You arrived a few weeks ago to Barcelona and the idea of walking home with heavy groceries makes your fingers gnarl with horror. You recall the agony of walking towards your
new pis (apartment) two or three blocks away and stopping continuously to shift the weight of the plastic bags to keep them from digging into the crooks of your fingers. The weight of the bags begin to slump your shoulders and the grocery bags begin to skim the surface of the sidewalk. You instantly lament those past days of yonder when
you once drove to the supermarket and leisurely loaded bags of
groceries onto the trunk of your car.
The
solution to this problem is to purchase as soon as possible a shopping
trolley/cart. You can load the shopping trolley/cart with bottled water, milk tetra bricks, kilos of your favorite fruit, or any other heavy
food item that once hurt your fingers and crunched your spinal discs. You will walk
out the store in relief that the carretó
was the best investment ever. Shopping carts come in different styles and
colors ranging from bag types to trolleys with a separate compartment to
keep perishables in a thermos pocket. As you make your way to your pis you will feel in spiritual
grocery glory with the local dones
pushing their trolleys home.
Next
thing to remember when grocery shopping: you need to have on hand a one euro
coin, a fifty céntimo coin, or a two euro coin to lock your cart at the front of the checkout stands and another coin to release a store shopping cart.
The latter is more common for stores that have parking lots and want to ensure
customers kindly return the carts to the shopping cart collection point. If you are British and have a two pence coin and the coin slot accepts a two euro coin, it will release a shopping cart.
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Opps forgot to photograph a two euro coin. A friend gave mea mock coin used
to put in grocery cart slots.
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Do not
underestimate the use of these carretones
especially if you have children. Your kiddies are going to want juice boxes,
yogurt, Cacaolat (chocolate milk), etc. And if
you need to pack their school lunch, your grocery load is going to be even
larger and heavier. Lastly, if your building does not having an elevator and
you live on the fourth floor of your building, your grocery shopping troubles
are going to multiply. The good news is there are now nifty carretones made with special wheels to
help you pull the cart up flights of stairs. Carts made for stairs have
three back wheels on each side to make going upstairs easier.
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See the three back wheels? This cart can be pulled up
flights of stairs.
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A different option is have groceries
delivered to your home for a small fee, normally about two euros. The stoic cashier
will write down your name and address and have it delivered during allotted store
times.
When
you get to the checkout line and it is your turn to have your groceries
scanned, make your move fast and do like the iaias and retrieve your trolley even before the customer in front of you has finished packing his/her trolley, so that you are ready to pack your groceries. Load the heaviest and biggest items at the bottom. You can naturally
figure out what to do next with the rest of your groceries. Thank the cashier
and wheel your groceries home like you just bought the most useful and
convenient item on earth.
Molta sort!
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This trolley has a red ribbon to distinguish it from an exact
trolley there might be at the store.
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| When your trolley is full, push it instead of pulling it. |
