Someday I'll start a game where you have to find out how many musical and literary references I have actually come up with for my post titles. It must be close to a dozen now.
Anyway, what I really wanted to tell you is that I love globalization. Yes. Because of the food.
Suddenly all these things that I couldn't get enough of when I was on vacation somewhere are available here. Sometimes at my very own and nearby supermarket.
If I had a top ten list of things I always missed and now can easily buy here, this would be the top three:
1. Ben & Jerry's ice-cream (memories of the US)
Somehow it's always my birthday when something B&J related happens. In 2002 I was at a bagel shop in Cologne and saw that they were finally selling B&J in Germany. Last year it was on my birthday that I learned that they are selling it at a videoshop which is like 5 minutes from where I live and open until 10 pm. Can you say happy? Yes, I was.
2. Orangina (memories of France)
I always loved Orangina dearly. That's like the world's best lemonade ever. It has pulp. It's great. And, until recently, only sold in tiny 0,2 liter bottles. Now, guess what I bought Saturday: Orangina in a bottle that holds 1 liter. I was so darn happy.
3. Salt & Vinegar Chips (memories of England)
Okay, now I love chips. I know it's not good for my body, but I can't help it. When I first tasted Salt & Vinegar Chips in England I thought these people were crazy. I had to taste one more to declare them my favorites. Imagine my joy when they started to sell them here. But they're still somewhat hard to get. At least they do not sell them in all the nearby supermarkets. Duh.
What I still can't get are fresh and still hot Belgian Waffles. That's one reason to take the occasional trip to Liège. Ah, how I love those.
And they also don't have Dutch Vanille Vla.
On a side note this is one of the moments when I realize how great it is to live in Europe and be able to get to about five different countries in less than five hours. I can still be amazed though. I remember one of the times when we stayed at the boyfriend's parents' place for a couple of days and they said: 'Hey, let's drive to the Netherlands and buy asparagus.'
And we did. We drove to the Netherlands to buy asparagus. It took about 15 minutes. You can still color me stunned.
