Shopping / Einkaufen

Grocery shopping is an adventure. Of the three grocery stores near us, two are just down the block from Nikolas' school in Zentrum Herrnau, one on the ground floor and the other below it in the basement. Since shopping happens almost every day, it's great to drop Nikolas off, stop by the store(s), and then head home. Usually it's both stores because you can't get everything at just one store. And what are all those types of cold cuts and cookies and sausages anyway? There are so many interesting things to look at and contemplate and try to decide if we'd really like to eat it or not. Because of that, shopping tends to take a bit longer here, even if you only end up spending a few Euros (€).

The two stores near us are both small by American standards. My favorite, Hofer, is the cheapest and has the smallest selection. It's the same chain as Aldi found on Olden Avenue in Trenton and Oakton Street in Skokie. It's kind of a funky store with products displayed right in their delivery boxes without fancy displays. Most of the products are not name brands, but since the name brands here mean nothing to me, I don't mind. Hofer is good for the basics, although they don't always have what you want in stock (like cauliflower which was in today and people were buying like crazy). It's the only place we've found that has shredded mozzarella cheese like you would want on pizza. All the stores have fresh mozzarella, but only Hofer has pizza mozzarella. To add to the fun, non-food stock changes regularly (another reason to shop every day). For example, one day they had an enormous quantity of large live plants. A couple days later they were all gone and replaced with a small cart of orchids. Darn. Today it is raining and they had rain coats, rain pants and rain boots. People were almost fighting over the bins. I scored a sweet pair of red polka dotted rain boots, for only €9,99!

Spar has the feel of a fancier grocery store, although it has its own funkiness. Prices are slightly higher, unless something is on sale or you get a package of chicken at 1/2 price because it's reached its sell-by date. I haven't found anything other than chicken and turkey in the meat area for sale at Spar. Sure there are a wide variety of cold cuts at the deli, but what about ground beef or steaks or pork chops? Hmmm. Semmel (bread rolls) are a staple in Austria, and they are best when fresh. They tend to get gummy quickly (no preservatives added here), but we've found that if you keep them in the fridge instead of the breadbox, they stay nicer longer. Spar has the best Semmel. It is also the only place we've found that has maple syrup - a true luxury item, it's organic maple syrup from Canada.

Prices, overall, aren't that bad, but I find them confusing. You can get fantastic produce very cheaply. Cookies (and there are so many varieties!) are also a good deal. Meat is quite expensive as are drinks (soda, water, beer). I've started a list of current prices (at the current rate of exchange, with weight conversion from price per kilo to price per pound) in the right sidebar. Everything comes in kilo or 2 kilo packages, so when we pay for things we're usually paying twice as much for twice the amount as listed here.

Inflation is a daily topic in the paper, and bakers, for example, admit to making bread 'more cheaply'. Nikolas' 'German fruit bars' are a great illustration of inflation. We discovered the fruit bars in the baby food section when Nikolas was almost one. They are fruit bars with rice paper on both sides so fingers don't get sticky and are filled with vitamins and fruit and no added sugars. Nikolas still loves them. Back in 2005, they cost €0,35. When we came this past March, the price was up to €0,49. Now, just a few months later, they cost €0,70!