Thursday, November 19, 2015

The Famous Manilva (Sabinillas) Sunday Market



With the majority of Sabinillas' shops and businesses closed on Sundays there isn't much to do in southern Spain except walk along the beach, visit with friends or family, or visit the huge Sunday market in Sabinillas. Sadly, we have no friends or family here and we walk along the beach every day, so on Sundays we make the 20 minute walk up the road to market. Walking to the market is key as traffic queues to get into and out of the market are almost a mile long and enforced by half a dozen local police (it would seem we're not alone in the 'no-friends, no-family' category).


I meant to write about the market when we were here in March but apparently never got around to it. Basically it's a giant food and flea market that has everything you could possibly want or need,(including:
The kitchen sink
More cowbell
and most especially, the stuff you don't (see below). Items aren't always in the best or cleanest condition, but if you look hard enough, you can find it at the market.

Since we're here for another five months and our bare bones apartment is lacking in the majority of amenities that make life easier, we've been at the market the last two weekends picking up bits of stuff, particularly a variety of used electronic cables that would allow us to run our laptop through the apartment's old-school TV so we can watch the movies and TV programs we brought with us, on a larger screen. Ten Euros, three different cables and an adaptor box later and we still haven't sorted this out. We think we found what we need at a local 'China store' (oh don't worry, the 'China store' will be covered in a future blog.) but can't decide if it's worth trying and failing with yet another cable.


One of my favourite market stalls is the 'Ceramics Guy'. Because I seem to have an addiction to bright colours (also obvious with the beach glass I've been collecting) I nearly have to glue my hands into my pockets to keep from buying everything ceramics guy sells -- beautiful, handmade Spanish pottery. Last March, I bought a small version of this jug as a 'thank you' to my friend Anna for taking care of the my cat, the late (not tardy) Bumper, while we were away. This trip, we picked up a larger version for ourselves that serves as the perfect decanter for a €2.20 bottle of wine (don't judge).
Pretty ceramic jug

Cheap wine

We didn't have much of a shopping list this visit so I took the time to look more closely at the stuff being sold and less for a particular electronics cable. Of the estimated 120 or so vendors, maybe 40% (Ceramics Guy included) are selling items that are brand new. That leaves 60% of the vendors selling used, garage sale-esque items, some of which is the holy bounty of absolute crap. 

While it's been said that one man's trash is another man's treasure, in my wildest dreams, I can't imagine that any of the items pictured below could be considered anyone's idea of treasure. Though I could see them being buried in an unmapped location.


Behold, a small sampling of Sabinillas Sunday market crap:
This playful bear wants to spend its life on its back in your living room. Make a two-for offer and they'll throw in the domineering Thai elephant.
I like to think that the guy in this print never told his friends he posed for this. I also like to think that one of them will see it at the Sabinillas market and never let him live it down.



What would Spain be without its bull? And of course, the matador. Thankfully more and more people here are recognizing the cruelty of bull-fighting, but such traditions are hard to break in a country that puts the image of the black bull on everything. Imagine these museum-worthy paintings hanging in a special place on your walls.
Whoever painted this must have either really hated his mother because that is not a flattering image of her in the background.


'Don't look now Matador Michael Jackson, but there is an angry bull coming up behind you!!'




Saturday, November 7, 2015

The Paper Trail



Anyone who knows me has heard me complain about the way that North American companies rip off consumers and make them think they're doing them a favour using BS marketing. One particular scam that really ticks me off is how paper products are sold and marketed. 

Boxes of facial tissue all used to have 200 sheets and every few years manufacturers have decreased the contents of the box by 20 or so sheets while maintaining the container's larger size. Tissue boxes now have either 118 or 80 sheets but the prices haven't dropped to reflect the change. Today, you'd be hard pressed to find a box with 200 sheets that isn't being marketed as a double-box with a negligible savings over the cost of two boxes. Toilet paper, paper towels, feminine hygiene products are all sold exactly the same way. And if you want to be ecologically responsible and buy recycled paper products, you'll pay a premium for the privilege, which is just beyond my comprehension. The fact that all disposable paper products aren't made from recycled content is just absurd.

Jump the Atlantic and you'll witness a more sensible approach to consumer products and waste management. Space is at a premium in most European homes -- heck, in most of Europe period. Homes just don't have massive storage closets able to stock enough items to survive that nuclear attack. When the bomb drops you'll be lucky if you last the week. But you probably won't care anyway because you'll be out at a cafe with other members of the doomed population having a drink and talking about what just happened. 

People here shop a couple of times a week for consumables and though I have seen some North American habits creep into the market here, for the most part products are ultra concentrated. I still can't get over the single 600 sheet roll of paper towels at the grocery store. It was massive. I didn't buy it because I don't have anyone who  would appreciate me willing it to them, but it just makes so much sense for anyone with a messy family who doesn't reach for a rag to clean up a spill. 


