#168 - Don't Like Being Trapped in U.S.

​Cancel Italy Plans

I just cancelled our hotels in Italy. I knew we weren't going months ago, but it was hard to do this final task. Even if we were brave enough to travel, we aren't allowed to go to many countries right now. Aruba and Turkey, yes. Italy no.

Trip to the Grocery Store

So no international travel. But at least we can pretend.
​Our neighborhood Randall's Grocery closed down over a year ago. During the pandemic, a new grocery store opened. 

I haven't been, because I haven't gone grocery shopping since early March.
​We've done curbside and delivery and Don has done in store shopping by himself. But today, we took a trip to Al Rabba.

Dreamlike

It was odd for me to be pushing a cart after all this time. I appreciated the cleaning station.

It was odd being in the grocery store where we shopped for 20+ years. It was a like a warped dream... maybe a Covid dream! Familiar this and totally foreign that...
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Curious Foods and Drinks

I miss our old store, but it was so crazy and entertaining to be in this new shopping atmosphere.  

I know what Sprite is, but what is Wai Wai? We didn't get any Iraqi Mango Sauce... this time!

Unfinished

The 61,000-square-foot supermarket, felt like a warehouse with towering boxes and pallets, stacked hight with bags of rice. So much rice!

I couldn't tell if some of this was temporary. They opened during the pandemic after all. Or was this a cultural thing? I felt like we'd taken a trip across the world. Visiting grocery stores in different countries has always been a wonderful way to understand the culture.

Eggplant

The produce was intriguing. So many kinds of eggplant!

These Graffiti Eggplants were beautiful. There were 8 different kinds. We bought some good old Italian Eggplant.

American Food

I had to laugh when I saw the American Food aisle. Raisin Bran and Honey Comb cereal!

We didn't purchase any boring American foods. We also didn't purchase any of these fine beds. Hmmm? Odd. I don't remember Randall's having beds and cots for sale.

Chat Hut

It was early for lunch, but we picked up some hot food, after we checked out.

Our lunch a little later, was much more exciting than the old salad bar the Randall's once had. Salad Bar. I'll bet we never see one of those again.

I didn't get a photo of the Samosas that we also purchased. All was piping hot and tasty. And later in the evening, Don grilled some burgers made with Halal meat. Tasted like ground filet mignon!

We kind of overdid in the sweet department. The coconut cookies were very yummy.

​No trip to Italy this year, but we took a trip to India and Pakistan, Africa, Asia and the Middle East... without traveling more than a minute from our house!
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