WorldTravelReynolds

While we are still waiting for my ankle to heal and for Chuck and I both to gain more strength from whatever it is we have, we’ve been exploring the apartment, grocery store and cooking. Our illness is either a bad cold, bad allergies or something. Just not sure but we are on the mend. We feel much better today than we have since we’ve arrived a week ago. We checked the pollen count for this area because Chuck is having really bad allergy type reactions and there is no reason for his allergies to act up. I have a milder case but we both have had a fever with it. The weather has been amazing so we have had the doors to both balconies open the entire trip. It could be the dust kicked up from outside, something indoors or even the climate change. We kept the doors closed all day today and kept the air conditioning on. We are feeling better. We also decided to start taking some allergy medication just in case that’s it. 

As far as my ankle, I’m down to one crutch. My foot is bruised all the way to the tip of my toes. I can imagine what it looks like underneath the bandage. Icing has helped the swelling to decrease considerably and I can now put some pressure on it. I just cant walk around outside yet. Everything is either uphill or downhill, depending on if you are coming or going. Because I have been putting all my pressure on one leg, the muscles in my other leg are really sore. We’ll get out soon. In the meantime we are learning the foods, cooking and the different ways food is handled over here in Spain.

We found a market called Mercadona that is walking distance from the apartment. There are many around Spain as it is a popular market. However, this particular one is undergoing some renovations so they closed yesterday and wont reopen until after we are long gone. We’ll have to travel by bus or train to another market to obtain groceries. We did stock up the best we could for a couple of weeks (for about $50-$75). Hopefully by then I’ll be able to get outside and walk to the bus stop.

Some items we noticed at the grocery store were unique so I decided to write about it. It’s very interesting.

Sterilized Milk

Milk and Eggs are almost everyone’s staple in the fridge. Here, milk and eggs are not refrigerated when you buy them from the grocery store. Milk is sterilized, meaning it is heated for several seconds at 300 degrees to kill germs. It can then be kept at room temperature for several months until opened. Once opened it needs to be refrigerated.

Room temperature eggs

Eggs in the United States are refrigerated to prevent salmonella poisoning because they are washed to remove the outer layer called the cuticle. For a quick education, salmonella, one of the most common causes of bacterial food poisoning can run rampant through chicken farms, turning up on the outside of eggs thanks to contamination from dirt and feces; more insidious is when it’s inside the shell, thanks to the bacteria infecting a hen’s ovaries. To combat the problem, back in the 1970s, the US perfected egg washing: After laying, the eggs go straight to a machine where they’re shampooed with soap and hot water. This steamy shower washes away any potential salmonella, but it also strips the eggs of a thin coating called a cuticle. Without this protective layer, the eggs can’t keep water and oxygen in, or harmful bacteria out. So the eggs are refrigerated to combat infection.

In Europe, on the other hand, safety experts had a different plan: They left the cuticle intact, made it illegal for egg producers to wash eggs, discouraged refrigeration (which can cause mildew growth—and bacterial contamination—should the eggs sweat as they come back to room temps), and started vaccinating  chickens against salmonella. So, there you go. That’s why the eggs are sitting on the shelf! Once they go in the fridge, they need to stay. We are choosing to leave them at room temperature. We did notice the shells are harder to crack and the yolks are darker. I’m assuming this is one of the reasons why. They taste pretty good too.

Sterilized cream or “crema”. The UHT means its sterilized.

The cream or crema is the same as the milk. It is sterilized as well. 

The oven, not easy but getting easier.

Cooking has been interesting. Chuck, bless his heart, has been doing the cooking and being sick too. I truly appreciate all he is having to do for me. He gets a little frustrated at the stove top (hob as it is called here) and the microwave or microonda. He’s semi figured out the microwave but it’s still a guess on how it works. It will cook the amount of minutes/seconds he needs, so he’s happy, just frustrated he cant figure it out! The hob on the other hand doesn’t get hot enough at first but then heats up pretty quickly. Like 0-100 without anything in between. He/we will figure it out eventually. I think he became very spoiled with the induction hob in Florida that boiled water in 10 seconds. But, he really misses his meat thermometer. He keeps mentioning that Ikea is an hour train-ride away. I have a feeling we may be making that trip.

Everything here is in Celsius. Thermometer, microwave and oven. It is getting easier for Chuck to do the conversion while cooking but at first he had to drag out the conversion calculator a few times.

one ice cube is enough!

Ice is a rarity here! We kinda knew that before we started our travels from previous visits to Europe when we had to ask for more ice. There are no ice trays and definitely not an ice maker in the apartment so after making do with some candy maker molds (yes it really worked)

Candy molds aka Ice trays!

Chuck purchased a bag of ice. Those cubes are about 2 inches tall x 2 inches wide. HUGE! You only need one, which is good because its a very small bag. 

that amazing scrub brush. I bet its at Ikea!

And the most useful item or at least the most intriguing is a scrub brush with a suction cup on the bottom. Seriously, when done, you just pop it on the back of the sink. Its awesome!!

All for now, hopefully we’ll have some more exciting pictures soon!

May God bless you all!

Chuck & Lea Ann