cause I love this kind of thing..or grocery shopping in Moscow

I recently stumbled upon the blog MamaCongo and love it.  Expats are always a good source on how things are in a country.  These women recently did a grocery store round up of stores in Kinshasa.  So I decided to somewhat follow suit about Moscow.

What can you buy in Moscow at the grocery store? Almost everything you need.  For reals.

First up, Green CrossRoads or Perekrestok Zelyoni.  It has the green railroad track looking logo.  It is very different than it's sister store, Perekrestok, which has the blue railroad tracks….trust me.  Different.

Lovely produce.  This is sort of a 3rd of the section.  They sometimes have basil.  They do not have kale.  No one in Russian sells kale.  Stop whining about how you love kale and get over it already.  It smells a little liked pickled things, as they have a pickle bar in the middle of the produce section.  Excellent stuff.

Variety of flours, baking supplies, even vanilla.  Easy peasy.

Pasta - done!  Olive oil in lots of crazy flavors - done!  Sauce is with condiments in another part of the store…

Juice - lots and lots of juice.  Fresh OJ not so much ever, but anything else and your good.

Laundry detergent - all sorts.  This place has Eco versions.  And those German stain catcher sheets.  All of this is also available at Metro in giant bags.  Cleaning supplies too - easy here.

Russian toilet paper.  If you think you cannot use it, you are wrong.  Wrong!  People will shake their heads and feel sorry for you when they see you hauling your giant boxes from the mailroom.  Don't do it!  Kleenex is Kleenex the world over.  Yellow labradors on the front make it perfect and soft.  Zewa is fine and European I think? Lambi too.  They do like scented TP, so be careful your choice doesn't have peaches or strawberries, unless that is your thing, and then, well, your all set?  Metro also sells giant bundles of this stuff, think almost like Costco.

Next Blue Crossroads, the less sister to Green Crossroads.  Their produce is not so beautiful but they have other stuff…I don't normally shop here as it is not on a route I walk a lot.  But there is still stuff to be had!

Plenty of European cookies.  Cookies are easy here though they don't sell Oreos.  Not sure what is up with that, even the Chinese have Oreos.

Lots of cheap salt and sugar.  Blue topped salt bottle is about $1 and the Natural Sea Salt big box is about $3.  Bring on the sodium?!

At the check out - so your kids can still whine, even in Russia.  Reese's peanut butter cups are sort of a new thing.  Also Kinder eggs are a big deal here.  Kit Kats, Mars bars, Snickers, and gummy bears.  Candy - pretty easy.

A not so hot picture of Metro.  Lots of countries have Metro.  Not giant containers of much, but rather lots os small or normal sized things taped together.  They have Asian stuff, Hershey syrup, Nutella and I bought an awesome shashlik grill last week.  And I spotted apple cider vinegar there this week.  So there you go.  You will need a shopping card.  An Embassy can provide you with a letter, otherwise I am not sure how and who qualifies to shop there.  Almonds are $15 a medium sized bag but I love them.

And this random photo?  Contact lens vending machine.  No prescription needed.  The husband has bought saline out of one of these babies and so far he reports it seems like normal saline solution.