adventures in grocery shopping
There's nothing quite like getting fussed at by an Italian nonna in a grocery store in Venice. And because I clearly didn't understand a word the tiny elderly Venetian lady was saying to me, she illustrated her rapid-fire Italian with exaggerated hand gestures and body language to get her point across.
So here's what I learned: If you want to buy produce in a Venetian grocery store, you must first put on a pair of disposable plastic food service gloves BEFORE you touch the fruits and vegetables. Even if you are buying a bunch of bananas, which are self-contained in their skins, you must be wearing gloves. Only then may you touch the produce.
Va bene, lesson learned.
Grocery stores are a great place to learn about your host country when you're traveling. In fact, visiting grocery stores around the world is a favorite activity for everyone in my household because we never know what delights and/or curiosities we'll find, so we always make a point to explore local options when we’re traveling.
Here's another important lesson we’ve learned: Dutch grocery stores do not accept credit cards. It's cash only. Naturally, we discovered this when we were at the register and trying to pay, but luckily there was an ATM just a few steps away.
On the other hand, on this same trip, we made the delightful discovery of hagelslag, which is the Dutch version of sprinkles. Apparently, a favorite national snack is hagelslag sprinkled thickly on buttered bread. And imagine that the sprinkles in question are shavings of very good quality dark chocolate. Brew yourself an espresso or a cappuccino and enjoy.
Other grocery store experiences:
In Bali, you need to know that the whole store is going to reek of durian, but luckily the front doors are usually open, so at least there's a breeze wafting through to help dissipate the smell. It’s still nausea-inducing but the likelihood of heaving in the store is greatly minimized.
You can get excellent fresh pasta in Italy of course, but you can find delicious fresh pasta in just about every grocery store chain in Europe, the UK, and the Nordic countries. Never would I ever have guessed that.
In Barcelona, small neighborhood grocery stores will be located next to or near a variety of specialty shops, including a butcher, a fruit and vegetables shop, a bakery, and possibly even a xarcuteria (Catalan for a place that sells charcuterie). Just plan a little extra time to do your marketing and enjoy the ride.
In New Zealand, make sure you buy Cornish pasties and save room for slice (yummy dessert bars) afterward. Easy peasy meals on the go.
And we learned the hard way that in southern Germany, including in Munich, grocery stores do not stay open late and are frequently not open on Sundays. Dinner that night was scrounged from a nearby convenience store.
Even U.S. grocery stores can offer surprises. We once found ourselves in a tiny store in the middle of nowhere in southern Utah. The store was basically a 7-Eleven and had the kind of limited inventory you'd expect, but blew our minds when we discovered an amazing selection of fresh local cheeses. We made a meal out of mooing-fresh mozzarella, crackers, and those flavorless Red Delicious apples that are always found next to the cash register near the lotto tickets.
Oddly enough, while we’ve shopped at Aldi in Germany and Portugal, until last weekend we had never been to one in the U.S., even though there’s a new store three miles from our house. However, this past weekend we were able to rectify that omission. We were in Asheville, NC and needed to pick up a few things. We looked at Google Maps and saw an Aldi near our Airbnb. Score. We added a trip to Aldi to our day and toured the store with as much interest as if we were at Biltmore.
I know it’s not just us. Do you enjoy checking out grocery stores when you travel?