July 6

I think I've written before that for me, in every country, there are tiers in terms of shops and El Corte Iglès' supermarket is at the top of the price tier where some things cost the same as everywhere else but they also have tons of more expensive things you can't find in other shops... and sometimes they also have things you can't find in other shops but that aren't expensive at all. Last month I ventured out to that shop to find some kind of syrup. Either I am blind or Mercadona/Dia/Mas/etc. don't have any syrups at all, you know mint, peach or something of the sort. I found one lonely bottle of lemon Pulco syrup, probably imported specially for Frenchies who are trying to make summer drinks. And next to that bottle of syrup I found Swedish pear cider... yup, not in the alcohol aisle but in the fruit juice aisle. At first I went, "oh, that's nice, let's see the price, I bet they'll be asking 5e for a can"... and nope, 70 cents per can. 70 cents. When in Finland and Sweden they go for over 2e each at the shop. I honestly thought they must have made a mistake on the label but still took two cans and they really were 70 cents each at the register. Sure the choice isn't huge (only regular pear and apple ciders, no dry versions, no "light" versions) but 70 cents! I had heard that Finnish and Swedish alcohol was actually cheaper to import (illegally, I suppose) from Estonia than to buy directly from the source but this proved it.