Saturday Market

So I've been quite lax on blog posting but here is one about seriously one of the coolest things in Galway:

St Nicholas Market - Saturday

Alrighty, well we all know one of my favorite things is craft fairs and particularly craft fair food. It's like having the ColorFest every weekend!!! Though it lacks pulled pork, pit beef, and kettle corn, it has crepes, falafel,  fresh bread, and the worlds BEST Doughnuts. For real, they are the greatest things ever. I'm actually friends now with the doughnut man since I've been so many times. I went back 3 times the first weekend I saw the market! 

What makes these doughnuts so wonderful, you ask??

1. They are fresh made before your very eyes
2. The Doughnut Man remembers us and tells us that he's been waiting all day when we don't get there early in the morning
3. The doughnuts are rolled in sugar then either cocoa or cinnamon is sprinkled over the top
4. Last but not least, they aren't expensive!

So doughnuts are primarily the reason we go down there but there are so many other stands! I'll list them for you. 

• Jewelry stands that almost always have Claddagh rings  - One stand to note is this woman who makes copper/silver burnt jewelry. Berry got the most perfect necklace from here with swirls that is circular. The lady that owns the stand makes all of the jewelry by hand and the pieces are all unique because they don't always come out the same. I found the most awesome necklace that really fit my personality but I couldn't justify spending about 40 euros on it.
• Clothing stands - we found a Jayne hat down here which was a fantastic and very exciting find. (Joss Whedon fans be jealous) They also have hand made shirts/sweaters etc that are so cool looking. 
• Purses - some of the clothing stands sell purses as well which are really really cool. Again hand made, they are somewhat hippy looking but look so cool and chances are I'll be getting one before the end of the semester. 
• Kitchen utensils - Last week I bought a lemon juicer from one of these stands that's hand made and is super awesome and wooden. There are really awesome cutting boards (wooden and in cool shapes), spoons, hot plates etc. If I didn't have to then ship/carry everything back to America I'd be getting many more things for my eventual kitchen. 
• Art - 
• Toys/odds and ends - There are a few stalls that have children's toys/key chains and whatnot. Thankfully unlike at the Colorfest there are NO popguns or whatever noisemaker that is always so popular every year.
• OLIVES - Ok there is this HUGE stand that's all large barrels of olives, hummus, and spice mixtures. The whole way down the aisle you can smell the olives and it's just wonderful. I got a free test olive one Saturday and it was just lovely.
• The food stalls themselves really just need their own bulleted list but here we go anyway: seafood, oysters being sliced and served, raw meat stands, huge vegetable stands with food so fresh the carrots and potatoes still have dirt on them, fresh eggs, kebabs, multiple bread stands that smell amazing, fresh cheese, crepe cart, cider, a vegan stall (never been there haha), coffee cart, and of course doughnuts.

So a trip to Saturday Market is not complete without walking up Shop Street a bit to get to "The Chocolate Box". This shop has the BEST hot chocolate ever. You watch them pour the chocolate pieces into the bottom of the cup and just steam the milk right on them, and top it off with marshmallows and cocoa powder. (Most epic thing ever). 

So this is our Saturday routine when we're in town: Doughnuts and Hot Chocolate out in the open air and looking around a market we've already seen everything at multiple times but still entertains us. 

The hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne

The Chocolate Box storefront

Some of the cool nerdy knick-knacks