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...
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