the european grocery shopping experience

it all started in berlin, schlepping the goods back from my local kaiser’s at annenstrasse (which i later learned is generally regarded as one of the more fancier, spendier supermarkets in the city) in my canvas tote bag, feeling all so proud of myself for having shopped for myself and able to walk to the store whenever needed every so often to get those weekly or twice weekly groceries for dinner making.

and oh, i do have fond memories of those cold, dark autumn months cooking away in my berlin kitchen, making chicken and dumping soup or maybe one of those dr. oetker mozzarella frozen pizzas when i felt lazy after a long day out filming or in class. just thinking about those times made me feel so warm and fuzzy!

back in seattle for the next five years, i would adamantly walk (usually alone) to and from the safeway, ballard market, or later the trader joe’s near the sketchy leary way area near the ballard bridge. i felt like my arms would drop off at any second, and i actually had a car i could’ve taken, but i felt somewhat european and proud that i wasn’t firing up the ol’ honda just for a store run. it seemed more ecological and although somewhat less pleasant that going by car. walking and carrying your stuff everywhere really put me in tune with the city.

you’re on the ground; observing, experiencing, running into the strange men who hang out at the bus stop on 15th nw and nw market and always have something to say. it’s gritty, but it’s city life. and there’s no point living in the city if you’re not in the thick of it all, is there? i personally liked to experience that.

now that i’m living long-term in a european city, there is no car to use for everyday shopping experiences. it’s a haul to the nearest LIDL (i’m pretty much a die-hard LIDL fan) and back, and this time, it doesn’t feel glamorous. we schedule out a specific day and time of the week for this engagement. sometimes, for once, it actually feels like a chore (unless the ice cream stand on the way is open– woohoo!). and of course at LIDL, we walk through the giant parking lot and see all of the other sensible people who took their car to go grocery shopping, even in europe. so i guess we’ve come full circle then.

what is your attitude about grocery shopping? do you like to go european-style every feel days on foot, or american style maybe once a week (or more) in your car (van, humungous ford pick-up truck, etc)?
i do like going once a week, but often it’s more than this because i need something for a baking project or LIDL doesn’t carry everything we want… even though lately, our local store has been stocking tofu and fresh pasta! what more can you ask for?

for entertainment purposes, below is a only a few of the humorous things i’ve seen at LIDL…

zander! dedicated to our ol’ buddy xander.

a coca-cola truck with various santas parked in the LIDL parking lot last december.

tea that is called simply, “HERBS”. well, okay.

because when wouldn’t you want XXL chili con carne?

ozzy osbourne beer… i guess. there is a sizeable metal fan population here. (edit: apparently this gentleman’s name is ozzák, and ozzy fan from a popular czech tv series)