Within a 5-10 minute walk from my house is the grocery shopping trifecta: Aldi, Lidl and Rewe, all encircling a roundabout. Aldi and Lidl are similar discount supermarkets. There will be a future blog entry about them. And then there's Rewe, the closest store I have seen to an American supermarket and is considered here "the nice supermarket." I was talking to two neighbors on separate occasions when we had been here maybe a month and the talk turned to if I was OK with the food shopping here. I answered, "Yes, the Rewe is very similar to our supermarkets in the U.S." Both women tutted and said, "You have four kids! You should not be shopping at the Rewe! You should be going to Lidl or Aldi! They are much cheaper." That little reprimand stuck with me and I now only go to Rewe when I need to replenish our mineral water supply as you buy it by the crate and get a deposit back. Not so at the Lidl. Not sure about the Aldi now that I come to think about it.
So, in a previous entry, I told you about how you need to plan ahead more when you go food shopping in Germany. You need to bring shopping bags with you, or you will be paying for them at the store. If you don't speak the language well, be sure you have translated your shopping list ahead of time. And be sure you have a Euro coin in your pocket or a token from your Parksheibe. What's a Parksheibe, you may ask?
Here is a common type of parking sign in Germany. The sign is letting you know that you can park here for free, but only for 1 hour. And you see that little blue rectangle with the arrow, the arc and the letter P? That means you need to be sure to display your Parksheibe.
Here is the Parkscheibe that I keep in this little compartment on my dashboard. You turn the dial to the time you parked your car and that way, die Polizei can check to be sure you're not over the time limit.
You don't need the Parksheibe itself when shopping at a grocery store, but flip the Parksheibe over, and you'll see it includes 4 shopping cart tokens. You need one of these, or a Euro, to get a shopping cart.
Here is our local Rewe.
I wanted to capture the parking situation, but it was later in the evening and the parking lot was rather empty. Parking is basically a simple one-way ring around the store. There is handicapped/mother's parking in front of the store, but you first have to circle all the way around the store to claim those spots and pray that there isn't anyone in front of you looking to do the same thing. There has been a few times during busy shopping days before a holiday when I have circled the crowded parking lots several times looking for a spot only have to return home because I couldn't find one and was too frustrated to sit and wait for one to become available.
Rewe is a bit different as it has 5 different types of shopping carts. With only 3 types of carts in each cart return, you have to be sure you return the cart right back where you got it. I learned that from experience, trying to return a cart to a different cart return. I had to walk it all the way back to the other cart return. Not a big deal, but it made me grumble.
You've probably seen this shopping cart system in the U.S. somewhere. Americans always complain about it, mostly, I think, because it's unexpected. "What do they think?" they will ask, "Do they think I actually want to
steal this cart?" But they're missing the point. We all know what it like in American supermarket/Walmart/Target parking lots having to dodge shopping carts, or start to pull into a spot only to see that there's a cart left in the front of it. And it seems like no matter how many cart returns you put in a parking lot, people will just leave the carts sitting around elsewhere.
That problem is non-existent here. It all makes sense, really. It keeps the parking lot tidy (something Germans value) and makes finding a parking spot much easier. And don't worry: You'll get your Euro or token back when you return the cart.
Here's a month's supply of mineral water and Apfelschorle. David and I have always liked fizzy mineral water or
Sprudel, but didn't drink it too much in the U.S. as the cans of La Croix had a metallic taste and bottles of Perrier were too expensive. It is the norm here to drink fizzy mineral water, but most brands sell mineral water with no bubbles (
stille or
pur), with some bubbles (
medium) and with lotsa bubbles (
spritzig). We prefer lotsa bubbles. Oh, and the water is naturally carbonated. We're already a bit worried that we may have a hard time getting our mineral water fix once we move back to the U.S.
Apfelschorle is a very popular soft drink that is a simple combination of fizzy mineral water and apple juice. I have been to cafés, ordered the kids Apfelschorle and instead of pulling out a bottle of Apfelschorle, the fellow behind the bar pulls out a bottle of mineral water and a bottle of apple juice and mixes it himself. Do you remember the Pepsi short-lived soft drink from the late 70s called Aspen? It was an apple soft drink, that didn't catch on. Is there an apple soft drink on the U.S. market now I wonder?
