Bread

This isn't going to be a lengthy diatribe on an old British sitcom (much as i loved it). Nor will it be a rant on the 'interesting' (read: ugh) taste of the bread over here (like a teacake without the fruit!). Although i'm sure could quite happily go on about this for quite some time, i think i may have already done so and have no wish to repeat myself. Too much, anyway! No, this is bread-related but on a different note. When some American students visited my university on an exchange way back when i was a lowly undergrad, i can remember them telling me that there were three things over here that were more expensive than in the UK - one was textbooks, one was olive oil and the other, i really can't remember. Well, having been here for a few months now, i've had plenty of time to nosey around at the prices and see what the score is. And generally, yes, things are cheaper over here, especially when you consider that exchange rate (i know i've mentiond this before). Except i recently threw out a few old supermarket receipts and noticed one thing that wasn't - bread!

Now, me being me and disliking the packaged stuff you get over here, i like to buy some of the fresh stuff - you know the kind that you need a hammer, chisel and electric saw to cut into and have few teeth left after eating - and generally, these are pretty reasonably priced (usually ranging between 1.50-2.50 pounds in UK money) and i am pretty sure that this is dearer than back home. However, consider the fact that the pre-packaged processed loaves are also this price as well and i was somewhat flabbergasted - given that a reasonable loaf of bread at Sainsburys (where i used to shop - and not one of the cheaper places) was half that. Not that i object paying for decent bread but when it's sweet and, y'know, ugh (see above) and falls to pieces before you can even get it within an inch of a bowl of soup, it hardly seems worth paying that extra dough for (Oh, come on! You KNEW that joke was coming!).