Things We've Found .... And Haven't ....
As we got ready for this adventure and decided how to best utilise our
limited shipping space, one of the most important considerations was ....
food. What wasn't available for a reasonable price, or at all ? We also
thought about clothes, shoes .... certainly appliances .... but, foremost
on our minds was daily sustinence .... could we survive without our weekly
dose of Slim Jims ??!! Below are our impressions of British products, and
in general shopping in the U.K. For the table, alphabetical order applies.
Random thoughts:
Beef -- forget about "mad cow disease" -- you won't have to worry about it. Beef here tastes different in a way that's hard to explain. We suppose we're just spoiled by 40 years of great Midwestern corn-fed cows. In short, cook-outs just don't have the same appeal.
Chicken -- very good here .... fried, roasted, or just plucked and eaten raw, beak and all .... we love it. It is a little more expensive, especially for beakless.
Market day -- worthy of it's own page (hey, we're workin' on it). But just to whet your appetite -- every small town has "market day" once a week, year round. This is outdoors, with meat, fruit, veggies, flowers, clothes, "junque" -- some really good bargains. We often wonder how some of the shops survive. A highlight where we live is "the crazy butcher", throwing packages of all kinds of fresh meat onto the scale, for a fiver or a tenner. Also alot of hardware type items.
"Car Boots" -- like a mobile garage sale, outside, with sellers paying a nominal fee to set up a table. Lots of tapes, CDs, hardware, used clothes, used toys, furniture and miscellania. We found a handmade furniture booth, and have bought some excellent pieces, including a china cabinet. We also ordered and they delivered a butcher block for the kitchen -- built it "un-disassemblable" and 2 inches too wide. After trying to get it in every door and window without success, they said .... "Uh, well .... where do you want it then ?" We said "How about back in your truck ?"
Shoes -- quite an experience. They are sized differently, and the moderately priced stores we shop at don't really have all the sizes in stock. The conversation now goes like, "I'm a size 40 .... what kind of shoes do you have in that size ?" .... hilarious.
Malls are plentiful, with just about anything you want. "Superstores" are popular, similar to the rest of Europe. For the unintiated, these are stores that sell a little bit of everything -- food, clothes, tapes, TVs. Argos is one of our favorites -- they are mostly a catalog store, with a twist -- you go to the store, write down what you want from the catalog, punch it into the computer to see if the items are in stock. Then, you bring your list to the till, pay and pick up your stuff five minutes later -- pretty slick.
Most people use credit cards or debit cards, even when shopping for food. You really don't see many cheques.
Internet commerce -- we buy alot on the internet -- a U.S. checking account or dollar account here is a must. The same goes for a U.S. issued credit card -- exchange rates for conversion of local purchases into dollars seem to be the daily spot rate, with no conversion fee -- this is a pretty good deal.
Speaking of internet shopping, a site recommended by a visitor (Thanks Erin) to this site, for American food shipped here -- check it out! -- AmericaToYou
Bread -- is excellent, fresh with a lot of variety.
The table below deals mostly with food, although a few other noteworthy items are included. Also, it deals mostly with non-perishable items, since there really isn't any alternative for perishable goods -- we did try to ship several gallons of dill pickles -- they did not survive.
