect rice. What more can you ask for?
Check out their menu here.
Fat Pumpkin (Riga)
Fat Pumpkin will always hold a special place in my heart as the first time I had a non-meat burger that I enjoyed just as much (if not more than) a regular one.
Located in Riga’s Old Town district, as opposed to the more fashionable Art Nouveau area further north, Fat Pumpkin offers a good selection of vegan and vegetarian dishes, plus a selection of cakes.
Ali Kebaba (Zagreb)
For someone who grew up in the UK, I got into the kebab game very late. I had my first one in my mid-twenties, and my first proper one a few years after that (notably, not in the UK). Since then, I’ve made a point of investigating the local kebab options of every town we come to, and by far the best has been in Ali Kebaba.
The taste, the price, the VOLUME of each pitta’s contents; all are superior to each kebab establishment we’ve come across so far. It’s rare that I witness something so big disappear so fast, and it’s quite far from five-star haute cuisine, but there it is. Go put one in your face, right now.
As the resident vegetarian, I obviously don’t eat kebab, but their falafel is also immense! We ate there twice during our most recent visit #noshame.
Mitho Cha! (Berlin)
Berlin’s authentic Nepalese and Tibetan restaurant is a very relaxing place to get your lunch. And what a lunch it is! There’s something about cashew nuts and coconut milk curries that just makes my mouth water (much like it’s doing now).
The flavours of the dishes here are many and varied, yet none overpowers the others, and we felt so full and satisfied after we’d finished that we just had to put it on the COTAs list. Definitely the place to go for anyone looking to expand their asian culinary palate. Check out their website here!
This is also the first time we ever met up with our blogging buddies from Books and Bao, so it holds a very special place in our hearts!
Winner
RoseHip Vegan Bistro (Vilnius)
Our winner for 2019! And rightly so. The Rosehip Vegan Bistro has everything we look for: it’s very chill, it’s easy to find, it has tasty food (including healthy smoothies), dogs are welcome (not that we have one, we just like animals) and the staff are friendly and helpful. Plus, it’s located in one of our favourite cities on the planet.
But, for me, what makes the Rosehip Bistro our winner is the fact that it not only serves vegan cuisine, but that it makes me like those things above all the other options available in Vilnius. I am a meat eater; I grew up possibly the opposite of a vegan. Meat was in every meal, and I was very picky even about that. Fortunately I’ve grown up a lot since then. Don’t get me wrong, though; my favourite meal is still a roast of some kind, or a steak. But I’ll happily forget about those if the Rosehip is an option. That’s how good it is! I can’t sing its praises enough.
Disappointing Things We Put in Our Mouths (Yup, it gets its own category)
Nominees
Koshari Street (London)
Whenever we find ourselves in London, we always make a point of swinging by Koshari Street. This little eatery – almost a hole-in-the-wall outlet with seating only for up to six people – serves one dish: koshari, an Egyptian vegetarian dish that involves mainly rice, macaroni and lentils. It’s super filling and delicious.
However, on our last visit we discovered that, presumably to try and compete with other London restaurants, Koshari Street has “updated” their menu to include more commercially viable variation. There’s now chermoula chicken koshari (not a thing: koshari is vegetarian) and California koshari which has avocado in it.
Really? The traditional EGYPTIAN dish is now Californian? We were very sad. All the effort has gone into rebranding and watering down the essence of what traditional cooking should be. If we wanted Californian food, or a meat-based dish, we’d have gone somewhere else. It’s London, after all – there’s a lot of choice. Being unique was what drew us to you in the first place!
We tried to get the most authentic and regular koshari from the menu, but it wasn’t the same anymore.
James Dean American diner (Prague)
Sometimes on a trip, it’s nice to occasionally make what you think is a safe bet. If you’ve been travelling for a while, and you don’t want to venture into unfamiliar territory with a local dish, sometimes grabbing something familiar to just chow down quickly and move further along with your itinerary can be acceptable. This was our reasoning for getting an American burger in Prague.
