I think we go to the grocery store about twice a week. Either we eat a lot or we don’t have enough space in the fridge. I’d like to blame the fridge:) but since we have eaten all our meals at home I guess both reasons make sense. My father in law can go three months with only one trip to the store. He obviously doesn’t eat as much as me.

There are four grocery stores in Thusis-closest town to us. Two stores are relatively new and operated by non-Swiss. The Swiss are very loyal (or suspicious) of non-Swiss products.

The Swiss love their bread. They have all sorts of bread and one special one for Sundays called Zopf. Cheapest loaf of bread we found- $1 for a 1/2 kilo or $1/pound.

Zopf

Lukas taking a nibble from the Zopf before anyone looks:)

They love their cheese! Or Käse. Most Swiss cheese (not the kind of Swiss cheese in the US) never make it out of the country. People love their cheese so they don’t end up with much to export (that goes for wine also). The cheeses are named after the place they are made. Think- do you want a slice of Los Angeles or Chicago on your sandwich? It has a nice ring. Thomas’ favorite is Apenzeller. It stinks so much that Anton doesn’t want to sit next to him.

Meat. Yummy! All different kinds of lunch meat, sausages, preserved meats (salami, smoked bacon, pancetta, prosciutto, etc) and fresh meat including wild boar and other game meat, veal, lamb, etc. Meat is a lot more expensive here.

Fruits and veggies
Normally, you have to weigh and print your own barcode for the fruit or vegetables before you go to the cashier. The item is usually labeled with a number that you then choose on the machine. The machine weighs it and prints a label.

Bagging groceries:
It’s self serve bagging here. And everyone brings their own reusable bags.