| Item | Bring Some? | Readily Available? | Comments  |
||
| A1 Steak Sauce | Y | N | Local brands have thinner consistency and are less spicy. | ||
| Batteries | Y | Y, but | Expensive | ||
| Blue Jeans | Y, extras | Y, but | Expensive. | ||
| Cake Mixes | Y | Y | Limited selection. | ||
| Cereals | N | Y | Large selection ... Can you say "mueslix" .... ummm, yummy | ||
| Chocolate Chips | Y | Y, but | Sold only in small packages, and therefore expensive. | ||
| Cigarettes | Y | Y | We know these are not practical to bring, but it just makes us feel better to say bring some ... heck, bring some for us. They are about 5-6 USD a pack here, in cartons.... oh, a little willpower would pay for a great holiday at the 3-4 packs a day between us. | ||
| Cleaners (Household) | N | Y, but | Selections are limited, and be prepared to learn new brand names. | ||
| Coffee | Y | Y, but | We brought 12-5 pound cans from the States. Instant coffee is very popular here -- fresh coffee usually comes in one pound bags with limited selection, and is therefore very expensive. | ||
| Cookies -- Oreo | N | Have recently arrived !! | |||
| Desserts | N/A | Y | Good, lots of variety, but less sweet, more crumbly | ||
| Dressing, French | Y | N | Does not exist here. Plan to bring with or make from scratch. | ||
| Eggs | N/A |  |
OK, we said no perishables -- eggs are plentiful, brown where we live, cheap, and not refrigerated at the store. | ||
| Hot Dogs | N/A | Y, but | Learn to live without. Taste nasty -- guess pig noses and tails are also better in the US. | ||
| Macaroni & Cheese | Y | Y, but | Called "Cheesy Pasta". The noodles are good, but the cheese is different -- We've heard of people who have bought a case of Kraft's, thrown away the noodles, and shipped only the cheese packets to minimise the shipment. | ||
| Paper Towels | N | Y, but | Local brands are scratchy and not very absorbent .... Bounty is available | ||
| Pasta | N | Y | Good variety, and fresh | ||
| Peanut Butter | Y | Y, but | We brought 3 giant jars -- different taste here, due to the use of raw peanuts instead of roasted. | ||
| Pizza, Frozen | N/A | Y | Very good here. | ||
| Potato Chips (Crisps) | N | Great here -- more variety. The most popular flavor is salt & vinegar. Also comes in shrimp (prawn). | |||
| Pretzels | Y | Y, but | Different taste. | ||
| Root Beer | Y | N | Does not exist here. | ||
| Slim Jims | Y | N | Have not seen here. | ||
| Soup | Y | Y, but | All of the soup is "Cream of Something" .... if you want good old Chicken Noodle, or Chunky Beef, bring it with. | ||
| Tuna (Canned) | Y | Y, but | No white, and mostly in brine (not water) | ||
| Velveeta | Y | N | Does not exist here. | ||
UK Shopping Websites |
|
| Argos | Fun Catalog store (see comments above) |
| B & Q | A D-I-Y (like Builder's Square) store |
| Dixon's | Electronics, telephones,etc. |
| Homebase | Another D-I-Y store |
| Marks and Spencer | Mostly clothes, but recently into up-scale? food |
| Sainsbury's | Mostly a grocery store, but in the superstore category -- a bit pricey |
| Tesco | New stores are superstores -- old stores are grocery stores |
| Waitrose | Upscale food shop -- part of John Lewis (John Lewis has a crummy web-site) |
| W.H.Smith | Books, CDs, Cards, Videos, Games |
Internet Shopping Websites |
|
| Barnes and Noble | You've heard of these guys .... Books .... bigger & better than Amazon.com |
| Blue Mountain | Internet cards -- one of our favorite sites |
| FreeBitz | Something for nothing ... well, almost |
| e-Bay auction | Aww, if you like beanie babies, and have the patience to wait for the auction to end, you'll love this site -- the kids here do. |
| FreeShop | Free deals on the internet -- for cheap-skates like us |
| Gifts with Heart | Kinda a fun place .... suggested gifts for all those special people .... free reminder service |
| QVC | Home Shopping Network .... who can do without these guys ? |
| Scan | Computer stuff .... some good daily bargains .... next day delivery in the UK |
| Deal of (the) Day | Discounts on about anything bought on-line |
| Sky Mall | Ever read those airline catalogs .... well, this is it .... everything for the worldly traveller .... pretty expensive though |
| W.H.Smith | Books, CDs, Cards, Videos, Games |
        |
[Hits Since 04/18/99 15:00 GMT -- {or, English Style, 18/04/99}]
