Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Were they telling us something?

Last year we went on couple of trips with our Spanish class. The first was a cultural tour of Orihuela for the afternoon. The second was a day trip to Murcia which included lunch.

So when Eduardo told his we were going on an "excursión" we were quite looking forward to it . When he added we would be given a "regalo" at the end of the trip we were more than interested. Then Eduardo explained that the trip was to the new Hiperber supermarket in Bigastro. Not quite what we were expecting but still; nothing ventured - nothing gained.

As it turned out, it was most interesting. We were offered a drink and a cake which was welcome on a chilly day. The lady who talked to us explained in very clear Spanish the concept of Hiberber which is to sell good quality products at cheap prices. She went on to explain that they specialised in "productos blancos" which are own brand products.

As an illustration Hiperber had assembled two baskets with similar products - one famous makes and the other own brand. The basket of own brand products was half the price of the other. That was music to our ears. The abysmal exchange rate (1.18€ to the £) means we all have to be conscious of what we spend these days.

Hiperber in Bigastro has an aisle which specialises in British products so they had an Englishman Paul there to explain the concept. He was keen for people to let him know what products they would like to see in the shop. So far, the only suggestion he's had is for ginger cake. I'm sure we can do better than that.

Now to the present. At the shop entrance were two trolleys filled with carrier bags. We thought we'd get one bag from either trolley but no - we were to take a bag from each. So between Pam and I, we came out with four bags full of cleaning products; enough to keep us going for a month of Sundays. Casa Willo will never have looked so clean.

Now Eduardo, your next challenge is to arrange a trip to a bodega!

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