I think one of the biggest adjustments we’ve had is shopping for food. Gone are the days of driving to the grocery store and stocking up for the week. The first challenge is finding a store that resembles an actual grocery. Most establishments only specialize in one thing or another. Then if you’re lucky enough to search out a little grocery store, you have to remember you’re carrying everything home (no car). On top of that, it seems everything is made or packaged with less preservatives, as whatever you do buy has to be eaten within a day or two or it spoils. Milk for one usually has an expiration date of just a few days. For this reason, the largest container you can buy is a quart. A gallon of milk is unheard of. (It would make your load too heavy to carry home anyway.)
Obviously the Italians have a different diet than in the States, so it’s not uncommon to see huge sections of olive oil or even entire aisles of pasta. But if you want pasta sauce, you might only find 3 or 4 kinds. (It’s kind of taboo for Italians to not make their own sauce.) Peanut Butter is really hard to find and a few varieties of cereal are put out for the benefit of American shoppers I think.
If you can’t find an alimentary (grocer) or supermercato (larger grocery) then here’s where you need to go… an Enoteca for wine, the Frutta Verdura for fruits and vegtables, the Formaggeria for cheeses, the Gelateria for ice cream, the Latteria for dairy products, the Macellaria for meats, the Panificio for bread, the Pasticceria for pastries, the Pescheria for fish, the Pizzeria for pizza, the Salumeria for cold cuts, or the Rosticceria for take out roasted foods. I’m sure I missed a couple but you get the idea. Ok, we’re almost done…don’t forget to factor in that shops are open from about 9 to 1 and then everyone takes a siesta. They’ll open up again around 4 and stay open until 7.
