Well I feel I need to talk about the Sunday afternoon grocery shop as it always makes me chuckle.
But first, a little background.... Shops in Utrecht are closed on Sunday. Oh, I mean, except for the first Sunday of every month of course, because that is "koopzondag" which means "Sunday Shopping". But for the rest of the Sundays in the month the shops are closed.
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fig. 1 My place in line - I still had to cross all the vegetables and an aisle. |
All the shops are closed... all except for the grocery store by my house. That lucky store is open every Sunday from 4 - 10pm (though I should note that it is open 9am - 10pm on the special Shopping Sundays so this story really does not apply to those days). But for those three weeks out of every month, at precisely 3:59pm on Sunday (and I'm being exact here because the Dutch in general are very prompt & on time), all the people who live within a 5 kilometer (estimation here based on the sheer volume of people that are in the store and the fact that I believe there are other such shops that have this special arrangement are open, so it's not ALL of Utrecht that shops here) radius descend on the "Appie" (that's what us locals call the Albert Heijn store). It's really incredible!! The line ups for the till wrap around the entire store (fig 1) and don't even get me started on the parking! It's an absolute nightmare (fig 2)!
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fig. 2 Parking lot. Can you see my bike? No, seriously!? Can you? |
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fig. 3 Chicken, Romaine lettuce & bread |
So why do we do it? Why do I follow the hordes and enter the store at the same time? I mean, I just came back from a half hour shop when all I needed was 3 items (fig 3) (I'm thinking Chicken Ceasar and toast for the morning). I mean, I don't plan to eat for another few hours, and yet I stubbornly face the masses and wait in line. I know for a fact that the store is relatively empty at 6pm... so why don't I wait? Why don't I think ahead and buy food for Sunday on Saturday? It would be so much easier! Hmm... I have no answers to these questions. All I can say is thank goodness that my local Appie is open and that is gives us the chance to get those Sunday groceries that we didn't pick up on Saturday. And heck, Sunday afternoon is all about taking it easy, so why not take it easy with all your neighbours, in line at the store?
Bon appetit!