We first encountered it on the short flight once we got into Europe. Of course they were selling refreshments instead of offering them for free, similar to the U.S.
They had a pretty extensive menu – sandwiches, drinks, etc. The lady next to us ordered a chicken sandwich and a diet coke.
14 euro.
Holy crap! That is like 20 bucks and the sandwich looked as though it was fresh from the vending machine.
At first things seemed okay. Sure, food is a little higher here in general and the conversion makes it even more so, but it started out being pretty easy to take.
As the week has worn on, though, the high prices seem to be hitting harder.
We always travel on a budget and I find I usually do really well with sticking to it. I fill up on the breakfast at the hotel and manage with just one meal a day with maybe a coffee or tea while I’m out site seeing.
That Guinness and Bulmer’s Cider is just too darn tempting. Have I mentioned Bulmer’s Cider (Magner’s outside of Ireland)?
It is one of my all time favorite drinks. I’ve only had it two places in the U.S. – The Nine Fine Irishmen in NYNY Las Vegas and an Irish Pub in Alexandria, Virginia.
Okay, back on topic.
It is helpful that most places serve their lunch menus for extended periods some from noon until 6:00pm.
Now if you plan to go all out with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Prepare to fork over the dough. A breakfast or lunch of a simple bagel sandwich is going to cost you about 10 USD and dinners are typically 12 euro and higher.
This may not be such a stretch for those from the larger cities of the U.S., but it is quite higher than where I am from. I saw a bagel and cream cheese the other day for 4.25 euro. Yikes!
One exception is clothing. They have some department stores here with really high quality clothing which, even by USD standards, are great deals.
Wish I could stock up, but we traded cheap Ryan Air flights for any luggage weight freedoms.
I will admit I am missing the Real a bit. I’m looking forward to Prague budget-wise as well, although I’ve heard prices have risen over the past couple years. However, a 2-3 USD beer will be much easier to take than our 4.75 euro Guinness.
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. - St. Augustine
About Me
- Lori - Blondie in Brazil
- After residing in central KY for 4 years I've moved on with my husband to the cultural adventure of living in Brazil. My background is in nutritional and exercise sciences. After 3 years of working in an academic setting focused on health education outreach I have my sites set on freelance writing. I love dogs, especially my pug Macy Mae. I can't get enough of traveling. My favorite city so far is Vienna, Austria.
I Can Also Be Found Blogging At:
Subscribe via email
What I'm Up To
Followers
Blog Archive
-
▼
2008
(180)
-
▼
August
(20)
- Service Has Spoiled Us
- Euro Shock
- Sense of Security
- Seal in Howth
- A Weekend in Ireland
- Lifesavers
- Cold Is a Matter of Perspective – Revisited
- Today's Adventures
- Some Notes and Pictures
- Blondie Goes to Europe
- English – Not So Easy
- Food Court Fare
- Olympics from a Different Perspective
- Cooking and Baking
- Picture Post: Lombada Dogs
- For the Love of Peanut Butter
- Have a Healthy Day!
- The Sites in Curitiba
- Eating Our Way Through Curitiba
- Things That Make You Forget
-
▼
August
(20)
Labels
Fun and Helpful Info
Favorite Quotes
- If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home. - James Michener
- Exercising can actually be a form of prayer a thanksgiving for the privilege of having a body and for simply being alive. - Regina Ryan and John Travis
- Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle. - Plato
- It is never to late to be what you might have been. - George Eliot
- The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness. - Abraham Maslow
- I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. - Gilda Radner
Great Ex-pat Blogs
- Aussie Erin the American - Sydney, Australia
- Braziliant - Maringa, Brazil
- Chef Wanabe - New York
- Chez Loulou - South France
- Daily Rio Life - Rio, Brazil
- Don't Call Me Gringa - Santiago, Chile
- Eric and Emily's Adventures - Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- Gastroanthropology - London, England
- Just Married Chilean Style - Santiago, Chile
- La Gringuita Diaries - Santiago, Chile
- LovelyDharma - Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Moments and Thoughts - Arizona
- On the Fringe - Linyi, China
- Post Cards from Brasil - Rio, Brazil
- Samba Girl - US
- The Inscrutable - Canada
- This non-American Life - Munich, Germany
- Tokyo Terrace - Japan
5 comments:
Lori,
Funny you mention your Euro "shock"...I just spent a week in Sao Paulo, working, and had a "REAL" shock!!!
