My first stop was John Carroll University, where my friend Katie studies biology. The campus was small but pretty, with a gothic-looking admissions building and a brand-new, green quad in the middle of campus. I stayed at her house, which a steal for the amount of space she gets, with her and a few of her friends that were also crashing there. She showed me around campus then we ventured into a different part of town for lunch. Iron Chef Michael Simon just opened a burger place, where I got a spicy pulled pork burger that was TO DIE FOR! Paired with a burbon beer that left a mild aftertaste like Jack Daniels, it was a meal made in heaven.
But the best part of the day came when we went to explore the West Side Market, a giant version of a farmers market that sells cuisine and ingredients from all over the world. It was like a flashback to Barcelona, Spain, the set up and atmosphere were exactly the same. Inside there were butchers, bakers, organic foodists and vendors all calling out prices and displaying their delicious looking goods. Outside there was a covered fresh-fruit market, where I tried something new and purchased some papaya. The texture was a little weird and it was a bit melony for my taste, but when we mixed it with yogurt strawberries and a little soy milk, it made a fantastic smoothy! What I liked most was the food from all over the world: Indian, Mexican, Polish, German...almost any place you could possibly think of.
Outside the West End Market there was a small flea-market with a Carribean feel, different vendors selling rastafarian looking clothing and jewelry filled with color and style. There were steel drums plinking away in the background and a island beat echoing over a stone courtyard with colorful tiles lining the pillars. It was a fascinating place to sit and have a cup of coffee and just absorb everything.
The market itself is nestled in a rather diverse part of town, Ohio City, surrounded by Hungarian bakeries, Greek restaurants and a smaller global market that has packaged goods and foreign beers and wines. To get there, we drove across a really pretty bridge with massive Roman-looking pilars at either entry way, looking as if they were gaurding the bride, which offered a pretty amazing view of Cleveland.
After my little taste of Europe downtown, we drove back cooked a delicious chicken parmesan dinner and hung out with Katie's roommate and friends. Later in the evening we made a mandatory dessert stop at the cheesecake factory, where we sampled, okay demolished, two decadent chocolatey and peanut-buttery cheesecakes washed down with a little Irish coffee. Despite nearly falling into a toxic sugar coma, we headed out for a few drinks in the Conventry area. It was a fanstic and fun getaway that eased my nerves and gave me a little break from my desk job...although yesterday I caught myself looking at plane tickets to random destinations. What to do to shake this feeling...
