Posts
Shopping 2021
The greengrocer in the centre of town. He will always have an iceberg lettuce, avocados and portobello mushrooms. A few years back this was the only shop to have those exotic vegetables but now most of the little shops have them too. I remember back 20 years this was the first place to sell broccoli. Broccoli, an exotic. Now even the farmers grow it for the weekly market.
The greengrocer is right on the waterfront and is surrounded by cafeterias, the bread shop and the central market. The meat market is still open with one or two stalls of fish and meat . Little else is open today
The usual line outside the chemist. Not too many today.
Next door is the hardware store, always open. Its like your Bunnings, Leroy Merlin, or any big shop selling nuts and bolts, paints, olive rakes, chainsaw chains and all those things men like to drool over.
The central bread shop. Mainly just the basics right now. Long loaves of white and brown and sourdough bread. Twice baked bread (rusks?), dry hard slices which greeks love to dip into the oil of their salads, their coffee or their soup.
Next door is the hot pie, takeaway coffee and sandwich shop. Hot slices of tiropita (cheese pie), spanakopita (spinach pie) , cheese and ham and sausage pies.
One of the few tavernas still open and selling food in packages to take home. Chicken, beans, meatballs or tripe soup.
And here's the hardware store mentioned above.
The local police patrol the streets with a taped message telling everyone to keep their distance
Our local grocer just out of the main town. Very small but popular especially with the immediate neighbourhood. They have everything including local wine, beans and lentils from a sack, dates out of a box, as many or as few as you want, fresh feta cheese and a variety of hard yellow cheeses from the surrounding villages, salted sardines and smoked mackerel and amazingly 3 types of peanut butter.
Their fruit and vegetables are either locally sourced or come in every Thursday from the big market in Athens. Very friendly service and they will order things for you if you ask.
They have a wonderful choice of chocolates and their prices are as good as and sometimes better than our one big 'super'market.
This is where we usually shop.
Your little local shop sounds perfect! Three kinds of peanut butter? Smooth, crunchy, and what else? I am curious - is tripe soup a big seller? I think it would sit untouched here, but then again, I've never tried it. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteTripe soup is a big thing here, for breakfast ! Smells disgusting. You have to be brought up here to appreciate.
DeleteThe peanut butters are 3 different brands. Usually we can find one, maybe two.
Interesting to see your shops, your local one sounds great, everything you need.
ReplyDeleteThe little local shop is a gold mine. Finding things can be a bit difficult but they of course run instantly to whatever you're asking for.
DeleteMy wife (quite naturally) always stops outside a clothes shop. I always stop outside the Hardware store!
ReplyDeleteI have spent long 'hours' outside that shop trying to look interested in sailing shoes or plastic rubbish bins but even those fail to enthuse. It's definitely a gender thing
DeleteThe fruit and vegetables look very colourful. I would enjoy shopping there.
ReplyDeleteThey set out the fruit and vege very enticingly.
DeleteWe bet you couldn't find olive rakes in your average Bunnings. Hardware store are sometimes the best wzy to get an idea about work and production in a community. You don't find olive rakes in a Piraeus hardware store either (well except for one i know, but it also sells sheep crooks and goatbells and i wouldn't have thought there was a lot of demand here for those either). The proprietor assured me people buy them to take out to the islands.
ReplyDeleteWe have one of those sheep crooks, bought at a souvenir shop in the mountains. I wanted a goatbell too . Next time.
DeleteOur local church fairs sell goat bells and sheep crooks. The local farmers buy them.
We need more small shops to compete with the big supermarkets but unfortunately covid has made things hard hasn't it?
ReplyDeleteCovid has changed many things. One thing is that the smaller shops have more business. Fewer people to encounter at close quarters.
DeleteThe hardware store entices me like the middle aisle in Lidl. Do they sell wine?
ReplyDeleteWhat a question!! Naturally. We are in the middle of the med. Local wine in plastic bottles, wine by the 5 litre bottle or 10 litre box and even decent bottled wine. But you didn't ask about beer!! Amstel, Heineken, Alpha, Fix and every Greek beer you can think ( I can think) of. Alas no Newcastle Brown but even that can appear unexpectedly for a short period. You'd love the shop!
DeleteI like the look of your local shop. That sort of emporium seems to have died out over here unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's great. Salted sardines by the gram, smoked mackerel wrapped in a piece of paper, those twig brooms, and soft feta, hard feta and just white cheese of the feta kind. I'm amazed by my finds sometimes. Didn't expect peanut butter or dates by the kilo.
DeleteI’d love to have such shops close to home
ReplyDeleteBut we only have supermarkets and we have to drive
There is rumour of a small shopping Centre going to be built in the next street over and just down a little bit.
That would be lovely. I could walk there and that will be my exercise for the day. But who knows