I had a free day, so I decided to travel around the world.

I'm not a slow driver, but a day was rather too little to cicumnavigate the globe, so I went to Worcester instead. In Worcester I could travel the culinary world, starting with the very modern American craft beer renaissance before exploring Middle-Eastern, Italian, African, Swedish, Southeast-Asian, Polish, and Jewish-American markets and delis, finishing up with good old-fashioned US of A hot dog, 1918-style at George's Coney Island Lunch.

As regular readers of these pages know, craft beer is enjoying an incredible renaissance in New England, with over 100 brewers already in operation. Worcester is represented by the Wormtown Brewery, and it also boasts a number of restaurants and bars committed to celebrating local bounty.

I had lunch with an old friend at the wonderful and fanatically locavore Armsby Abbey: between us we had the unctuous marrow bones, smoked tongue, rillons and rillettes, head cheese and other artery-cloggers, washed down with draft beers from Jack's Abby (Framingham), High & Mighty (Holyoke), and Berkshire Brewing Company (Deerfield).

After lunch I hit my old standbys at Ed Hyder's Mediterranean Marketplace and Bahnan's Market before heading over to "little Poland" in the Green Island neighborhood. Green Island is a rundown area of three-deckers and shops southwest of Kelley Square between I-290 and the P&W railyard. the best shopping is along Millbury Street and Green Street on either side of the utterly incomprehensible and unnavigable Kelley Square.

Millbury Street is home to a Vietnamese market, a few bars, and many Polish markets and shops. Between the European Cafe & Deli (my favorite, but just a deli, no seating), Tom's International Deli, Golemo's Market, and the European Bakery,  I got all the cholesterol-boosting goodies I crave.

Among my loot:

• Smoked and unsmoked liverwurst
• Smoked and unsmoked kielbasa
• Smoked mackerel
• Barbara's homemade head cheese
• Veal hot dogs
• Half-sour pickles
• Dried mushrooms 

As if all that artery-clogging goodness were not enough, I finished the day with a Coney Island hot dog. I decided to dine inside and wait for the rush-hour traffic to subside. On the little 1930-ish diner side of the place I sat at the little bar and enjoyed my dog with... a Wormtown Pumpkin Ale. What a fine way to end a day exploring Worcester!