flea market finds: i don't mind a little soft-soap

it all started with a very grumpy mister who just got out of the shower grumbling that we ran out of his hardy soap and was left with no choice but to reluctantly use my shower gel(!).  he prefers any soap rather than the liquid shower gel as long as it comes in a bar.  the rougher, the better.

i've read somewhere that the soap bars in Portugal were very good.  So good that, in fact, Oprah is a big fan.  Particularly the Claus Porto brand.  It was listed as one of her Favorite Things back in 2007.  

Claus Porto is made by Ach. Brito, the company that has been making most of the soaps in Portugal since 1887!  They make all kinds of soaps, not just the high end ones.

so, i asked a Portuguese friend of mine who regularly goes home to Portugal if she could buy me some regular soap as a tester (Portugal is about 5-6 hours drive from Gibraltar).  She brought me 2 and when we used it, it was the creamiest, most fragrant soap we've ever used!  even the mister is now a big fan!  and they were not even the expensive ones that Oprah uses! from then on, i was hooked and began looking out for soaps (any kind really as long it is in a bar) in my haunts.

love the wrapping in the Ach Brito soaps!  very Pop or Art Deco.  the one on the left is made from goat's milk (soo creamy!)

found a beribboned pack of L'Occitane soaps with milk or honey in a carboot sale for next to nothing!  L'Occitane is a French company that follows and preserves the tradition of Provence, France.

speaking of France, i found two bars of the popular Savon de Marseille in a table top sale...again, for next to nothing.  

here in Gibraltar, there is a new shop in Main Street where you can't help but go in and have a browse.  the smell is just heavenly.  the Gibraltar Soap Shop is not only budget-friendly but they also sell a lot of vegan-friendly products for men and women.

love the tissue paper pom-poms in their window

have tried some of their products and they smell amazing

now, please excuse moi while i take my nth shower for the day ;)

day out to the Sabinillas flea

it was a Sunday and probably the hottest day since summer arrived here in the Mediterranean and on a whim, the mister and i decided to check out a flea market (or "rastro" as they are called in Spain) in Sabinillas, Spain that a friend of ours recommended.  Sabinillas is about 20 minutes away by car from Gib.

so together with another friend of ours, we hopped on the car and looked for the place with a lot of people, hoping for an adventure.

 i love this poster but the mister wont let me buy Jet Li.

beautiful paintings of the idyllic Spanish coastline as well as ordinary things people do (such as a guy standing over a presumably dead guy!).  also, there were a lot of religious iconography scattered about.

surprise, surprise!  we saw the sword from Game of Thrones! made from Valyrian steel no less and.....ohhhhh that helmet!

tutus in all colors of the rainbow!

i love these African baskets!  

i also love this guy.  just dont know where to put him in our house!

animal skulls (maybe cows or bulls)

there's plenty of signs available for the homeowner with a house full of exits

cow bells of all sizes

this guy is rated PG though (you have been warned!)

in the end, i loved all of them but unfortunately i had to leave them all behind.  we bought loads of fresh fruits though: avocados, mangoes, loquats, peaches, green apples; and herbs (we love our mint tea!).