Boy, did it backfire. The “burger” we had there was one of the blandest, unpleasant-tasting things I’ve ever had. In the UK, usually outside music venues or sports stadiums, there is sometimes a burger van where for a couple of pounds you can get something greasy and quick and highly non-nutritional. But that at least has some quaint charm, or it goes down quick because you’re really hungry at half time. This didn’t even have that.
Plus the milkshakes were overpriced.
He says “we” like we both ate here… I did have a milkshake, though, which was depressing enough. Thank god I wasn’t hungrier.
Winner
Krowarzywa Vegan Burger (Krakow)
We had high expectations of this place: it’s in Krakow, where the food had never let us down, it’s a vegan burger restaurant chain, so it’s successful, and it had good reviews. Unfortunately, it seemed to systematically tick each box of failure as we went down the list, one by one.
First, we didn’t get what we ordered, which meant our food came with ingredients that leaked into everything else (we both got wraps). Second, the food was warm-ish, rather than hot. Which is worse than cold, I think. If it was just cold, you might think that that was just how it comes. But if it’s warm-ish, you know at one point it was hot, or should be hot, but now it isn’t.
Third, we asked for bottled water. “Gas or no gas?” “No gas, please, non-sparkling.” We opened it up, drank some, it had bubbles. “Excuse me, this has gas. Can we please have one with no gas as we asked?” “Oh, sorry, there is only with gas or with some gas.”
Is that a thing? If they’d said we only have gas, we’d have not had any, and saved some money. I know it’s very much a first-world problem, but on top of warm-ish wraps that we couldn’t really eat, it was the final nail in the coffin for Krowarzywa for us.
Perhaps we caught them on a bad day. That’s the best I can think of.
This is the only bad food I’ve ever had in Poland and it still depresses me that this place was so bad it was the actual catalyst for creating this category!
Most Memorable Experiences
We suffered a lot of travel burnout in 2019 because we kept pushing ourselves to do things we didn’t even want to do for the blog. Except that we were then too exhausted to actually write about the things. Anyway, long story short, most of our most memorable experiences were doing fun, relaxing things that had absolutely nothing to do with the blog.
NOMINEES
Throwing stones in the river in Ozalj, Croatia
While we were in Zagreb last year we went on a day trip with a friend to Karlovac. On the way we stopped in the town of Ozajl to see the castle and the Hydroelectric Power Plant, which dates back to 1908 and is one of the oldest in the world.
The three of us wound up sitting outside of the plant, along the Kupa River throwing stones into the water. It started off as trying to skip them, but it very quickly turned into just chucking rocks into the water. I have no idea why we did this, let alone for 30 minutes, but it was honestly one of the most sincerely memorable moments we shared in 2019.
There was a plastic swimming ring in the water, and we were shooting hoops into it.
Sometimes you just need to take a break and toss stones in the water for no apparent reason.
Hanging out at the Pepper Pot on the Isle of Wight
As we mentioned several months ago in our newsletter, the Pepper Pot is one of our favourite spots on the Isle of Wight.
We actually didn’t discover this little gem until this past April, but as soon as we did, we visited frequently. The first time we hiked up to it (I use the term hiked very loosely here, because it’s really not), was somewhat idyllic. It was fairly windy and there were cows grazing all over and, most importantly, no one else was there.
However, for awhile in the summer, we also enjoyed going up to the Pepper Pot at sunset. One, because the sunset is outstanding, but two because if it is a clear enough sky, once the sun sets completely, you can apparently see the milky way. So yes, we spent several nights lying in the frigid cold on a windy hill reading our ebooks for several hours waiting for the sun to set in the hopes we’d catch the milky way. We never did, but we still loved doing it.
Driving along the Military Road in a Lightning Storm, Isle of Wight
We collectively spent nearly six months on the Isle of Wight this year, and one of the habits we developed was going for a drive around the island to clear our heads.
