Shopping adventures

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So, right outside my door is the first and one of the largest pedestrian shopping areas in the world. Every store one could imagine is there, and even though I generally hate retail, I have wasted a lot of time just wandering around observing things. This place is always busy even in the middle of the week. Oh, except for after 6pm when absolutely everything save the Tesco metro shuts down. Then it is a very boring place indeed.
Today I spent the morning in search of nothing in particular. There are three outdoor stores within 5 minutes of eachother which pleases me. The IKEA is easily less than a 10 minute walk. A full size Sainsbury's is about 5 minutes away. After living the last two years within walking distance to one grocery store, a liquor store, and a bank, the choices before me now are fantastic.

I visited a Boots store today which is basically just a UK pharmacy/drug store. Never has someone enjoyed an aisle of plasters (band-aids) more than I have today. I spent long minutes pouring over available medical supplies and over the counter medicines. Yes, you can get tylenol (paracetemol) with codeine here over the counter.

I then went in search of salt and pepper. If you know me, you know the irony of not having any in our kitchen. After watching my neighbor grinding his own pepper in a bowl last night, I decided to find some shakers. I finally found some cheap shakers with salt and pepper in them, but when I got home I realized I had actually bought two different kinds of pepper and no salt at all. White pepper? Looked like salt to me in my excited quick glance. Oh well, it was only 39p.

I spent some time at Coventry market, (see below) which seems to always be a lot of fun. I bought an onion for 6p, so can't go wrong there. Above is a picture of my favorite stall there, the American import store. Pop tarts, stove top, Jif Peanut butter, Hershey products, and various sodas, all normally unavailable here. I could have gotten a Reese's cup for 85p, but I couldn't stop giggling.

It is a cruel irony to find a 3 liter bottle of drink (yes, 3 liters!) at a cheap price, and know that I can't buy it because it won't fit in my fridge, and I haven't seen and ice cube in Britain yet.

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