On the road

Best of 2023: Our Favourites This Year

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:

  • 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.

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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