The Military Road is a rather famous stretch of road on the Island, considered one of the best for road tripping. And while I’m not sure it’s long enough to constitute that title, it is one of our favourite roads to drive along.
On one particular evening we went out driving in a storm and found ourselves on the Military Road in the middle of a lightning storm and it was magical.
When the lightning flashed, it lit up the cliffs and the coast as a quick black-and-white tableau. If you’ve ever read or seen Sin City, it was kind of like that.
Relaxing at the Pinball Museum in Warsaw
We wrote a whole article about how amazing it was to decompress at Warsaw’s Interactive Pinball Museum, so I won’t rehash much of it here.
But essentially, after severe travel fatigue and a morning of massive disappointment, we decided to ditch all our other plans and spend the afternoon playing pinball. This turned into spending the entire next day there, as well… and if we weren’t scheduled to go to Latvia the day after that, we probably would have gone back then, as well.
Moral of the story: travel fatigue is real, sometimes the best things in life are pinball machines.
WINNER
Workaway in Asturias, Spain
Immediately following the upset of the British General Election in December, we realised we did not want to be there anymore (plus as a now non-resident, my allotted time was coming near its end anyway). So we did the only logical thing we could think of: we signed up to live with strangers in the EU and help them out converting their home into a sustainable, self-sufficient paradise.
Jeremy had never done anything like Workaway, and I hadn’t in some time. Mostly because people make me wary and a little anxious. But it wound up being the best experience we had in 2019, and we look forward to returning later this year, or next. And maybe doing another project at some point.
Our hosts, Myriam and Suso were a lot of fun and very friendly, helpful hosts. Plus they had two dogs and three cats that we fell in love with. Oh, and literally every single meal Myriam made was delicious. We also got A LOT of reading done while we were there since we couldn’t just watch YouTube videos all day (not that we we would ever do that…)
To top it off, when we left, we stayed in the nearby town of Gijón for a few days, and it quickly became one of our new favourite cities (so expect to see it on our 2020 COTAs…).
Memorable Animal Experiences (a mini photo essay)
Our favourites, of course, are Moriarty and Cleo, Jeremy’s parents cats.
We spent collectively nearly six months with them on the Isle of Wight and they are family.
Worst Experiences & Biggest Disappointments
Fortunately we didn’t have that many lowlights in 2019. On the whole, it was a pretty good year. Still, there were a few standout experiences…
NOMINEES
The POLIN (Museum of the History of Polish Jews), Warsaw
Honestly, if I was the only person writing this, the POLIN would be number one on this list. I did not like it and after literally years of anticipation, it was a massive let down.
I have previously recommended that people visit it in our dark tourism in Warsaw article, and while I do really need to update that article to reflect my feelings, I still recommend people visit. I am definitely in the minority when it comes to the POLIN, and I recognise that it just wasn’t for me.
I plan on eventually writing an article addressing my thoughts and feelings on the POLIN, but for now, here’s an extremely brief summary:
The POLIN is massive in both size and scope. While I’m not against gigantic museums in principle, I have learned over the years that I tend not to like them in practice.
IGers in Chefchaoune
It’s no secret that we don’t really like Instagram. Last year we deleted our account in frustration and have never looked back. I have a lot of friends who say that IG is their favourite social media network… as non-bloggers. And I understand why that is. However, as someone who did not use or care about IG before coming a blogger, all I can tell you now is that I can’t stand the platform. At least, not when it comes to travel.
In my opinion, IG is partially responsible for a large portion of overtourism as well as the destruction of several beautiful landscapes. Despite being baby bloggers, Jeremy and I often hesitate to post anything beautiful up online in fear that it will be destroyed as soon as we “make” it.
Anyway, while we were in Morocco, we visited Chefchaoune, a town made insta-famous in the past few years because of its beautiful blue walls.
Having previously visited Chefchaoune in 2013 when it was still relatively unknown, I was apprehensive to see what had happened to it since then. It wasn’t great.
