Blog | Books And Travel

13 Unusual Things To See In New York City

New York might be most famous for Wall Street, Broadway, the Statue of Liberty, and being a multi-cultural melting pot, but the city also has its stranger side.

Abandoned subway lines, marble cemeteries, mass graves, and a cheese house are just some of the weirdest examples. It seemed a logical place to set One Day in New York where ARKANE agent Jake Timber joins the hunt for a secret buried under the city.

If you’d like your trip to be a little darker, a little more ‘ARKANE’, then pay a visit to some of these weird and wonderful locations.

14 Unusual Things To See In Prague

Unusual Places

If you’re planning a trip to Prague, you might think first of the Christmas markets, the fascinating mix of architecture and its celebrated café culture (plus cheap beer!).

But the city has so much more to offer the intrepid traveler with a taste for the arcane and unusual. Here are 14 of the more offbeat things to see in Prague.

1. Sedlec Ossuary

This jaw-dropping ‘bone church’ lies an hour’s train ride to the east of Prague, in Kutná Hora. It’s well worth the trip for the incredible sculptures made from skulls and the intricate chandelier.

Sedlec Ossuary, Kutna Hora. Photo by JFPenn

Overcrowding in Sedlec cemetery forced the authorities to move bodies into a crypt to make space. In 1870, woodcarver František Rint took on the task of organizing jumbled skeletons. He turned them into the famous artistic arrangement visible today. You can even spot his name spelled in bones on the wall.

Its stunning chandelier plays a key role in the climax of Crypt of Bone, which was inspired by the Ossuary.

Berlin: Dark History And Modern Art with Rebecca Cantrell

Unusual Places

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Berlin is a modern city with vibrant street art, a growing tech scene and world-renowned museums and galleries — but it also has the dark history of the Nazi Third Reich and the Berlin Wall. In today’s episode, American thriller author Rebecca Cantrell talks about her love of the city and how it features in her historical mysteries.

In the intro, I mention my own trip to the city when I visited the murals on the ruins of the Berlin Wall, and the Ishtar Gate at the Pergamon Museum, once an entrance to the ancient city of Babylon, erected by King Nebuchadnezzar in 575 BCE, and now in full splendor in Berlin.

Rebecca Cantrell is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning thriller and mystery author. Her books include the supernatural Sanguine series co-written with James Rollins, the Joe Tesla technothrillers, and the Malibu Mysteries co-written with Sean Black. Today we’re talking about Berlin, the setting for her Hannah Vogel historical crime thrillers.

How Rebecca fell in love with Berlin as a young American from Alaska
Where the past and present collide in modern Berlin — Nazi Germany and the Berlin Wall
Street art, murals and modern, arty Berlin
Fascinating museums
Recommended food
Books about the history of Berlin
Why Becky loves to travel

Find Becky at www.RebeccaCantrell.com or on Twitter @rebeccacantrell

12 Unusual Things To See In Vienna

Unusual Places

Vienna is popularly known as das Schöne Wien (Beautiful Vienna). It might not strike you as a weird or Gothic destination since the city gave us the Viennese waltz, the Viennese whirl and of course, that catchy 1980s pop song by Ultravox.

But Vienna’s fascination for death and the macabre makes it one of the most Gothic cities in Europe. And as the former home of Sigmund Freud, it enjoys its fair share of weird.

If cemeteries, crime museums, and anatomy centers are your idea of top tourist sites, then Vienna is the city for you.

Let’s check out 12 unusual things you must see in the Austrian capital.

5 Cool Things For Book Lovers To Do In Edinburgh

Unusual Places

Most cities are good destinations for book lovers. Take a novel to your nearest cafe and enjoy! But what if you’d rather soak in the sights while doing something literary? Edinburgh offers an array of things for bibliophiles to do.

It’s not surprising. In 2004, Edinburgh became the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature. The city also plays host to the Edinburgh International Book Festival. That’s before you even consider the creativity on display in the annual Fringe.

Interior of St Giles church, Edinburgh. Licensed from BigStockPhoto

Some fantastic characters also call Edinburgh home. Look at Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus or the cast of Trainspotting and Outlander. You’ll spot plenty of locations from your favorite novels or cinema adaptations.

Let’s look at five cool things for book lovers to do in Edinburgh!

Oxford: Decadence, Discipline And Dreaming Spires With J.F.Penn

Travel Memoir

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I sat there on my first morning in class, heart pounding, as I realized there was no way I could keep up with the work. I would fail here. I would have to leave Oxford almost as soon as I had arrived …

That was day one at Oxford and I’ll finish that story during this episode because, of course, I did find a way to stay on.

Thriller author J.F.Penn by the Bridge of Sighs, Oxford. Photo by Mim Saxl

I studied Theology at Mansfield College, University of Oxford, 1994-1997 and those years had a huge effect on the rest of my life. In this episode, I’ll talk about some of my experiences of the city, my lessons learned, and give some recommendations for where to visit if you travel to the city of dreaming spires as well as some books to read along the way.

The dream and the myth of Oxford
Don’t play by the rules. Play your own game.
Discovering the reality of class and hierarchy within a hierarchy
What do you really want?
Losing my religion but not my spirituality
Always be learning
Decadence and discipline
Recommended books featuring Oxford