Delhaize and Colruyt

I began my trip to Brussels at 4AM Saturday August 16. It was dark and early. 7 AM Flight to Charlotte. 9:20 AM Flight to New York. 5:55 PM Flight to Brussels.

Traveling was long. I love tiny seats with too many people all around me. We also didn't sleep until 8:30 PM Sunday night. Anyways, I am now here, living it up in Brussels, Belgium.

There is absolutely no way I could cover everything that I am getting to do and see, even just here in Brussels. Everything is new. I am at a new college, Vesalius, which is one building and only 300 people. I am living for the first time in an apartment, where I am attempting to feed myself three meals a day on a pauper's budget (you have to live cheap to go on weekend excursions to places like Paris and Interlaken). I am planning travel adventures for the first time. I am in a country that speaks a different language. However, I think my most new experience has been grocery shopping.

We tried a convenience-esque store on our first day here. Sustenance was really all we were looking for. But, the store made us want to cry. There were just a few shelves with very few options. Also, the cashiers only spoke French, so I attempted to converse with them. They couldn't understand my translation of 'brown sugar,' but aside from that, we really just couldn't find anything, or anything cheap. I ended up leaving the store with a box of oatmeal packets. Hey, breakfast for 8 days?

This store gave us very little confidence in how our shopping and eating would be for the next four months. A few days later we found the Publix of Brussels' grocery stores, Delhaize, just across the street. We found peanut butter, or something like it, and we found other regular foods.

One weird thing about stores here is that they charge based on flavor. For example, I can buy the strawberry yogurt for cheaper than peach, but I can buy a mixed assortment for even cheaper. That throws me off and just adds one more factor into my decision making process. I am an indecisive shopper to begin with, so French and Dutch labels, prices in Euros, and new foods all cause for long shopping trips.

However, after being satisfied with Delhaize, we found Colruyt. This store was the Costco/Aldi of grocery stores. It was very cheap, and also, I'm pretty sure everything tastes better when you buy it and make it yourself, despite the quality of food. We have a pretty good schedule planned where we buy a week's worth of groceries and then share meals throughout the week.

Also part of our grocery schedule: Buy drumstick ice cream cones and eat them on the way home from the store.

And, shout-out to Brian for recommending the pre-cooked Rotisserie chicken that lasts many many meals. We bought one of those, and 6 meals later, no more chicken.

Here's to my first glass of wine. So classy.

Morning Markets in Gare du Midi