'Bargain' hunting
DecaDance's Web Diary
Chris White and Jeanna Coleman
Tue 11 Jan 2011 14:41
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Position: 28:51.43N 013:49.01W
- Marina Rubicon, Lanzarote
Next time you're folding away your table cloth,
imagine how difficult it would be if it were longer and wider than your dining
room, albeit triangular in shape. That's what it's like folding a sail,
which we did yesterday before squishing it into a sail bag ready for today's
repairs. Never again will I be fazed by a king-sized duvet
cover.
Now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out, with a
captive audience of rich yachties and rent of a prime water-front location to
cover, the marina chandlery isn't going to be the cheapest place to source
spares. Three light bulbs and some velcro tape set us back
nearly €30 last week, but it was 5 cable ties (that were the wrong size anyway)
at a whopping €2.50 that caused Chris's eyebrows to raise so high that the Dutch
shop assistant realised what he was thinking and gave him directions
to a DIY shop. It was a good 15 minute cycle ride away, and I nearly got
wiped out on a big roundabout, but at €1 for a packet of 100 cable ties (of
the right size), we no longer have to consider that Easyjetting it back to a
B&Q might be the cheapest way to obtain important bits and
bobs.
Whilst Mr Dutchman was being so helpful, Chris asked him if
where the Lidl supermarket was, as there are adverts for it in the papers and
he'd spied someone with a Lidl carrier bag. This in itself is amazing as
Chris wouldn't be seen dead in a Lidl in the UK (I have no such qualms).
The Lidl is in Arrecife but Nice Mr Dutchman showed Chris where he
and the locals buy their groceries. Apparently, everything is
imported into Gran Canaria and 90% of it is distributed there and in Tenerife,
the other 10% making it to the remaining islands at further cost, which is
why everything is so expensive even before you add in the tourist factor.
We found the fruit and veg shop he directed us to, which is slightly cheaper
than the supermarkets near the marina, but, more importantly, much much better
quality. Next door is a bigger Hyper Dino supermarket (a name
which makes Chris chuckle almost as much as the Pingo Doce in Lagos) than the
others we'd found, so we finally have a reasonable choice of
groceries. The Spanish aren't as considerate as the Portuguese, and
don't provide a cute sketch of what the animal looked like
before it was chopped up and put in the packet, so I swotted up on the Spanish
for different meats. If you like cerdo (pork), you're in luck
around here, less so if you prefer vaca (beef), and not much at all
if cordero (lamb) is your preference. We chose some beef
meatballs to throw in with our roast vegetables and used up the last of the oven
chips 'cos the freezer needs defrosting. Later today
we're heading in the other direction to where he recommended buying seafood, so
I'll be looking up sea-bass in the dictionary before we
go. |