A few days into my recent family vacation in St. Anton, a popular ski town in the Arlberg region of Austria, I decided to stock up on some snacks in my hotel room. 

The town I was staying in was pretty small and the only grocery store available was a Spar, a grocery store chain founded in Holland with branches all over Europe, China, India, and several African countries, according to its website. 

The local Spar was just steps away from my hotel in St. Anton, so after a full day of skiing, I decided to walk over at around 5 p.m. I already found it to be bustling with families, ski instructors, and groups of young people stocking up on food and drinks for the evening. 

Many COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed in the US and in the UK, where I live, but wearing masks in Austria was still very much a thing. According to the BBC, restrictions have eased in the country but masks are still needed on public transport and in "essential shops." 

And it's not just any kind of mask — most restaurants and hotels require visitors to wear FFP2 masks, similar respiratory masks to the CDC-certified N95 masks in the US. According to Wired, the filtration effectiveness of FFP2 masks has led both Germany and Austria to require them on public transport.

This was another reason to go to Spar, as I arrived in Austria with cloth masks and was quickly told to buy some of those masks instead. 

As soon as I stepped into Spar, there was a massive wall of Lindt chocolate bunnies of various sizes on my left, which was an early indication the snack aisle was going to be elite. 

Outside of Easter celebrations in April, I don't see bunny-shaped chocolate in UK grocery stores unless I really go out of my way to find it. Standing next to the chocolates was also a cardboard cutout of Mozart, which slightly confused me at first until I discovered the famed composer was the face of an Austrian brand of chocolate.

I'd gone into Spar with two intentions: buy some FFP2 masks and stock up on snacks for the hotel room. That said, I couldn't help but notice how fresh the bananas and oranges looked in the fruit section. 

And what I thought was really cool was how this Spar has a freshly-squeezed orange juice machine selling bottles in two sizes for 2.49 euros and 3.49 euros, or around $2.70 and $3.70. I'm really not a fan of store-bought juices or juices from concentrate, so this seemed like a cool alternative that I'd definitely try out if I was around longer.

The snack aisle was packed, which I guess made sense given it was around the time people were finishing up on the slopes and heading back to their vacation lets or hotel rooms.

I ended up having to wait a bit for it to clear out because I wanted the best view of all the different products. 

Waiting for the snack aisle to clear, I spotted some ski-shaped chocolates that looked so cute. They were literally called "Ski chocolates" and were priced at 2.79 euros, or around $3.

From what I could tell, Spar really knew what it was doing in terms of product placement — in a touristy ski town, I'm sure these chocolates were flying off the shelf. 

Once the snack aisle had emptied out a little, I headed in and was pleasantly surprised to find some familiar favorites. 

I always think of Haribo as an American-founded candy company but as it turns out, it was founded in Germany, not too far from Austria, which probably explains why there were so many Haribo variations in the Spar snack aisle.

One flavor I definitely hadn't heard of before was the Haribo Almdudler, candy that's apparently shaped and flavored to taste exactly like a classic Austrian lemonade drink, according to German Foods. 

Although I wanted to buy snacks I knew would definitely be worth the price, I was also interested in trying a few I'd never seen or heard of before. Knoppers chocolate and marshmallow wafers seemed like something I'd definitely enjoy and one pack cost 2.49 euros, or around $2.70. 

Meanwhile, I had no idea whether I'd like "Schoko-bananen," which looked to be a chocolate-covered banana-like snack, but I was so curious I had to buy some — plus it was on sale for 2.49 euros, or around $2.70. 

Apparently Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, prolific Austrian composer, is the face of a chocolate brand being sold at Spar. This explained my prior confusion at seeing a cardboard cutout of him at the entrance of the grocery store. 

Nonetheless, I was keen to try the chocolates when I saw them so I popped a pack into my shopping basket. 

Grocery store knock-offs of popular brands are everywhere, and honestly, they can be just as good as the original.

I was definitely excited to see whether Spar's Oreo-like cookies, priced at 0.99 euros, or around $1, could compete with the OG brand. 

Juice and iced tea seemed to be a pretty big deal in this Austrian Spar. Again, there were a ton of brands I never heard of before, like Yippy or Rauch's happy day spritzes. But there was one I knew I'd definitely seen before: Arizona Iced Tea. 

To quench my thirst after all my snacking, I decided to play it safe and get an Arizona original Green Iced Tea, which cost 1.19 euros, or around $1.29. 

I love Milka chocolate, and was surprised to see how many different variations of the classic chocolate bar were on offer in this Spar. There were so many flavors, like strawberry shortcake, yogurt, Oreo, Alpen milk, and peanut caramel, that I'd never even heard of. 

In the end, though, I landed on getting a "schoko and keks" bar, which is basically chocolate and cookie with a layer of white chocolate, which cost 1.19 euros, or around $1.29. 

Schnapps is also pretty big in Austria, especially where I was visiting in the Tyrolean mountains. 

At Spar, visitors can try the beloved national favorite by buying a whole meter of different flavored Schnapps for 16.99 euros, or around $18.50. Being on a family vacation, I wasn't exactly in the party mood, so I decided to skip it in favor of more snacks. 

At the check-out conveyor belt, there were even more Schnapps available for customers to buy.

This time, they were being sold as singular mini-shooters for a mere 1.79 euros, or less than $2. I was tempted to get at least one to try since they were apricot flavored, which sounded pretty good, but I decided to skip since I already had a lot in my basket. 

My Spar purchases consisted of chocolate-covered banana treats, Knoppers wafers, FFP2 masks, hot and spicy Pringles, Mozart themed-chocolates, a Milka chocolate bar, Arizona Iced Tea, and imitation Oreos.

The grand total came out to 20.58 euros, or around $22. There was no way I was going to be able to finish all of them but luckily, I was staying with family at the hotel who I knew would be keen to try my snack haul.

One of my favorite purchases ended up being Spar's imitation Oreo cookies, which came with a cute little sun imprint on the top.

They tasted exactly like Oreos but I think visually had slightly more of the cream filling, which is the best part of an Oreo in my opinion. 

The banana treats had way too much artificial banana flavoring and visually, it kind of just looked a little off-putting to me, so I definitely wouldn't buy them again.

Meanwhile, the Mozart-themed chocolates had a layer of what tasted like marzipan before a nougat-like center, both of which I'm not a fan of. Overall, the flavors were a little too sickly sweet for me, so I wouldn't recommend them.

Overall, the other snacks in my haul were pretty good. The hot and spicy Pringles I popped into my basket last minute were a much-needed savory break from all the sweetness, and the chocolate and cookie-flavored Milka bar was delicious. 

However, the best part of the entire haul was the Knoppers chocolate wafers. It was really light to eat, even though I'm sure the calories were sky-high. 

Having spent four years living in Boston, I can safely say Spar proves European grocery stores sell snacks that are as good (if not better) than any grocery store chain in the US.