As a way to cap off the year, we thought we’d conduct a highly scientific survey and report back to you the best of the best of 2023: what we loved seeing, doing, and eating this year!
Food
Yes, of course food goes first! We ate a lot this year, and well. Here are some of the most memorable experiences:
- Favourite restaurants: Trattoriola da Luca and Pesci Fritti in Rome, L. Mulligan, Grocer in Dublin, Octopussy in Howth. Honorable mention to Vuk in Belgrade.
- Favourite bar: Mirror Bar in the Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel Bratislava
- Favourite coffee shop: Patisserie by Wine House in Kotor.
- Best markets, indoor and outdoor: Nuovo Mercato Esquilino in Rome and Naschmarkt in Vienna. Honorable mention to Baščaršija in Sarajevo.
- Best fish extravaganza: fish meze in Limassol.
- Best breakfast: coffee and chocolate cornetto in Regoli Pasticceria, Rome.
- Best afternoon experience: tea and scones at Avoca in Dublin.
- Best drink: Aperol Spritz (sunshine in a glass!)
- Best nachos: a tough competition. But – oddly enough – the nachos at U Sabor in Mindelo win!
Culture and Sightseeing
- Favourite museum: Chester Beatty Library, Dublin
- Favourite place of worship: Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, mainly because it’s where Bernini’s Saint Theresa in Ecstasy resides.
- Favourite city view: Kalmedgan Fortress in Belgrade.
- Favourite live music experience: morna in Mindelo. Honorable mention to the Vienna State Opera House
- Favourite tour: we didn’t do a ton of these, but the Troubles Tour in Belfast was spectacular (if sombre).
- Favourite archaeological site: Kourion in Cyprus. Very close second: Ostia in Rome.
- Best booze-related experience: Pearse Lyons Distillery, Dublin
- Best annual event: tie between carnaval in Mindelo and Easter mass at the Vatican (we skewed Catholic this year!)
- Best walking city: Paris.
- Biggest surprise: how much we liked Bratislava.
Daily Life and Experiences
- Favourite view (from the window): Kotor, Montenegro. Honorable mention to Cape Verde.
- Favourite airport hotel: Star Inn Lisbon Airport. We haven’t talked about this place much, but it has everything a traveler could want!
- Favourite vacation (don’t laugh – we need vacations too!): Kinsale, Ireland.
- Best new experience: watching a hurling match (John); sailing (Laurel)
- Best hosts: Kotor.
- Best apartment: Mindelo.
So there’s our Best of 2023! We hope you enjoyed the year as much as we did. And we wish everyone a happy and healthy 2024.
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