So, every cart has a little stand you unfold out at the back where one crate fits nicely. You constantly see people returning 5 or 6 crates of water/soft drinks/beer at a time. Right after I snapped this picture, a man stopped and called to me that I should really get the type of cart he was using -- more of a flatbed cart. "It's better for returning crates," he told me. I said thanks, but that I needed to buy some other things, too, and needed a regular cart. He went on to tell me what was on sale in the store. This always surprises me: Germans keep much more to themselves around strangers than Americans do, but I think he saw me taking pictures and thought he could help me out by offering a better solution.
The first time you push your German grocery cart, you'll say to yourself, "Wow! It's so much easier to push and turn. All four wheels turn!" And then once you're cart is full, you'll say, "Yikes! This cart is so much harder to manoeuver when it's full! I almost hit that car walking through the parking lot! Why do they make all four wheels swivel?"
Here's where you feed your crates of empty bottles into the return machine. There is also an individual bottle return up top.
When you're finished, hit the green button for your receipt that you can give to the cashier for immediate reimbursement or give it to her when you're paying for groceries and she'll deduct that amount from your total. And each of those crates gives you back a deposit of $4.50, so don't lose the slip!
The Rewe is set up similar to an American store, but what you will notice right away is that it is about 1/5 the size of a large American supermarket. Not nearly the selection (there's often only 1 brand of a certain item), but I usually find what I need.
The cereal/granola bar section. We recently watched
The Hurt Locker and laughed heartily at the scene when the Iraq War vet is standing in front of huge row of cereal in the American supermarket, totally overwhelmed. As you can see, our selection here is not so extensive. And don't be fooled by the Kellogg's brand. It doesn't mean that the cereal is exactly like back home. Froot Loops, for instance, have very faded colors (that might be a good thing actually) and no flavor. It's like chewing crunchy bits of cardboard. Germans like muesli and have a good variety of flavors.
This is the only store where I have found Mini Zimtos, a cinnamon cereal James and Rebecca love.
The mix/packet section. Germans like cooking with packets. You can get packets for all sorts of soups, sauces, casseroles, and meat dishes.
They don't have nearly as much prepared foods sets here, like Hamburger Helper, but follow the recipe on this packet you'll end with a dish similar to a Hamburger-helper type of hamburger/potato/cheese casserole that the kids like. Instead of using freeze dried potato slices, I actually peel and slice fresh potatoes all by myself(!) and instead of adding a little bit of milk or water to make a creamy cheese sauce, I add real cream/milk and cheese. Imagine that.
One of my favorite mixes is this Mexican one. You add chicken, 1 onion, 1 red pepper and a can of black beans and it makes a yummy fajita-like filling for a tortilla. Add some cheddar and sour cream and mmmmm.....
One thing Americans complain about is that you can't find American-style gravy here. Germany tend to buy a "base" for their sauces, but make the sauce/gravy themselves. Around Thanksgiving/Christmas, people who have commissary privileges are always being hit up for gravy.
The American section. This section has tripled in size since we've been here. And no, we're not the only Americans in Liederbach. The latest survey showed that they were 60+ Americans here. Here's a price list for you:
Chocolate muffin mix: $7.30
Medium-size bottle of Hunt's BBQ sauce: $6.50
Heinz Sweet Relish: $6.37
8 S'more Poptarts: $9.03
Swiss Miss hot cocoa: $6.63
1 can of Campbell's Tomato Soup: $3.44
I usually try to find less-expensive German equivalents for our favorite things, but if the German item won't do, I'll splurge on the American products. The only things I buy from this shelf are the brownie mix, hot cocoa, relish and tomato soup. You can find German BBQ sauce, popcorn, mustard, and we find maple syrup somewhere else in the store. I'll buy a Reese's only for David's birthday or another special time.
This Rewe is only 1/5 the size of a typical American supermarket and 1/4 of this store is dedicated to beverages. Here is just one of the several rows of mineral water.
Another difference from American supermarkets can be found with the employees. The cashiers' name tags don't say "Hannah," "Monika" or "Maria." Instead you will see "Frau Schmidt," "Frau Müller" or "Frau Meyer." Things tend to be much more formal in public here.
One thing I didn't have the guts to photograph was the impulse shopping items at the check-out line. You see things like razors, candy, little cookbooks, lip balm, nail clippers and condoms.
Yes, condoms. Billy Boy is always smiling down on me as I put my groceries on the conveyor belt.
Back home, we store the crates in a holder in the basement. I chill the Apfelschorle in the fridge, but mineral water is best at room temperature.
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