"Billa has the best for me today!"
Six blocks northwest-ish of our apartment is Billa, our grocery store of choice. Karl and I find ourselves there at least once or twice a week. Each. It's not just that our food planning is lax and inefficient. (Although that's true for sure.) Our refrigerator is smaller than the average American fridge. And we also have to haul everything home in backpacks and hand totes. And then there are the 103 stairs up to the apartment. Oy.
Back in the fall, I posted pictures and prices on Facebook but have been meaning to do it here, too. Here's what I brought home recently after a big shopping expedition (not an oh-shoot-we're-out-of-pasta-and-toilet-paper emergency run).
Currency exchange today: 17.9 czk (Czech Republic Korunas) = $1 US. (Which, btw, is a lot worse than it was a month ago. Nice timing on the trip, A.)
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jablko (apples) 34.30 CZK or $1.92 US |
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| pomeranč (oranges) 24.90 CZK or $1.40 US |
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hrušky (pears) 16.70czk or $0.94 |
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| okurka (cucumber) 16.90 CZK or $0.95 US |
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| 200g máslo (butter) 24.90 CZK = $1.40 US |
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| 300g sýr Eidam (Edam cheese) 44.90 CZK or $2.52 US |
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| kefír (kefir -- drinkable yogurt) 14.90 CZK or $0.84 US |
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| polotučné mléko (reduced fat milk, 1.5%) 4 @ 12.90 CZK/liter = 51.60 CZK or $2.90 US |
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The Billa housebrand is "Clever." We have lots of Clever products in our apartment -- matches, cheese, toilet paper, milk. So very Clever.
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| Bagueta (baguettes) 3 x 12.90 CZK = 63.60 CZK or $2.17 US |
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| slané pečivo (crackers, or literally "salted baked goods") 4 x 15.90 CZK = 63.60 or $3.57 US |
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| omáčka (sauce) 44.90 CZK or $2.52 US |
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| těstoviny (pasta) 25.90 CZK or $1.45 US |
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| banánové plátky (banana chips) 8.90 CZK or $0.50 US |
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| párky (hot dogs) 19.90 CZK or $1.12 US |
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| losos uzený (smoked salmon) 29.90 CZK or $1.68 US |
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| salám vysočina (vysočina-style salami) 14.90 CZK or $0.84 US |
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| džus (juice) 2 Hello @ 19.90 CZK/liter = 39.80 + 1 Clever @ 11.90 = 51.70 CZK or $2.90 US |
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| 0.3 liter Pepsi Light (Diet Pepsi!) 19.90 CZK or $1.12 US |
But here's where we get our real steals ... pivo!
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| pivo (beer) 2 Krušovice @ 10.90 CZK = 21.80 US + 1 Kozel @ 12.90 = 34.70 CZK or $1.95 US |
There is also a 3 CZK deposit on each of the beer bottles.
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| na zuby (toothbrush, literally "for teeth") 12.90 CZK or $0.72 US |
I neglected to get the javor sirup (maple syrup) to sit down for its portrait, but that was our splurgy item at 149.90 CZK or $8.41 US. You can see it on the left-hand side of the picture below. Behind the apples.
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| Total bill = 764 czk or $42.84 US |
That's all for that shopping spree. Let me know if you'd like a price check on anything specific!
Thanks, Katie! The grocery store is more similar to the US than I expected. Love the clever logo! And Hello, too!
ReplyDeleteJust realized I also forgot to include a picture of the yogurt, another Clever item. It's in the group shot right in front of the milk. We buy plain yogurt and vanilla yogurt in a 2:1 ratio, because the vanilla is *super* sweet and needs to be cut with the plain. A 380g container is 10.90 CZK or $0.61 US.
ReplyDelete@ Jennie ~ most of the stores are pretty westernized in presentation. Which doesn't mean they're all on board with customer service (job #24 here). A few old-style, everything's-behind-the-counter-just-ask-the-lady-with-the-scowl-and-the-thick-pantyhose-for-"help" stores still remain. But, as you might imagine, I don't go in those very often. :)
Kate,
ReplyDeleteThis is Karl's cousin, Mindy, from Chicago. My father is Char's big brother, Sid. My sister Paula and I went to see Joe today and he mentioned your blague, so I decided to "czech" it out. (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.) I wanted to let you know that I've been enjoying reading the blog this evening. You really paint a wonderful picture of your time in Prague. I just thought I'd share with you how much fun it is reading about your boys. They sound like lots of fun, when they're not being a handful. I also have to say I especially enjoyed the Barbie pictures from the Toy Museum as I used to have quite a Barbie collection.
BTW, Joe was looking good and seemed pretty upbeat when we saw him today. We had a great visit with him and also got to see Jan and Paul. He seems to be doing pretty well under the circumstances. We're planning another visit in a couple of weeks.
I look forward to reading more about your time in Prague. It sounds like an enjoyable adventure, if not a little challenging. Take care!
Hi Mindy!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you left a note! And delighted that you've enjoyed the blog. I like doing it.
So glad that there's such a big group of family and friends that can be there for Joe and Jan right now. Please give them hugs for us. :)
Has anyone introduced you to z-market?? If not, you really should check it out:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.z-market.cz/z-market/
We used it all the time for Matoni, toilet paper, even cat litter. They carried everything up to our flat and it was SOOO worth it. My friends lived at a building right in back of Hradcanscka metro on the 6th floor and never heard a word of dismay from the delivery guys :)
Thanks for bringing it home for me - grocery prices are so relate-able! Food in at Billa is sheaper than food in Shaws.
ReplyDelete@ Kelly ~ I heard about z-market from some women at IWAP (were you involved with IWAP?), but I assumed it would be prohibitively expensive. I'll check it out now. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDelete@ Ms. Michel ~ It's been interesting to see the fluctuation in some prices since we arrived. The boxed milk (which Ben *loves*) was 10.90 CZK/liter when we arrived, and it's now 14.90 or 15.90. Yes, it started cheap, but that's a pretty significant %-age jump!
I didn't join IWAP but had a few friends who did. My friend Julia may still be involved...not sure. Her name is Julia Bryan if you ever run into her :)
ReplyDelete@ Kelly ~ I'll keep a look out for her. What years were you here?
ReplyDeleteWe were there July '07 - March '09. I worked for Monster in Vaclavske Namesti right next to McDonalds in the Darex building (blue sign on the front). My friend Julia has been there about 10-11 years. Her kids are both fluent in Czech (7 and 2), mostly due to early babysitter usage but both her and her husband are mostly fluent now too, and her older daughter is in 2nd grade at a local Czech school near their flat in Namesti Miru.
ReplyDeleteWow. (sigh) It's pretty safe to assume I'll never be fluent in Czech!
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to know if you find Czechs to be as "literal" as we did. One time when trying to secure a hotel room my husband asked to see the room but mis-inserted the word "watch" for "see" and the woman stared at him dumbfounded until my husband practically dragged her by the arm towards the room to unlock it so he could see if it had more than one bed! Those types of memories make for the best stories now, but boy were they frustrating at the time :)
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