Sweden and Egypt

Lauren and I shopped. We went to Ikea and Lakeside, except that we didn’t get as far as Lakeside.
 
For a start, we were later setting off than we’d intended. Then Ikea was just so huge. I’m probably going to offend half the UK and Sweden when I admit that I didn’t like the store much at all. The showroom part of it was like walking round a zoo, with arrows on the floor telling you which way to walk and pseudo rooms instead of pseudo jungle habitats. I didn’t even much like the furniture – it all seemed very unfinished in an uncaring way. Not rustic, just corners cut. And all the way round the showroom, not a single employee available to help.
 
Eventually, after something like 37 hours, we found the restaurant/café place. Extremely reasonable prices although a limited menu – you could have meatballs and chips (this is Swedish cuisine?), fish and chips (for the very English?) or a chicken and rice concoction (for the multicultural customer base?). I had meatballs, which were vaguely lukewarm with pink (yes, pink) gravy that was even less lukewarm and chips, which were exactly like those served in McDonalds. Lauren went for the chicken and rice, which looked okayish, but was also rather less than hot. Coffee was nice though; free refills, tasty and strong.
 
On our way out, thoroughly unimpressed, to Lakeside proper, we saw a sign to the Ikea marketplace – and that was a lot better.   We bought a trolley load of curtaining and lighting stuff, mostly for Lauren to take back to Egypt with her, and felt a bit better about the whole place. Having said that, I don’t think I shall ever go back to Ikea specially.
 
We talked about holidays and going out to visit her, so this morning she came round with her daughter and we net searched for flights and hotels. Result! Son, son’s friend and I are flying out with her on 28th March for two weeks holiday over Easter.
 
Tonight I had to go to work. Myself and other workers met a group of young people from what’s called the PAYP (Positive Activities for Young People) Project and accompanied them to the Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2 Arena. Then on the way home we stopped for fish and chips. All the young people behaved and it was a thoroughly nice trip out. I also bought a limited edition Tutankhamun Monopoly for son whilst there – he STILL collects them! Going to work isn’t always bad :). 
 
But… next week, the AltEd groups go back and that’s when I’ll be full on again and my entries (if I’m not too knackered to make them) will be full of middle aged and teenaged angst. Such is life…