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oh! farmer's markets are different. those are awesome to visit. my fav is the setup in ottawa, with streets and streets of things.

Just read your post. Arrived in Pensacola, Florida and within two hours I went grocery shopping. Tomorrow is day two and at least one more grocery store. Just fun to check out the shelves for local goodies and things I have not tried. Scored some White Lilly flour on my trip today.

I sure check out as many stores as I can when traveling, it gives you the flavor of local life. If you ever get to Helsinki, Finland, check out a Stockmann. They carry everything from clothing, toys and sporting goods. As crazy as this sounds, they have gourmet food sections and a huge liquor department. All seem to be run 100% separately, so it doesent come off as the jack of all trades-master of none like Wal-Mart or Costco. All kinds of bulk foods and TONS of cool stuff I never saw before....

For size alone, Woodman's in Madison, WI is worth a visit. Biggest beer and cheese selections anywhere. To go up and down each aisle would take a couple of days.
Jerry

What a great "thread". I have a thing for grocery stores and pharmacies when travelling. We even got clean underwear at a Grocery store in Prague because it was nearing the end of our trip and we were tired of washing our underwear over and over in the sinks of Youth Hostels and just wanted a fresh pair or two. We also got great beer, some bread and cheese, and the equivalent (except a million times better) to a hostess type cake for dessert.

In France I like Carrefour because that's where we shopped when we lived in Grenoble. In London, it is always Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer's (for some items), the farmer's markets, and Boots (for my pharmacy fetish).

Leah
http://iminthekitchen.wordpress.com/

There is absolutely nothing better, it's one of my favorite things to do, browse around. It's a must. I bake alot, and love checking out the different regional flours. LOVE White Lily, can't find it here up north, southern markets are a lot of fun. I don't travel much abroad anymore - :-(, so can't attest to the goodies to be found there, I'm pretty much limited to down South and Canada! Still fun, though.

I just got back from 2 weeks in Europe and one of my favourite experiences was visiting the Albert Heijn grocery store near my hotel in Amsterdam. I looked it up online before hand for directions and they have a crazy website!

I love seeing the price of produce, beer, snacks compared to home and love looking at the unusual snacks and treats, like Wokkels (curly potato crisps). Every snackfood comes in paprika flavour there, and you can get great beers for a tiny fraction of the cost in Canada (not to mention you can't buy beer at any grocery store in my province).

The Amsterdam store we went to is right near the Vondelpark and they must do a lot of picnic business because they had lots of small portions of cheese, meats and buns for under 1 euro. We got out of there with a huge picnic for 2 with beer for about 7 euros. Loved it!

Oh, yes, I visit markets, supermarkets, food courts, cheese mongers, etc. etc. Paris is, of course, heaven for this kind of tourism. In addition to all the open air places and specialty shops, there's MONOPRIX! The food part is often in the basement and has everything, including the best sardines in the entire world. I try to always stay someplace with a rudimentary kitchen, so I don't have to hang purchases out the window to keep them refrigerated.

Have you ever been to Jungle Jim's International Market in the Cincinnati Ohio area of Fairfield? The food network has. I work there and think it's the most unusual (but useful)grocery store in the country. And yea; the owner goes by either Jungle Jim or just plain Jungle. Check it out. It;s worth it.

I've been doing this when traveling on business for thirty years now, and I have noticed a long decline in the "local-ness" of most supermarkets -- now it's strawberries in February and Frito-Lay chips just about everywhere. The last place I can remember being really distinctive was a supermarket in Hawaii. It's gotten to the point where it's hard to find small-label stone ground grits even in North Carolina! I have hopes that the local food movement will work against this homogenization, and the local supermarket (in the US) will once again be distinctive and characteristic of location.

I think my favorite time to visit is around the holidays. I've had the pleasure of visiting a number of places just before Christmas, and my friend from Cardiff, Wales, who thinks I am a little nuts when it comes to food anyway, took me to her local---sorry, brain freeze here, the big British chain supermarket---and it took her nearly an hour to drag me out.

Love them! I was at the famous Galleries Lafayette food hall in Paris and guess what I saw prominently displayed at the front entrance? Old El Paso pre-made tortillas in a box, cans of refried beans, and salsa. Amazing!