La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
I took a walk to El Corté Ingles supermarket Sunday morning to pick up this and that, things I forgot to tell San Geraldo to order for delivery last week. The supermarket, which is on the 5th floor of the department store, has been under major renovation and redesign and it’s pretty amazing, new bakery, butcher shop, dairy, freshly prepared meals, and more. It’s still a work in progress and kind of difficult to find things at the moment, but exploring is wonderful and some of the departments and aisles are settled. I love the enormous new wine and liquor department in the center of it all. That’s a commentary on the buying habits of locals.
I was pleased to find sugar-free protein drinks and bars. The selection in bars had always been limited and in drinks it was non-existent. The new drinks were all on sale, so I picked up several.
Of course, in the nutrition and supplements section (and in the beauty aisle), there were plenty of bogus products claiming miracle solutions to all our biggest problems. I found bags of gummies that will grow hair. And then there were lotion choices (plankton extract is a wonder drug) to give me washboard abs while I sleep. No diet or exercise required. How do they get away with making these claims? Anyway, I stocked up.
El domingo por la mañana fui caminando al supermercado El Corté Inglés para comprar algunas cosas que olvidé pedirle a San Geraldo la semana pasada. El supermercado, que está en el quinto piso de los grandes almacenes, ha estado en plena renovación y rediseño, y es realmente impresionante: nueva panadería, carnicería, lácteos, comidas preparadas y más. Todavía está en proceso de reforma y es un poco difícil encontrar las cosas ahora mismo, pero explorarlo es maravilloso y algunos departamentos y pasillos ya están organizados. Me encanta la enorme sección de vinos y licores en el centro. Eso dice mucho de los hábitos de compra de los locales.
Me alegró encontrar bebidas y barritas de proteínas sin azúcar. La selección de barritas siempre había sido limitada y la de bebidas, inexistente. Las nuevas bebidas estaban todas de oferta, así que compré varias.
Claro, en la sección de nutrición y suplementos (y en el pasillo de belleza) había un montón de productos fraudulentos que prometían soluciones milagrosas para todos nuestros problemas. Encontré bolsitas de gomitas que supuestamente hacían crecer el pelo. Y luego estaban las lociones (el extracto de plancton es un medicamento milagroso) para conseguir abdominales marcados mientras dormía. Sin necesidad de dieta ni ejercicio. ¿Cómo se atreven a hacer estas afirmaciones? En fin, me hice con un buen surtido.
• Puedo soñar, ¿no?
• En serio, te colocas tanto con las gominolas que crees que te está creciendo el pelo.
• Después de dos noches usando Yacel, me veo exactamente igual que el tipo de la caja. (Aunque mis ojos siguen siendo marrones. ¡Menuda publicidad engañosa!)
I love the boldness behind the claim that chewing a supplement that is naturally present in most foods anyway can stop you being bald, or that somehow rubbing creatine and seaweed onto your skin makes you lose weight and look like a “Magic Mike” stripper…
Me, I’m on Green tea extract and already look just like Chris Hemsworth in just two days with no exercise!
I wish.
Jx
Jon:
When we lived in Connecticut, our friend’s sister visited from Paris regularly for shopping trips to New York. The last time we saw her she was on the trendy Parisian chocolate diet, only the finest of course. I remember her sitting in the living room in her mink-cuffed jacket and skirt with a box of expensive chocolates in her lap that she shared with no one. She was in her late 50s, but looked liked she was in her late 40s. Either the chocolate worked or it was all the cosmetic surgery. I’m sticking to the chocolate.
Jon:
Chris Hemsworth. Sigh… I’ll be right over. When I was a child, I used to play in the sea and get covered in seaweed all the time. It worked back then; I always I looked like a child. I don’t do it now because I don’t want to look like I’m 10.
Whoa! Pictures of the new you please.
ellen abbott:
No need. Just look at the guy on the side of that box and imagine him with brown eyes.
Wow with such miracle products you will look 50 yrs younger. I hope you stocked up.
larrymuffin:
I will make a point of stockpiling it. Wouldn’t want to run out.
If it works like that, I will be on the next flight
David:
No need for the trip. You can get them in the States, too!
Let’s know if those products work!🤞
Anonymous:
I already look like the guy on the package.
Oops, missed yesterday’s post, but the title absolutely cracked me up — I love that Ingrid and Kingsley story!
I really like things with a touch of gold on them, like the little plate that had been your mother’s — I like that, and the green of that vase that SG’s mother gave him… wow, striking.
Judy C:
We spent some Thanksgivings at Ingrid and Kingsley’s in Oregon with their extended family. They were so entirely different when it was just us.
I’m sure I could find something in their too wet my whistle!!!!
BTW, I sent you an email you might get a chuckle out of. At least I think it was the right email….
Mistress Maddie:
Just saw your message and wrote back; it made me so happy!
Just as long as the store doesn’t sell snake oil.
Kirk:
I think any one of these might fall into the category of snake oil (and may even include some).
I like the photo you took of all the wine bottles. That store looks very unique compared to what I am used to in the United States.
Michael:
We have two large supermarket chains and then many other smaller ones. We order online from Mercadona and regular shop at our nearby El Corte Inglés Hipercor. It’s the high end supermarket and is fun sometimes just to browse. We used to regularly buy fresh empanadas there. So good.
Sellin’ the dream. And the thing is- people believe it I suppose, or they wouldn’t keep making and selling that shit.
Luckily, I need none of it, being the perfect specimen of female human that I am.
Mary Moon:
I know! I can’t imagine what it’s like to be you and never have to give a thought to any of this. Then again, being naturally perfect adds a lot of pressure, I’m sure.
I guess this is what happens when you don’t have an effective FDA regulating your products. (Of course the USA probably no longer has an effective FDA either.) Or maybe “supplements” are largely unregulated in Europe, as I believe is true in the states as well. I wonder what “Urea Cica Repair+” lotion does?
Steve:
I think supplements and “beauty products” get away with the same kinds of claims here, too. I don’t understand how because they’re regulated by Spain and by the European Union. Urea Cica Repair is for extremely dry skin and is apparently legitimate (scientifically tested), although I have no idea how much of a difference these cheap creams can make.
I think that abs stuff works. But you have to be in the gym every day for hours then apply it. Easy. Boud
Boud:
Yes! And steroids are an excellent supplement, too.