To be fair, I didn’t hate my revisit to Chefchaoune, but the magic of being one of the only people (tourist or otherwise) wandering around the street is long gone.
There is, of course, a specific spot in Chefchaoune that is famous on Instagram. And people being sheep (yup, I said it), they all NEED to get THAT specific shot. So, despite the fact that the whole city is fairly blue (not as blue as you might believe from photos, but still, pretty blue), and that just one street over is an equally beautiful, bright blue street… an entire street (a main thoroughfare) gets bottlenecked because every single tourist wants to wait in line and get that photo. People are so convinced that everyone else is there to do exactly what they’re doing that when Jeremy and I encountered ‘the spot’ and tried to walk around it, we were pushed backwards and told to wait our turn.
Basically, your whole trip will be better if you avoid this street.
WINNER
The City of Meknes
I was really excited about visiting Meknes. It was one of the places I didn’t get the chance to visit during my first trip to Morocco and I’d heard nothing but good things.
We planned to stay three days, with a day drip to Volubilis to see the ruins. We were super excited.
Instead, we kind of hated the city.
I’m sure the travel fatigue we were experiencing didn’t help, nor the cold I was cultivating, but on the whole, Meknes just wasn’t our cup of tea. Our hotel was amazing, and we enjoyed our visit to the Prison de Kara, but despite this, we were counting down the minutes until we left.
On the first day, we walked around in the Imperial City for what felt like hours and couldn’t find anywhere to eat. Everywhere was either a cafe with maybe some cakes or super touristy. It was boiling hot, incredibly dusty and kind of ugly. I was already done.
Despite wanting to visit Volubilis, I was just too exhausted to sort out a day trip. So instead we stayed in Meknes, despite feeling like the city was suffocating us. At least our Riad felt like a safe space.
The second day, we wandered out of the imperial city and instantly felt better. We spotted a Pizza Hut and decided it was exactly the taste of home we needed. Afterwards we hung out at a park, people-watched and did some reading. Admittedly, it was much more enjoyable, but the damage was already done.
Day three consisted of work, park, more pizza and packing. I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of the city.
If you’re interested in visiting Meknes and Volubilis, don’t let our experience put you off. As I say, most people seem to love it there. However, we do highly recommend a stay at Riad Yanis, the rooms are HUGE, the beds are comfy and they have some cool street art right outside.
Most Important Travel Lesson Learned
I should say travel lessons we’ve kinda learned, but that haven’t actually sunk in yet, because most of these were mistakes we found ourselves repeating multiple times. Oh, also, we STILL haven’t learned the lesson about not dragging around too much stuff (see where we’ve previously mentioned this issue here, here & here). We thought we had learned it because we went back to the UK for a few months with just a medium sized backpack each. But then we left the UK with extra stuff, arrived in Zagreb to pick up our bags from a friend and realised we had more stuff than space. Yup, we’re THOSE travellers.
NOMINEES
Double check the map/destination input
One rather hot afternoon in May, we decided to go to the Paneriai (Ponary) Memorial (mentioned above). It’s fairly straight forward to get to; Jeremy checked the map and we were off!
After about 20 minutes of walking along a highway in the blazing heat with midges doing suicide dives into my eyes, I growled at Jeremy, exasperated, “Let me see the bloody map!”
You see, I trust Jeremy when it comes to the maps because for some reason I can’t find my way out of a paper bag if tasked with doing so via an online map. Physical map, no problem. Online map, might as well be Cuneiform.
However, it turned out that Jeremy had put the incorrect Ponary into Google Maps. We were heading to the town 2 miles away rather than the memorial site, a ten minute walk way… in the opposite direction.
Lesson learned: always double check what you input on the map. And if you’re pretty sure it’s not half an hour away along the highway… it probably isn’t.
