We've lived here for going on three years now, we no longer need to use the GPS when we're going places most of the time because the coordinate systems here are pretty easy, even over long distances.
We've been to most of the tourist places and always have fun telling other about them.
We feel the frustration every year when the Indians swoon in June and fall out of playoff contention. We get angry every year the Browns fumble on their quarterback free agency and draft choices (and coach....tight ends...receivers....) and the Cavaliers are coming back strong (but we hate basketball).
The winters are six months long, but he payoff for that is a long autumn and lots of greenery that we love. The summers average 80ish degrees; perfect!
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| The Cleveland West Side Market |
Now that the whole place is not new I find myself playing the game of "Why is that important?". Basically when there is news about something, I research it a little and find out why people that were born and raised in Cleveland care about whatever the subject is. I learn the history and it is nice to know for social situations when talking with the locals, plus I have a lot of time on my hands. Anyway...when I do the research, I always find offshoot things that catch my attention. Just like being on the internet, but this usually involves the awesome public library system more than the internet because
Recently there was a fire in the Westside Market. We go there a few times a year. I could go on and on about the market itself. It is a foodies paradise, here are some key points:
-The market has few peers in the US or elsewhere in the world, because of the Hungarian and Polish influences in the city- it still sells 900 pounds of head cheese a week - from a single meat vendor, and there are literally dozens of meat vendors alone.
- There are sausages that most people have never heard of, bakeries with new and exciting things (blood pastries, anyone?) rare cheese vendors and ethnic everything.
-If a Food Network mecca. The editors of Bon Apetit, Gourmet and every other food mag have all made pilgrimages and visits to the place. Bourdain said it rivaled only Paris as far as outstanding markets go.
-It has a gyro shop that has been ranked the best in the country- since the rankings have been given in 1986-by a Greek American magazine out of New York.
-Stalls two blocks long of vegetables, much of it local in the late summer.
And on and on. On any morning you will see executive chefs in their white coats there for the best restaurants in town choosing fresh ingredients for the day, right alongside a polish grandmother allowing the vendors to select the best they have to offer for them and their families.
So there was a fire there that shut that place down for a week or two. I walked by it going to drink beers with friends nearby, and it was sad to see it empty and a little sooty. Workers rushed in to clean it, but a lot of the inventories that were exposed to the (hazardous) electrical fire smoke had to be destroyed.
Now it has opened again, and in an effort to help the vendors that may have lost not only sales for the time it was closed, but also lost a lot of inventory, the vendors and stall owners were greeted on opening day with several organized "cash mobs" of customers that helped to put them back on their feet.
So, To answer "Why is that Important?" Well, the market is a national treasure, but the people were what was important.
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