St. George Goes to Market

Queen's University

On our first Saturday in Belfast, Doug and his wife Elaine drove us all down to the City Centre to introduce us to St. George’s Market, an indoor variation of a farmer’s market.  It’s filled to the brim with stalls selling fish, hummus, cupcakes, scones, coffee, tea, paella, curry, scarves, and handmade jewelry.  Doug and Elaine left us there to wander, and I quickly found a stall that sold fruit scones for 60p and another stall that offered Americanos with unlimited refills.  The woman who owned the coffee stall was very excited when she heard our accents—but was promptly disappointed when she learned that none of us are Canadian.  Apparently, it was her recent holiday in Canada that inspired her idea for “bottomless” Americanos.

Canada 1, America 0.

After we had finished looking around the market, the Dream Team headed out to see what else Belfast has to offer.  I’m happy to say that we found a lovely secondhand bookshop and the even lovelier buildings belonging to Queen’s University.  We also spent some quality time in the nearby Botanic Gardens and the Ulster Museum.  We finished off the afternoon with a meal at Boojum’s, a Mexican restaurant close to the university.

Now, I have to admit that there were two things that I desperately missed when I last travelled in Britain: pancakes and all Mexican food in general.  I am happy to say that I have found pre-made, plastic-wrapped pancakes at my local grocery store (although I haven’t yet had the courage to try them) and that Boojum’s makes burritos as big as my face.

It’s going to be a good year.