Get out of the Tourist Bubble
Despite writing entirely about street art, getting off the beaten path and dark tourism (which is normally not on the average tourist’s radar, aside from a few notable exceptions), we still often find ourselves stuck in the tourist bubble and oddly miserable. Except we can’t seem to comprehend why we’re so miserable until we take a step back and realise it’s because we’re doing all the things we hate doing. Sometimes it isn’t that we’re going to popular sites, but just wandering around a particularly touristy area.
In this case, as soon as we leave the touristy part of a city, we normally feel instant relief.
If you’re like us and you feel incomprehensibly anxious on holiday, try walking to a different area of the city and see if that helps. Alternatively, head to a quiet park or coffee shop.
Check Public Holidays
It’s embarrassing how often I do this. I have been to Warsaw TWICE over Easter… on accident. For the record, NOTHING is open on Easter in Poland. Except the churches, which admittedly are fun to see on Easter, but yeah, hope you weren’t hungry!
We also wound up in Latvia during Labour Day, during which most things are shut. And most egregiously, not long after arriving in Zagreb it turned out to be a four day weekend during which almost everything was closed and we did not have food. We managed to get to the shop just in time thanks to our friend reminding us.
WINNER
You don’t NEED to see EVERYTHING
As I have mentioned several times, we got burnt out AF last year.
The reason? Because we kept trying to shove in WAY too many things in short periods of time. Which goes against my entire travel ethos. I was all about slow travel before it became a trend.
I do not care about popular sites. If I don’t see a single one, it will not ruin my holiday. No regrets here about missing the Great Wall while I was in Beijing. Or Westminster in London. And so many more.
I’m not here to shame people who like those places, that’s fine. But I don’t, and there are very few that made an impact and stayed with me over the years. Normally I remember the weird, offbeat stuff. Obviously. And that’s what I prioritise.
But I also don’t care if I go on holiday and spend the entire time hanging out in coffee shops or playing pinball. And somewhere along the line last year, I forgot that, and instead tried to cram all our trips full of things that MIGHT be popular on the blog.
It was a bad idea and it made us exhausted. We had to stop and talk about travel fatigue and question what the fuck we were doing THREE times before it sunk in.
Favourite Macabre Books of the Year
I read a lot of amazing books last year. I read a few not so great books, but over the last few years I have decided that if I’m not at least mildly enjoying a book… I just won’t finish. There are too many books in the world to get hung up reading the bad ones. Anyway, the point is, I read some fantastic books and narrowing down this list to just ten was HARD. I truly love and endorse every single one of these books.
Except the one I let Jeremy add in to, you know, be fair. But only cause I haven’t read it. I’m sure it’s excellent.
It is.
As a side note, there are a surprising amount of short story collections on here, which is odd, cause I tend not to like short story collections. I also realised while putting this together that I did not read many non-fiction books last year and clearly most of the ones I did read were not standout additions.
So here are 11 books I can’t stop talking about (two of which we read together), and one that Jeremy recommends (he doesn’t read as many books that centre around the macabre as I do, so this is the only one he felt applied).
Not surprisingly, most of what I read does have macabre elements. From epic sagas centered around all the tragic events in a country’s history to books that take place in prisons to dystopian nightmares, I pretty much cover the gambit. Except war-time love stories – those really aren’t my thing.
If you’re interested in adding more macabre material from around the world to your reading list, then read on. If you aren’t, well… SKIP!
NOMINEES
The Island of the Sea Women – Lisa See
I went on a bit of a South Korea binge last year (and I won’t lie, I’ve already read a few this year, too). I’m not entirely sure why, but it felt like once I started I just couldn’t stop. The Island of the Sea Women was one of the last books I read in 2019, but definitely one of the most memorable.
The Island of the Sea Women tells the story of Young-sook, a haenyeo (sea diver) on Jeju Island during the Japanese occupation of Korea. It follows her life as she navigates love and loss during the major events of the 20th century. For some reason I’ve never been interested in Lisa See’s books, but her beautiful descriptions of life on Jeju Island – and of the food, even though 99% of it I can’t eat – made the world come alive and now I want to go check out some of her other books… when I have time.
