Ikea Nightmare

So from where I left off, we awoke Sunday morning ready for some exercise and a trip to furnish our apartment. It was our only day left free from official business, so we decided to to try to take a walk down to Ikea. From the looks of our map, it was only about 3 miles away, so we set off early and had high hopes.

About an hour after we started, we realized our map was not to scale, but had no choice but to continue on. Up staircases and down, down under highways and into the unknown. It was quite an adventure. We ended up at a highway intercsection that crossed over a bridge. There was a narrow walkway, and I gave up. We had been walking for 3 hours with no sign that we were even in the right place. We were sweaty, tired and frustrated, and we had no clue where we were. So we turned around and tried to find a cab.

Luckily we found one, and it turned out we were only about 100 steps from Ikea, but it was hidden by trees and we had no clue it was even there. We walked into Ikea feeling sweaty, but pretty accomplished.

Unfortunately, we walked into an even more stressful situation. After our long, hot walk, we were hungry and thirsty, but when we walked into the restaurant at Ikea, it was madness. There were no seats to be had, and the line was miles long. It seemed hopeless, so we abandoned it and luckily found a vending  machine tucked away and quenched our thirsts with milk tea and pear juice.

It was enough to give us energy to keep going, so we started our shopping trip. Luckily, Paul had napped during the epic walk, so he was in ok spirits. He did not like the constant attention and people trying to touch him, so his patience quickly wore out.

It was crowded beyond any Ikea I've ever seen before. I know that Ikea's are madness by nature, but this was a whole new level. There were people lounging in the living rooms. Sitting and chatting at all the dining tables, and every bed was occupied with someone either sleeping or resting. I was at my breaking point. We couldn't move, Paul was anxious, and I was sweltering.

We spent 4 hours shopping. We hoped we would never have to go back, but it was bound to happen. I have to say it was the worst form of culture shock I could have imagined and I was so thankful to be back in our oasis apartment by the end of the day.

I have no pictures of this day, I was too frazzled to even think about documenting it, but we went back today, and I recorded one shot of what it was like. (Today was no where near as bad as that first trip.)

Since that day it has gotten easier, but I was defeated that day, and I won't forget that feeling soon. We have since learned that it's much easier to take a cab.