Happy
St. Patrick’s Day! While we didn’t make it to Greenville’s annual parade this
year (see pictures from last year’s fun here), we did head downtown to check
out the Falls Park fountains, which are once again dyed green for the holiday that
honors Irish heritage and celebrates the life and service of St. Patrick. Did
you know that St. Patrick wasn’t Irish (his parents were Roman citizens living
in modern day England), his color was blue (not green) and the harp, not the
shamrock is the symbol of Ireland? I thought it was interesting that the
holiday originated in the US, with Irish immigrants who wanted to reconnect
with their Irish roots. However in lieu of the corned beef and cabbage we’ll be
bringing in some clover to adorn the table and celebrating that the Chicago River thawed enough to be dyed green this past Saturday.
Things
are getting back into schedule after a hectic week that included my mother
visiting from Chicago and Roberts gone on a business trip. By now we’ve shown her
all the typical Greenville sites and can concentrate on new places. It was such
an exploration that brought us to Greenville’s latest used bookstore, Joe’s Place. Greenville is long overdue for a bookstore downtown, and the South Main location
just across from Falls Park seems perfect. They’ve done a good job with the
atmosphere as well, providing cozy corners to sit down with a book and cup of
coffee or glass of wine from the wine bar. I had been looking forward to a
bookstore opening downtown, as rumors of a M. Judson, a store to sell new books,
have been circulating for quite some time. We enjoyed the children’s section in
the back, but did notice that the selection throughout seemed a bit slim.
Hopefully this is due to being bought out during the opening weekend sale, because I
look forward to having not just one, but two bookstores downtown. Although they
don’t have the variety or quantity that Mr. K’s or some of the other Greenville
used book vendors have, they do have a prime location and a very cool concept - the wine bar, gourmet coffee and local art.
Another
discovery was the newest addition to the European food scene in Spartanburg,
European Market. Please add it to the list of grocery stores in the Upstate that
carry hard-to-find foods from almost every single country in Europe (the original
list is here). We picked up a variety of items including farmer’s cheese (the
dry curd variety perfect for making Jāņu siers and biezpienu
bumbiņas), black currant tea, raspberry syrup, Rīga sprats, smilšu riekstiņi from Vecais beķeris in Latvia (perfect with your morning coffee!),
chocolate Kārumiņi for our little sweet
tooths waiting at home, and a variety of mustards and jams. I’ll be back,
definitely for the smoked fish (I have yet to find a store in Greenville that
sells it) and to stock up before the Latvian holidays!
On the subject of new businesses in the Upstate, a few
months ago I wrote
a quick review of the new restaurant that opened up in our neighborhood,
Independent Public Alehouse. For those in Greenville who would like to give it
a shot (and you should!), now is the perfect time as there is a living social
deal of $15 for $30 to spend on dinner. Click here for the link.
“Here's
to a long life and many more. a quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and
an honest one. A cold beer – and another one!” - a St. Patrick's Day Toast
Sakārdināji ar tiem sieriņiem!:)
ReplyDeleteMan jau liekas, ka tā arī neviens īsti nezina, kas tas tāds St Patrick ir un kas šodien jāsvin, galvenais, ka krogi ir pilni, kad nācu mājās no darba. Visi svin. Bet ko? Pagājušo gadu mēģināju noskaidrot- labākā atbilde bija: mēs šajā dienā ejam uz krogiem un dzeram. Cheers! :)
Mmm, the European Market looks wonderful. I have to stay away from those types of places, though, as I usually just end up buying lots of sweets! [Neesmu nekad dzirdejusi par smilsu riekstiniem - izklausas gardi, bet man ari aizdomas, ka es tos nevaretu est - ka jau ar daudziem LV gardumiem. Loti priecajos lasit, ka Riga pirms paris menesim atveras pirma bez glutena bekereja! Izpetisu, kad brauksu maija. :)]
ReplyDeleteWith the European market I'm now ready to come back! I love the picture of the green fountain.
ReplyDelete