And this is how a triple roll of TP is packaged. When they say 'Mega', they mean it. At nearly 600 sheets per roll (or 2300 sheets per package), North American mega rolls look like a bad joke. 

By comparison, North American brand Cascades, sells a 'double' roll that has 225 sheets, and that's not bad by NA standards; I've seen 'double' rolls that have 180 sheets (!?) You can see why I get so angry at having manufacturers BS me with their marketing.
So, I decided to look closer at what the social, economic and environmental benefits could be for something like that 600 sheet roll of paper towels. These are just my inexperienced observations and I'd be happy to hear anyone's comments (for or against) my argument. 
For the record, many of the paper products sold in Spain (and Portugal, I know from  personal experience) are made with recycled post-consumer paper, and costs on the whole are 1/3 that of North American paper products.

Also, I also feel it necessary to mention that my product cycle example could have a negative impact on employment numbers, and welcome opinions on how that could be overcome or off-set.

Take a closer look next time you shop and analyze exactly what you're paying for. Chances are, your regular brand is ripping you off in more ways than one.

Hasta luego.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

We're Back!



It has been almost exactly eight months since my last blog post about Spain and in that time I have quit my job and moved here for six months with my boyfriend and our dog, Freddie. We sublet our apartment in downtown Toronto's St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood, and what contents we didn't purge were moved to my cottage in Haliburton, Ontario.

The apartment we rented in Sabinillas, along Spain's southern coast -- the Costa del Sol or Sun Coast -- is not exactly as expected or depicted in the online listing, but we have grown into it and are fairly content here mostly due to the location. Just three blocks from the beach, it is a treat to walk out our door and take Freddie for a walk along the beach and watch him play in the surf.  He has reached a level of 'being' I don't think I've known any human to experience.


Bamboo stalks are everywhere along the beach, some still tied together with rudimentary twine and large water bottle floats. Signs of someone's battered raft that carried them the relatively short distance from the coast of North Africa across the Mediterranean Ocean and into Europe. As unbelievable a thought as that is to most people, the dog appreciates this never-ending supply of sticks.



We've been pretty lucky with the weather so far, but despite the saying, the rain in Spain does not stay mainly on the plane. In fact, over the six days that we've been here it has been a balance between cool and gray, and sparkly and sunny . Yesterday it threatened to rain in Sabinillas so we decided to take a day trip to Sevilla where it was supposed to be sunnier and warmer. It was overcast but we still enjoyed some sites like the Plaza de EspaƱa and took in a little of the Festival de los Naciones on La Dia de los Muertes, commonly known as Halloween to North Americans. Kids and adults alike dress up to celebrate.



 Today back in Sabinillas, the surf is so 'angry' that we can hear it from our north-facing apartment. It's really something. I'd hate to be a refugee tempting fate in the ocean on the sunniest of days, but today's waves would be impossible to successfully navigate.

When we arrived last Tuesday we went to our local Carrefours, a Wal-mart type shop that carries food, household items, and alcohol. Everything we'd need to get set up in the apartment. Usually when I travel it's as a tourist and I bring my own supply of toiletries. Since we knew we are going to be here for a bit we had to stock up on everything: laundry and dish soap, shampoo and conditioner, paper products, human and dog food, etc. Despite spending  months trying to learn Spanish before we left Canada, I was not prepared for translating the labels of the all the products I would be purchasing. Needless to say, the shopping process was time-consuming and not altogether successful. It has taken me five days to discover that that the 'body wash' I bought is actually a moisturizer. I wondered why it wouldn't lather. On the plus side, my skin has truly never felt softer.



Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Yet another stunning morning in Estepona. I could really get used to waking up at 10:00am to a sunny sky and birds singing. I throw on a T-shirt and shorts, make coffee in the French press and sit on the patio with my book.

If I can figure out how to access the photos on my tablet to attach one, I'll show you my view.

Two days ago we drove the twisty road from the coast up into the mountains of Ronda for lunch. At €65 for the two of us it might have been one of the most expensive bare bones lunches I've ever had.  It started with bread and butter, which I know from traveling in Greece and Italy is an extra cost unless you refuse it. We hadn't encountered that yet in Spain so that was a €4 slip. I ordered a simple ensalada mixta at €6 but was told by the waiter that the house specialty salad offered much more and we could share it. Thinking it was like the little greens salad I wanted but with some veg thrown in I agreed to the upgrade. The new salad had no greens at all. Instead it was made up of grilled red peppers, chunks of tuna and anchovy slivers. It was indeed large enough to share, but since Andrew doesn't like fish it was all on me to eat it. He ate a couple of the peppers and declared them too fishy so left the rest. That was some €15 fishy salad.

