I have written about my predilection for falling down rabbit holes before – see Chiatura, Georgia, what remains one of the highlights of David and my trip to the South Caucasus last winter. I fall down them all the time, so I thought it could be fun to keep track of my brain’s eccentric wanderings in the universe of travel. Especially now that I’m attempting to devote more time to working on this blog, I am becoming aware of more things to wrap my mind around than ever before. SO, here goes:
- Hungarian Seccesionist Architecture, Subotica, Serbia
A style of art nouveau originating in Hungary that supposedly incorporates traditional Hungarian architectural elements, I am captivated by the curved lines and bold colors present in buildings of this style. Other influences are said to be Indian and Syrian architecture. And while I find the style in its entirety interesting, I find the examples of it in Subotica, Serbia the most magnetic – actually named one of the New York Times’ 52 places to go in 2014 (not because of the architecture, but because of wine) – more than those in Hungary itself. There isn’t a lot of bloggerly work on Subotica out there, but Kami at Kami and the Rest of the World wrote a great piece on Subotica here.
- Urbex in Mostar and Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
It’s practically right in the title that I am a fan of abandoned concrete/industrial things, and it’s no secret that there’s a lot of that kind of stuff to see in Tito’s old stomping grounds. Sarajevo and Mostar, the two most visited cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, have some great abandoned buildings ripe for exploring – Mostar’s former Ljubljanska Bank Tower, used as a sniper’s den in the war from 1992 and 1993, and Sarajevo’s Olympic Bobsled Track are two places I’m aching to get to. Yomadic’s written a couple great vignettes on both, which can be found here and here.
- Outdoorsy crap in Saaremaa Island, Estonia
David and I will be visiting Estonia on our honeymoon next month – in fact, it’s where we’ll be starting a pretty epic road trip that will take us all the way from Tallinn to Vilnius, where we’ll be hopping a plane to Malta for a week of trail running. I have to admit, I’m not as prepared for this trip as I’d like to be – I’m only about ankle deep in language learning, and only for Estonian at that. But Saaremaa definitely looks like it will be a magical place. From the old churches (we know I have a tendency to over-commit when it comes to religious architecture) to the fact that it was a Soviet restricted zone to foreigners and even most mainland Estonians until 1989, everything I learn about it makes it appear to be right up our alley. Plus we’ll be camping right on the beach, which is always a treat. Right near the island is also the town of Haapsalu, which appears to have a really pretty city wall, and Ungru Mois, an abandoned manor house.
And NO, I did not write this after seeing the article in NY Times Travel on Padaste Manor on Muhu Island – I am merely on the pulse of emerging travel destinations. Or whatever.
- Chefchaouen, Morocco
I toyed around with the idea of spending a week in Morocco over the President’s Day holiday in February 2016, but ultimately decided that a week wasn’t enough to see everything I’d like to. Chefchaouen is, based on photographs alone, what excites me most about Morocco. The town is painted, head to toe, in various shades of blue – it makes for some serious visual stimuli. It’s also smaller than the main cities of Fez, Marrakech, Casablanca, and Rabat – making it a bit easier to navigate. Located in the north of the country, it’s a stone’s throw from Tangier, the historical expat hotspot that was home to Paul Bowles and William Burroughs.
- Kyrgyz Cemeteries
Here’s an obscure one. I have been keen on visiting Central Asia since I was a little kid, and have come pretty close to it in previous travels (proximity-wise) – making it all the way to Mongolia in an approach from the East, and to Georgia from the west. For our first trip to the area, I am hoping to be able to travel overland from Almaty to Dushanbe via Bishkek, Osh, and the Pamir Highway. What initially excited me most about this trip was the Wakhan Corridor – but ever since getting my hands on a copy of “Cities of the Dead: The Ancestral Cemeteries of Kyrgyzstan,” I have been DYING (not literally, of course) to wander around one of these fascinating places. Truth be told, this would likely prove rather difficult, as local superstition dictates avoidance of cemeteries after burial – but I’m sure I’ll be able to find a way. That trip is – hopefully – slated for September of 2016, or whenever my Asiana Airlines status will allow me to book us some cheap tickets from Seattle to Almaty via Incheon.
Well, there’s my list of current travel obsessions – what’s got your feet itching lately?