Another book I really enjoyed that felt similar in scope and popularity (but ultimately I just liked this one a bit more) was Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.
The Investigation – Jung-Myung Lee (translated by Chi-Young Kim)
Another Korean addition, this time by a Korean author. The Investigation is set in Fukuoka Prison at the end of WWII amidst a murder investigation. A guard, Sugiyama Dozan, is murdered and Watanabe Yuichi, a younger, less experienced guard at the prison is tasked with investigating his murder. As he does so, he discovers secrets about the prison, Sugiyama and the prisoners. And in the middle of it all is the [fictionalised] unfolding of the [real] poet Yun Dong-ju’s final year of life.
Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany – Hans J. Massaquoi
I have read a lot of Holocaust fiction and non-fiction over the years. And at this point, I am rarely impressed or impacted by books on the topic. But I keep reading them, and Destined to Witness is a good example of why I keep searching out Holocaust narratives, because this book absolutely blew me away.
Destined to Witness is Massaquoi’s memoir about his life as a Black boy living in Germany during the lead up to the war, throughout WWII and following the war, as well as his subsequent life in Liberia. Truly all there is to say about this book is that it is so good and everyone should read it right now. Even if you don’t think you like Holocaust stories, this book is so much more than that and it will totally change your perspective on life, the war and humanity.
A book I intend to read in 2020 that explores similar themes is: My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family’s Nazi Past by Jennifer Teege. Her grandfather was Amon Göth, the sadistic commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp.
RELATED: Best Books About Racism
Who Fears Death – Nnedi Okorafor
Do you love post apocalyptic dystopias with a bit of mysticism and magic thrown in? Well do I have the book for you. Who Fears Death covers so much ground, I don’t even know where to start. It’s a lyrical examination of gender, sexuality, race, friendship, love, destiny… If you can think of a theme, this book probably covers it, yet it never feels bogged down or preachy. I got completely swept up in Who Fears Death and couldn’t put it down. Definitely a highlight from last year, and one I want more people to read so I can talk about it, especially as it’s getting turned into an HBO show.
Honestly, the more time I spend away from this book, the more I love it and I’ll be diving into the rest of Nnedi Okorafor’s back catalogue in 2020 and maybe even doing a reread of Who Fears Death which is something I NEVER do. This for me was probably the main contender for best book of 2019.
When I hear the title Who Fears Death, I imagine instead a crime novel about a serial killer who leaves horse and cow feet on people’s ears. But that’s just me. If you don’t hear it, say it out loud, quickly.
Leaving Atlanta – Tayari Jones
I love the way Tayari Jones writes. After devouring her book Silver Sparrow (a favourite in 2017), I was eager to pick up Leaving Atlanta and it did not disappoint.
Leaving Atlanta tells the story of three Black kids during the summer of 1979 amidst the panic of the Atlanta child murders. Jones herself grew up in Atlanta and though the book is not a memoir, she was a young child when it happened and said the book partially reflected her own experiences. While I didn’t connect with all the characters, I still adored this book, and parts of it broke my heart and stayed with me long after it was done.
The Book of Dead Birds – Gayle Brandeis
Honestly, I’m not really sure most people will like this book, but I could be wrong. I’m a bit of a sucker for books with a complicated mother-daughter relationship at their centre.
The Book of Dead Birds is split into two timelines. The first is that of the present, which tells the story of Ava Sing Lo, a half-Korean, half-Black 20-something American. The second unravels her mother’s life in Korea where she was tricked into being a juicy girl (a prostitute) on an American army base and how she wound up in the US.
Neither mother or daughter really understands each other, a chasm that is made worse by the fact that Ava has been unintentionally killing her mother’s birds since she was a small child. When she hears about an environmental crisis responsible for killing the birds in the Salton Sea, Ava packs up her life and heads there to volunteer.
