Sizes

One of the things Ann and I are learning to adapt to here in Portugal are sizes of things.  The problem, so to speak, goes well beyond the simple English to metric conversions, or knowing that a men’s size 9.5 shoe is a European 43, or even that it isn’t miles per gallon but instead liters per 100 km.  It springs up in all sorts of ways, so we figure we might as well touch on some of them.

Now, I’ve already mentioned that we’ve bought an American refrigerator.  Face it, a European fridge just wasn’t big enough, especially in summer when there were so many delicious fruits to buy.  I guess if we had a small walk-to grocer we could visit, we wouldn’t mind shopping every day or two, but going to the grocery store every couple of days was getting tiring.  Plus, when we did a big vegetable purchase at any of the open markets we’ve been to we just didn’t have the space to keep the vegetables fresh.  So here it is.  Not huge by American standards, but definitely so for European standards.

And given that we do have a European-sized fridge in the kitchen, and that in the US we didn’t ever consider getting a second fridge or a freezer - there’s plenty of space in this one.  So why not fill it with wine bottles (and some Sagres just in case friends come over [hint hint]).

It definitely gave us the extra storage for vegetables and fruits we needed, so it was worth while.

A couple of weeks ago Ann decided she needed some cookware. The cookie sheets she’d gotten at the store (both IKEA and Continente) left a lot to be desired (the non-stick coating simply rubbed off!).  There were several  things Ann needed so she made a big Amazon.de purchase that, well . . . made delivery day a bit interesting.  You see, sizing became an issue.

For starters, her cookie sheet did not fit in the oven.  Well, it fit, but then some.

Of course, we could probably have made it fit in the one direction, but not quite right for cooking.  And this was a normal half-sheet pan.  Damn European ovens!

It’s been a bit since I started this post, so let me add an update. Our household goods have arrived as you know and well . . . it looks like our old cookie sheets aren’t going to cut it in our European oven either. In fact, our US sheet pans fit even worse.

But back to the Amazon order - it didn’t stop there.  Ann wanted a good plain old cooling rack for her cookies.  The image on Amazon looked fine . . .

but the thing is miniscule!  It might fit 6 of Ann’s cookies.  “But it looked . . . normal on the online image!”

Again, look at the cooling rack from our houshold goods. Now that’s a cooling rack for more than just a handful of cookies!

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As you might have guessed, we hadn’t seen the last of the size problems from that Amazon shipment.  Ann had bought a comb from a German company she’d bought brushes and combs from before.  Good quality, really nice brushes.  The sizes were mini and normal.  Ann of course bought the normal.

It was, one could say, normal sized for combing sheep.  Or maybe a bear.  As you can see when comparing it to one of Ann’s normal combs.

The problem is that it’s not that everything is smaller, or everything is larger than we’re used to, it’s that some things are larger and some things are smaller. (That and the fact that we forget to actually check the measurements of things online before we hit the order button.)  

Take for instance the lemon from the pile of lemons at the Barcelos open air market.  The one on the top was pretty much normal for the lemons there.  It dwarfs the normal sized lemon from the supermarket!  They are no less tasty though!

And then there are meals.  Trust me when I tell you that there are very few grossly overweight Portuguese.  At most, some folks are a bit hefty (like someone writing this post), but healthy looking.  But like many countries, they often eat an appetizer, a main meal and often a second course, and then of course dessert and often an after dinner digestive (Port anyone?). Oh and don’t forget the bottle of wine or two for dinner (or lunch).  Remember, this is the country of 2 hour lunch breaks, and dinner starting at 7 or 8 at night and lasting for 2-3 hours.

Now, Ann and I have discovered that many restaurants serve what is called a “metade dose” which means half serving.  It only saves a euro or two from the price of the dinner, but it’s what Ann and I will usually get.  Why you may ask?

The above meal is a metade dose (the extra potatoes are Ann’s side dish; hers didn’t come with

”punched” potatoes and Ann loves them so . . . ).  Anyway, take a look below to get a better view of the size of the metade dose.  It’s as big as my plate.  And I’m supposed to eat a full dose? 

Neither of us totally finished our lunch.

So yeah, Ann and I are still getting use to sizes in Portugal.  Hopefully we’ll get the gist of it soon.  I don’t think my waistline can afford for me not to.