There are at least 200 people racing about the Mercadona, the supermarket at 10p.m. It seems this is the most popular time to go, and everybody is jostling for their place in line. I had just spent two hours hiking uphill to the Gardens of Carmen de los Martires to look down on the whole city. So I had missed my free dinner at home, and needed something cheap. Sounds easy, right? It’s not.
Nothing is pre-packaged and ready to eat here. But that means everything is fresh and everybody cooks. No ready to eat sandwiches, no pasta salads or other things behind glass. You have your butcher, your baker and your candlestick maker. But I had a good time investigating the differences between Spanish and American groceries.
The carts for instance. To use one where you can push, you have to pay one Euro to unlock the cart from a long line. When you return it, you get your moneda(coin) back. Most people opt to drag around a little basket with tiny wheels and a long plastic handle. Did I say this Mercadona was two floors? You take a flat escalator, no steps, with your little basket and wander around both floors. The women still load up their baskets just like they do in the US. Everything is ham flavored here.
If this was Iron Chef Andalusia-my province-they would make ham flavored ice cream etc…..Needless to say, I left with nothing-the lines were so long I couldn’t bear it. So I went home and dreamed of a huge plate of gnocchi from Maggionos.
2 comments:
You are complaing about ham flavoring?
:-)
At least you have Ruffles. Are they like potato chips over here just different flavored? Cause the potato chips in Russia are more like rice cakes.
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