Friday, January 20, 2012

Conad!

Today my roommate and I decided to hit up the Conad, Siena's grocery store, after we finished with orientation for the day. We aren't quite sure what the snack protocol is for homestay students, so we wanted to get some food for our room, seeing as our stomachs aren't quite used to the Italian eating schedule yet. The Italians generally have lunch around 1, but they don't eat again until 8 or later, so us silly Americans keep getting hungry between lunch and dinner.

Italian grocery stores are much smaller than American ones, and instead of 8 bajillion brands, they only have 1 or 2. However, they have everything necessary for daily life, and they're pretty darling to boot. (Random note: I bought shampoo, etc. at Siena's department store yesterday, but it turns out that the "lotion" I bought is actually body wash, as I discovered when I tried to put some on and couldn't figure out why it felt so gross. So, I bought real lotion today at Conad. :P )

Here are a couple of pictures of the selection at Conad. They have some lovely produce...

Stella told me that the most important part of the meal is olio, olive oil. They put it on everything, even on top of soup before serving it!

Have I talked about the bread here yet? Because it is fantastic. Every single kind of bread I've tried has been amazing. I don't care what the French say, the Italians have the best bread. There is a paneria that is dangerously close to my house - I plan on frequenting it.

And what would Italy be without cheese? I'm attempting to expand my limited cheese palate and to try different cheeses while I'm over here (actually, I'm just trying everything - I ate mushrooms yesterday, Mama!). Stella gave me the best mozzarella of my life the day I arrived.

And finally, Nutella. Italians love their Nutella - Stella was telling us that they eat Nutella straight from the jar when they have a bad day, much like us with our Ben & Jerry's.

Here is what we ended up buying to split - some kind of cookie deal and Nutella to dip it in. We're very excited. :)

2 comments:

  1. Nutella is amazing!! A good thing to have around when you are craving chocolate. :)))....crap now I want some nutella

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    1. Yeah, I can definitely get behind this whole Nutella deal. I can see why they just eat it straight out of the jar... so delicious! :)

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