Baskets on Wheels

One of my favorite things here is the baskets in the grocery stores. In the States I’m usually a grocery cart kind of girl, but not here, for the following reasons:
• There is a EUR 1 deposit to use the carts, and although it’s refundable, it’s a pain to have to pay for your cart
• Grocery stores are MUCH smaller here than in the US, so there’s not much room to push a cart around
• I have to carry everything I buy for the 15-20 minute walk home, so if I were to buy enough to warrant using a cart during one trip to the store, I would be miserable carrying everything on the walk home
Because of these reasons, I am now a tried-and-true grocery basket user. Carrying a basket can be quite inconvenient when also having to carry one’s purse, reusable bags (you must pay for the store’s bags if you don’t bring your own, this is pretty consistent across Europe) , scarf and earmuffs (the walk to the store is so cold, but once you enter the store you get hot if you don’t take everything off). During my first trip to the Hoogvilt Grocery Store, I was elated to find BASEKTS ON WHEELS! They have a handle like a wagon, so you can just pull your basket behind you as you walk through the store. I seriously believe this is one of the greatest inventions of modern times.