Somehow things were already starting to not go as planned. We had arranged to meet Dave outside a swanky financial hub called “Westpac”, but as we approached we noticed he had walked straight past it and he stood there outside the distressed exterior of “Commonwealth Bank”. On a mission, it’s missing small details like this that can make an expedition suddenly go bad. Luckily, I was on the ball and spotted him. “Quick! Toot the horn” I shouted at Judo. Dave was alert and looked up to see our anxious faces. As he jumped into the car we bravely joked about this and the mood lifted.
Our journey to our destination was going to take us a while. Dave was in relatively uncharted territory. The landscape was familiar to me as I had made this journey on a number of occasions before. I had even travelled this way in the blackness of night on my bike, so I enjoyed feeling like the expert for a moment as we motored along cautiously.
The mood in the car seemed to be jovial. Were we masking our feelings of great terror surrounding the mysterious unknown? I was. I’d not experienced this before and neither had Judo. Dave had on one other occasion and he was doing his best to extol the delights at our journey’s end. It was hard not to take on Dave’s enthusiasm. It was on Dave’s recommendation that we pushed on.
As we approached our destination I was excited. I know that the walking ahead of us would lead us to discover secret passages, passages that not many others would dare to take. Walkers before us usually would only follow the guided paths. The paths that only head in one direction… to the end of what may be a temple filled with impossible treasure that only those who dare stumble onto. We set ourselves the goal of one and a half hours to do the round trip and be back at our parked car. Game on.
The excitement mounted and I approached with caution. There was a little uncertainty in our group as we had not picked up a map. Judo was sure that what we were seeking lay at the very end of the temple, Dave and I seemed confident that our prize was close to the start. Looking ahead we could see the first climb was going to be the most difficult. We started up.
“To the left” Dave shouted as Judo was heading off in the wrong direction. “It’s left. Quickly, through here…” He was right. We had just stumbled into the unknown. The colours and noise surrounding us were almost beyond imagination. If I wasn’t experiencing this with my own senses I would not have believed. Decisions decisions.
I looked at the warm glowing light in front of me and almost without hesitation I asked for what I had come for. “I’ll have the 15 meatballs please.” It was a first people. Ikea meatballs, chips dripping with gravy and an unknown sauce called “lingonberry”. The journey was worth it.
9 comments:
That was incredibly well done, and I've never had Ikea meatballs before, what are they like. I'm usually so overcome by an Ikea adventure that the very idea of meatballs afterwards is just too much to handle!
Should you ever visit Sweden, please be aware that you can't buy any food that isn't accompanied by lingonberry sauce, except for maybe maybe lingonberry jam or lingonberries themselves.
Well concealed. I had a panic attack on my first visit to that Ikea store, the crowds were overwhelming.
I have never stopped to try their food.
Their breakfasts are legendary here in the Netherlands. It costs 1 euro* and people come from all over the place and the coffee is free.
*A normal breakfast with the same amount of goods would be 5 to 7 euro, and each cup of coffee 2 euro.
Ooooh, the IKEA adventure.
I'll think I'll try my hand at making Swedish meatballs at home. My dad used to do it back in the day. If he could, so can I.
I had to say no to a friend on the weekend 'drive me to IKEA please!'... I don't do IKEA on week ends...
But yes, I would travel so far for those meatballs (mid-week) (-; M
Kezza: If the idea of meatballs *after* your Ikea adventure is too much to handle, think about having them beforehand - the Ikea restaurant actually opens 30mins before the store does in the morning - every morning... :-)
My dad pissed me off when he came to visit me in Melbourne a while back. I took him to a fancy brekky place and the whole time he kept talking about the Ikea $2.50 breakfast. I told him I'll buy him a tram ticket next time and send him to the shop here in Melbourne and save myself $20.
Btw...I'm surprised you managed to visit Scandinavia this year and didn't experience the joys of lingonberry. What were you doing??!!!
Damm thought this was going to end up in Angkor Watt or something. I always piss of my friends because i go to IKEA with a list and do not dally with the pathways, i take the shortcuts. Also somehow always end up with tealights and dishtowels WTF right. Love the "balls".
Jack in Seattle
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