Our mains arrived. Mine was an American sized plate of artichokes with the odd bit of cured ham thrown in to shake things up, and smothered in a ceamy sauce, too rich to finish. Andrew's steak and fries was also American sized but at least tasty. All that was washed down with a couple of cold beers. Being on a sun-filled patio in one of the most historic cities in Spain, in a plaza where Ernest Hemingway likely walked a hundred times, on a Monday is pretty satisfying. But when the bill came we were shocked at how quickly our simple meal added up, exceeding anything we had paid for at a dinner out and even the grocery bill. After that everything we priced became a reflection of the expensive lunch. As in, 'that boat is for sale at just 100 lunches.', 'those groceries were half a lunch.' And so on.

We soon learned that the portions for all meals are huge and have yet to run into the tapas sized plates we've been expecting. Maybe it's the heavy British influence in this area, I dunno. At home we often share one main when we eat out and I think we'll be doing more of that here.

In my last blog post I said I'd talk about ways the Spanish conserve electricity. Similar to what we've seen in Canada there is a big movement to compact fluorescent lights. The overhead lights in our Spain apartment cast a bleak unpleasant glow that is pretty much the exact wrong light to apply make up under. Reminds me of the lights department stores use in their change rooms. Horrible for trying on bathing suits. Perfect for locating cellulite.

Outside our apartment door we have glowing light switches that we press to light our way along the stairs at night. Someone has timed it perfectly, estimating exactly how much time it takes to get from the top (where our apartment is) to the bottom. Stopping to talk to a neighbour or pet Hulk, our downstairs neighbour's English bulldog, guarantees the lights will go out before reaching our destination.

However, I appreciate the efforts to conserve. The underground parking garage should have a motion detector but doesn't. Instead, in the middle of the day it is pitch black and soothingly cool. We use the car headlights to park in the teeny parking spot then have to run over to press the light switch on the wall to turn on the lights so we can empty the car. We have about 1 minute to get over to the stairs or elevator before the lights turn off. One day, some poor bugger was trying to change his tire in the dark. The Canadian in me immediately wondered how safe that car will be on the road, but then I remembered that this is Spain and they're less uptight about some things here.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

First couple of days. First couple of observations

My first trip to Spain was only 17 months ago and I was only here for about three days which were tacked on before and after to a motorcycle trip I was taking around Morocco.

From Toronto, I flew into Malaga via Paris both trips. The first trip, my luggage didn't get lost, but I digress.

What I knew without a doubt after my first trip here was that it wouldn't be long before I was back to see more of this beautiful country.

This time, my boyfriend and I have rented a cute little apartment for 10 days, just outside downtown Estepona. It's perfect for us - not in the hustle and bustle of a noisy city, but close enough to walk to it, and with a view of the ocean. Today, in March, it is a sunny 21 degrees Celsius outside. Certainly not the -21 we left in Canada.

So, some of the things I love about Spain - and western Europe in general, is how compact things are. The apartment isn't tiny by any means but the layout is efficient without excess. People here don't need giant fridges because they shop for groceries every couple of days or eat out. Which makes for fresher ingredients.

Our first night here, after a very long day (the day of lost luggage), exhausted, we dropped our things off, admired the view and hopped in the car to get groceries. We picked up staples and enjoyed one of our favourite meals, a fresh charcuterie plate of cured meats, cheeses, grilled veggies and fresh French bread. And of course, a big glass of wine. Heavenly.

 It's not like I'm not able to easily get all of these ingredients at home in Toronto, it's just that for some reason I don't. And when I do, they don't seem as authentic. This morning I opened the fridge and realized that the savory smell of leftover meats and grilled veggies makes me really feel like I'm in Europe. 

Living on a fairly small section of a continent means you have to make allowances and concessions. There is no doubt, it takes extra work to live in a small space. 

There is no room for giant landfills so everyone recycles. It is a way of life. And because space is limited, excess packaging is almost non existent. I don't know if people demanded it, or if it was the government or the manufacturers, but it happened and it just makes so much sense! 

Listen up, North America. I don't want to buy toilet paper with only 160 sheets on the roll and have the manufacturer try to trick me into believing it's a 'double roll'. I'm buying rolls here with more than 400 THICK sheets of paper. It might sound like a small thing, but it isn't. That small move means less cost to package, store and transport, and it takes up less room in the small apartment closets and in landfills, errr, I mean recycling bins since this is Spain. 

And surprisingly, the larger rolls of paper products here are much less expensive than in North America. Not sure why that is, yet.

Milk comes in Tetra packs and can be stored on shelves not in small home fridges, which also means there are fewer, smaller, electricity-sucking refrigerators in grocery stores. 

And as we've seen in North America, there is a large selection of ultra concentrated liquid soaps, but these are 3x concentrated not the pseudo 2x we have back home.

Next blog post, I'll talk about the smart ways Europeans save on their electricity. Innovative and universally accepted...