St George's Market in Belfast

would love to add more images - Blogger is a bitch today

I've been in Belfast for almost 2 weeks now, and so far the Emerald Isle and this cute city have been treating me well - I found a dinky room just off a trendy street with millions of cafes (one of them a Korean one!), restaurants, vintage clothing and second hand book shops, just a 10 minute walk from the city centre.

The weather has been glorious, people here are insanely nice (and surprised I decided to come to the North)... and, while food shopping is not quite the same as in London, there is one thing that makes up for it: St George's Market.

St George's is an old Victorian market hall, and after a lot of restauration, it functions as a wonderful, colourful, varied and surprisingly cheap market from Friday to Sunday each week. Every day is a little different - Friday, there's food and a flea market, Saturday the focus is on food, with live Irish music, and Sunday is a mix of both.

Now, I this might not seem all this special. I know that for some reason, Americans and Australians think all European markets are like this - and I can assure you, they are not. From spending a lot of time on markets in Germany, England, France and Switzerland I can tell you that most of the time, the markets are overpriced and the produce not really good.

Not so at St George's - I had planned to go fully vegetarian again as soon as I settle a little, but with fish that fresh and cheap (and really fun guys selling it), I can't see myself not eating it.

There are also always a lot of stalls at St George's that offer food that's already cooked - cakes and cupcakes, fresh Indian food, tapas and much more.

While most European markets seem quite sterile and mainly for the elderly and well-off, St George's is a lively place, that actually reminds me of the vibrant markets of South East Asia in many ways.  I can see myself spending a lot of time (and money) here and I think everyone visiting Belfast should visit this beautiful place!