But I've always enjoyed poking through grocery stores traveling abroad - China, UK, Russia all were interesting in their own way. Seeing what's similar and what's different. Yeah, cool - they have Pringles too - but... wow... such weird flavors. I do remember seeing canned horse in a couple of Russian stores. And in one upscale Moscow grocery, they had a huge fridge case for 'cheeses from around the world'. Germany, Italy, France, UK... kept going... got to the 'US' portion and ... tubs of 'Philadelphia cream cheese'. I thought I'd taken a pic of that but sadly can't find it any more. I really thought it was a joke.

Given that almost everything is a subsidiary of Unilever, the 'I wonder what they'll have' question has faded. But finding local flavors of things is still fun. Greece is likely my next bucket list trip. Any suggestions on foods to try or candies to look for - let me know! :)

What's common and everyday in one place is exotic in another.

It lets you get something that's just plain fun, for little money and it feels like a shared experience with the locals.

They don't usually appreciate what they have, but it's a great way to rethink your own culture's assumptions.

In the USA, it is very easy to find large pan-Asian-themed grocery stores. I could find about three very close by; a Filipino one just opened a few weeks ago here. It is very strange, though: there are no large-scale European grocery stores in the USA, that I know of. If you want Euro-goods, the source is very often a small family-run deli or boutique shop, and the same goes for British/UK groceries. It may be an accident of history and geography.

I traveled to Catalonia by way of London. In England I had no time at all to visit grocery stores. In Catalonia I saw them a few times. Carrefour was reminiscent of a large Target, basically. Of course a store selling groceries is not unfamiliar to anyone, but it was so overwhelming sometimes. I've mentioned a few times about the olive aisle. The national pride and diversity of varieties were simply amazing. I also experienced this at an Italian restaurant, where the complimentary appetizer was 3 types of olives, all very exciting.

When I first arrived in Catalonia, a friend served me a sandwich in her café, and said with gravitas, "it is jamón!" and I nodded. My high school Spanish said that "jamón" means ham. No big deal, she served me a ham sandwich?

By the time we arrived in the Carrefour, I began to realize that jamón was also a national dish and source of Catalonian pride. The legs were curing on display all over the store, suspended, sitting on shelves, you name it. Just ready to shave off a few slices. It wasn't until I arrived home and researched jamón and then tried to obtain it stateside when I realized what a treasure it really is.

> It's 10:00 in a Tokyo 7-Eleven, ... , katsu curry buns, ...

nitpick: "katsu curry" means katsu plus curry. katsu means Japanese localized cutlet fries. curry means curry. there are katsu sandwitches and curry buns in 7-11 JP, but no katsu && curry bun in 7-11 JP. Calling curry buns katsu curry buns is same as referring to french fries as fish and chips with emphasis on FISH when there isn't in the bag; it would be a false advertisement if a restaurant had done it. The author need to make up their mind and call it Japanese curry, or if their style guide prohibits it, just curry without indicating what type of it is, or, Japanese curry is not supposed to be much different from the Royal Navy recipe anyway, so you could call it the Navy style, that's probably fine too.

Another seemingly mundane thing I heard someone mention a few years ago and started trying was McDonalds. Counties tend to have some custom options or various spins on what I’ve come to expect. Apparently Hamburger University in Chicago lets you try food from around the world, though I haven’t been.

If you live in the SF Bay Area there are dozens of great opportunities to visit international supermarkets.

I'm particularly fond of the Korean supermarkets in Daly City - I like Kukje and Jagalchi.

We're honestly spoiled for choice though. We have great Asian supermarkets, there are Central and South American supermarkets all over the place, Jai Ho Indian Grocery Store in the Fillmore, Nijiya Market in Japantown... tracking down and trying these places out is a really fun micro-hobby.

One tip: this is even more fun if you do a tiny bit of research first and go with a recipe in mind. That gives you a quest you can structure your visit around. When I go without a recipe I end up with a basket full of weird stuff that I don't know how to use. With a recipe I still have that weird stuff but I also have at least one actionable meal.

An instagrammer visiting a konbini in Kyoto would be far more interesting.

(If you want that experience in coastal California, visit a Nijiya Market.)

For example in Belgrade they didn't have kaiser rolls in Lidl. That's a first for me.

Well there are a few insane places like Switzerland or Aruba.