Super Market

Esselunga...Proof that American culture has chewed up and swallowed Italian. More than Coca-Cola or "The Godfather." I'm sure Esselunga eventually will do away with macellarias and mini-markets and all the little shops that make Italy so charming. And I'm ashamed to say, I'm in heaven. It's a good thing I went to Mercato Centrale early. Otherwise, I would never have gone there.

By Italian standards, Esselunga is a big box store. By American standards, it's your neighborhood Albertson's or Safeway. But it blows Il Centro--our too-expensive neighborhood shop-- out of the water. It means buying ground beef and chicken breasts in silent, unthinking anonymity. It means one-stop shopping with your six-year-old tagging along. I found boxed tissues, succulent plants and a dizzying array of wine.

It's a stroll over the river and a few blocks. But it's my new daily (or twice-daily) jaunt. I've settled in to supermarket homogenization. American habits are hard to break....