On a similar vein, I also read and enjoyed Comfort Woman by Nora Okja Keller, which examines the relationship of a Korean mother and Korean-American daughter who don’t fully understand each other. Likewise, there is a backstory related to sexual abuse, namely being a comfort woman during WWII. This one was also excellent, arguably it’s actually a better book, but ultimately I thought the weird-ass bird story in The Book of Dead Birds was more compelling.
DOOM 94 – Jānis Joņevs (translated by Kaija Straumanis)
Okay so this book is totally cheating because it isn’t REALLY about the macabre unless you consider high school macabre, which… yeah, that’s definitely up for debate. Still, I loved this book, so I couldn’t not include it.
Doom 94 is a coming-of-age story about Joņevs, a Latvian teenager living in the town of Jelgava in the early 90s. Joņevs and his friends crave individualism and turn to heavy metal music to express themselves and their frustrations with the world, as teenagers do. There are a lot of music references – specifically to metal, punk and grunge bands – which was my cup of tea as a teenager. And while I was not a teenager in the 1990s, I could still relate to a lot of it, and so I loved it. If you like this kind of music, read it. If you don’t, maybe don’t prioritise it.
Since I did say this was a macabre reading list, it does take place shortly after the collapse of the soviet union as Latvia regained its independence, so the effect of that and the shift in perspectives does play a role in the book and its characters.
Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits – Laila Lalami
This is the second of Lalami’s books I’ve read and I definitely intend to read her others. Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits is technically a short story collection. It tells the story of four different Moroccans trying to sail to Europe illegally on a boat. Each character gets a chapter before and after which examine their impetus for making the treacherous journey and how they fared.
It isn’t the darkest book on this list by any means, but it highlights an important issue in our world today – one that has fatal outcomes for many.
Another excellent book I read about the plight of immigrants (this time in the USA) was Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue. I also highly recommend this one. I went with Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits for this list cause it felt a bit more on the macabre spectrum.
There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby: Scary Fairy Tales – Ludmilla Petrushevskaya (translated by Keith Gessen and Anna Summers)
Oddly enough, There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby: Scary Fairy Tales is Jeremy’s 1/2 contribution. It made it to my top 15, but when it came time to pick a top ten, I was on the fence. But Jeremy absolutely loved this book, so I pushed it up a few spots and I’m fine with that because honestly, this book is fantastic. Dark, creepy fairytales about Soviet Russia? Yes, please!
Perdido Street Station – China Miéville
Yeah, I didn’t read this one, but felt Jeremy deserved to add SOMETHING to the list, and here is pretty much the only macabre book Jeremy read of his own volition last year.
I honestly had no idea what to expect going in to Perdido Street Station. I knew it would have elements of science fiction, and that I would enjoy the writing style based on having read The City & The City, another of Miéville’s novels.
As I read through the chapters, discovering the protagonists and the world they lived in, I was introduced to more and more concepts that would have defined the entirety of other books – insect-humanoids and bird people, steampunk technology, genetic manipulation, and elements of magic to name a few.
But as each new element was introduced, things that would not be out of place in the short stories of Philip K. Dick or H.P. Lovecraft, I started to wonder: is this book a fantasy, or is it actually horror? And then I got to a certain point and oh boy yes is it a horror novel.
Events transpired that made me shiver internally, and things happened to people that I almost didn’t want to visualise. But I found the characters relatable, and the world-building highly creative, and most importantly, I wanted to know how it ended. It’s not for the sensitive, and there’s a lot going on, but if you like modern science fiction with a good dose of darkness, this could be the novel for you.
WINNER
The Tsar of Love and Techno – Anthony Marra
I debated whether or not to choose an official favourite book. However, this marvelous book, which instantly became one of my all time favourites, was one that we read together and so it seemed fitting to make it my number one. Plus it’s just that good.
