Any visit to Cleveland ought to include a stop at the
West Side Market. This year marks its 100th year in business. It's basically a temple to amazing food. Purveyors include butchers, bakers, fishmongers, cheesemakers, pasta makers, confectioners, and sandwich makers. Covered produce stands and flower sellers jostle for space outside. We especially love the gyros at Steve's Gyros (eat them on the balcony) and the pierogies at Pierogi Palace (take them home). Cleveland has wonderful food. Among the many immigrants are Poles, who have made their filled dumplings (pierogies) a symbol of the city, and Hungarians, who have preserved the tricky art of making handmade strudel. An outstanding guide to the wonders of Cleveland's ethnic grocers and restaurants is
Cleveland Ethnic Eats: The Guide to Authentic Ethnic Restaurants and Markets in Greater Cleveland
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| Hanging out with Jane. |
Jasper was very excited to finally get to see lots of dinosaurs! The
Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a pretty awesome place, with a world class collection of fossils. We saw lots of wonders there. The museum has the only skull of a Nanotyrannus, thought to be a pygmy species of tyrannosaur. In their lobby is Jane, a beautiful skeleton of what may be either a juvenile T-rex, or another Nanotyrannus.
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| T-rex teeth! |
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| Glyptodon- Jasper's favorite ice age beastie. |
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| Coelophysis |
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| Jasper loved their ancient undersea dioramas. This one is the Devonian. |
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| Yes, it's really a taxidermy Balto, the famous hero dog! |
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I've always loved their shrunken heads. They used to display them with a recipe for making
your own. For some reason they no longer do this. |
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| Jasper with Lucy! |
We also had to visit the
Cleveland Museum of Art, which is undergoing a massive makeover with lots and lots more gallery space on the way. It's a stunning museum, with lots to see. And it's completely free!
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Jasper's pick for coolest thing in the modern art wing- Red Grooms'
"Looking Along Broadway Towards Grace Church". |
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| Jasper is intrigued by Egyptian art. He loved these paintings inside a pair of sarcophagi. |
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