Besides the terrible exchange rate between the American currency versus the Brazilian one, I think things in Sao Paulo are just plain absurdly expensive...
Examples range from R$1900,00 for a week of car rental, a Corolla I might add, which was considered at the "luxury" category ( Hertz ), R$1550,00 per night at the Sao Paulo Renaissance Hotel, R$398,00 for a business lunch for two at Antiquarius restaurant in the Jardins area of Sao Paulo, R$1700,00 for a dinner for 5 at one of the Renaissance Hotel restaurants...
I can't imagine spending that much for a car rental anywhere in the US, very few hotels in New York or San Franscisco would cost that much for same size room, and even for restaurants I have a hard time coming up with comparables...
Now a very simple example of a product I remember we use to buy when we lived in Sao Paulo, the "Brie" cheese imported from France ( Presidents brand )used to cost around R$6,00 at Carrefour, at the time the US dollar was 1 to 1 with the Real, and in the US the same cheese, same brand and weight cost about U$3.99, ok, this was 1998.
Last week I found the exact same Brie from France same President's brand same weight for sale at "Pao de Acucar" grocery store at Jardins in Sao Paulo for
R$21,00.
I can buy the same Brie in Warwick, Rhode Island's grocery stores for U$4,99 and the exchange rate Real versus Dollar last week was around R$1.60 to U$1.00.
This is just one product that I could analize.
I imagined how many other things went up as high as this one.
The cost of living in Sao Paulo is much higher than when we lived there 10 years ago.
Ray
I do feel that most of Brazil is expensive. I can't say much about Sao Paulo, but in Maringa things are not cheap.
One of my biggest issues is the fact that things cost almost the same (even with the conversion) as in the US, but the quality in Brazil is 10x worse.
In the US can spend 25 USD on an item (anything - clothes, housewares, pots and pans) and get something of at least decent quality. The same amount of money in Brazil won't get you a quality product.
Ireland might be expensive but at least most things are of really good quality from food to clothing. That is one good thing, despite the price.
This reminds me of our week in St. Croix. I have no idea how the local Crucians eat. Tomatoes were $6/US a pound. The meals in the resort were a la carte and very pricey. A salad was $16/US, a steak $32/US. We lived on Pringles in a can for $6/US.
We are spoiled here in the American midwest, with lots of competitive food stores and affordable prices.
- Suzanne, the Farmer's Wife
Lori,
You are totally correct, things are more expensive and quality sometimes leave much to be desired...
Kitchenware in Brazil is really expensive and horrible quality, same goes for appliances, this is because they have laws protecting their local industry which makes imports so expensive, but the local industry still has to catch up with the imports in quality and sometimes technology.
Cars are very expensive and terrible quality, not to mention small and ugly for the most part( if you ask me ).
There were a few exceptions, clothes, shoes and linens that are made in Brazil are of much higher quality than those made in China for example, not cheaper thought.
Food products in general are of higher quality as well but are know, more expensive or the same price as in the US or Europe.
The Milk in Brazil tastes so much better ( "Long" brand ), I wish I could find at least one brand here that was as good...
Service in restaurants is 200% better in Brazil than in any other country I have ever been...these waters are professional, nothing like the teenagers with pierced noses and ears I am used to see in the US and Europe.
Maids are so much cheaper and better in Brazil. We have tried cleaning services and maids in the US and one is worse than the other, not to mention, absurdly expensive, we had to hire a cleaning service to clean our empty house before we moved in last November and it cost us
U$700,00, this was a house with no furniture, no kids or dogs, no carpet, all hardwood floors, it was really easy to clean, but we were traveling on the opposite side of the country and needed the service.
So, over the years you do find advantages of quality and prices in Brazil here or there, however I agree with you, it is very frustrating to pay what we pay for many things in Brazil just to find our the worse part, which is the fact that most people developing or manufacturing those goods don't get US or European salaries...the high price comes mainly from extremely high taxes, needed to maintain much of the political machine in Brasilia.
Ray
Hi suzanne - I have heard St. Croix and some similar islands in that area are very expensive. It makes it difficult when you want to travel and enjoy local foods.
ray - Definitely produce, meat and beer are exceptions to the high prices in Brazil. I totally agree with you on the milk. I have really enjoyed the milk we buy in Maringa.
I've already got an entry written and ready to post about service tomorrow. :)
Post a Comment