I actually did not expect to like this book, but from the opening story, I was hooked. I messaged one of my friends and gushed about how amazing it was – after one story! The Tsar of Love and Techno is a masterfully written, interwoven short story collection that centers around characters who are all somehow connected – some tenuously, some directly – all trying to survive in 20th century Russia. Read it, you won’t regret it (and if you do, please don’t tell me).
RELATED: Incredible Non-Fiction Books on Survival
Best Overall City
Nominees
Sheffield, UK
Sheffield was a city that I knew very little about, despite having grown up within seventy miles of it. Having now finally spent some time there, I lament the fact that it took until this last year for me to fully appreciate it.
There’s a lot of variation in environment in Sheffield. In the city centre there are lines of shopfronts, tower blocks, bus shelters and old government buildings. Further out there are streets of terraced houses, which blend into long, tree-lined roads reminiscent of boulevards, with detached and semi-detached properties with hand-painted garden gates. There are churches old and new, one or two parks, and an abundance of street art.
I found a lot more than I was expecting to find while we were there, and that’s why it’s on this list.
To be fair, a few of my friends who went to uni there several years ago were shocked when we said we liked it, so maybe it was just as well we didn’t visit until last year.
Krakow, Poland
The city of Krakow features a few times in this year’s COTAs, so it’s no surprise that it made the shortlist for Best Overall City this year. Even our worst food disappointment of 2019 can’t bring Krakow down in our esteem! Especially as it’s balanced out by one of our best.
Krakow has character, and more than its fair share of dark tourism sites, which adds to it’s rich history. And it has a cat café, which we went to on my birthday. That detail should not be seen as my main reason for putting Krakow on this list, but more as the cherry on top of what is a very pleasant and metropolitan city-cake.
He also got two giant cupcakes for his birthday, so it definitely wasn’t just the cats…
RELATED: Exploring WWII in Krakow: Museums & Memorials You Shouldn’t Miss
Riga, Latvia
It took a second try for us to properly enjoy Riga. I think it’s perhaps because the first time we visited in the winter, and couldn’t properly enjoy the numerous parks that are scattered across the city. Maybe it was only once we’d returned in warmer weather that we noticed just how much green space there is there. Because there’s a LOT.
Riga is also rich in both dark and alternative tourism, with many comprehensive museums dedicated to enough topics to interest almost anyone in something. It has a beautiful historic old town, an equally attractive art nouveau district, and our best day trip of 2019 came from there. All in all, Riga is an excellent place to spend your time.
Our second trip to Riga was also quite memorable because we met up with Christine of The Uncorked Librarian and her husband since she was having a Baltics birthday bash!
Zagreb, Croatia
For me, Zagreb is the ultimate café city. A place where you just head out to a café or bar and park yourself up with a good book for the day (especially at Mr Fogg – one of our previous Cafés of the Month).
I wish there was less smoking indoors, though…
However, if that’s not your cup of tea (haha) there’s also the enormous Maksimir Park to go get lost in, or the Nikola Tesla Technical Museum (did you know he was born in Croatia?), or the Museum of Broken Relationships, ride the furnicular, or you could just ride around on the many trams looking at all the street art. The choice is yours! But make sure to spend a lot of time hanging out in cafés – it’s the Croatian way.
RELATED: Learning to Relax Through Coffee Culture in Zagreb
Winner
Tangier, Morocco
Sometimes a place just has something. A feeling, a vibe, something that chimes with you almost subconsciously and makes you feel at ease, or like you belong there. Tangier had that for both of us.
By far the most enjoyable city in Morocco to wander around in and explore, Tangier also contains our favourite place to stay from the last year, one of our favourite restaurants, and a reasonable amount of street art. Add to that the fact that it’s quite picturesque, it’s cheap and easy to get around on the public transport, and that the people are relaxed and friendly, and you’ve got our favourite overall city for 2019. Congratulations Tangier, we love you!
Did you enjoy our 2019 COTAs? How was your 2019? Do you have any recommendations for us in 2020? Let us know in the comments below!
