As a good wife, I went to Ikea so the GF would not have to. It’s a surprisingly smooth and averages out as pleasant journey. There is the metro ride, which is like any other metro and often crowded, but against that is the beautiful ferry ride to Uskudar. I have decided that the old Turyol ferry from Karakoy is the one to take whenever possible, as it uses the smaller boats with lots of outside seating – teak seats rather than plastic – and pleasant shade. Some of the newer boats are quite miserable: they are clearly designed for a climate where you either cower inside with sealed shut windows (the majority of the seating) or it is relatively sunny so you stand on a deck that is completely exposed to the sun. And of course the plastic – so much plastic – heats up terribly. Great if travelling around the Gulf of Finland, not so great when crossing the Bosphorus in June. Anyway, I don’t know how long the small ferries will be around – they are not by any stretch of the imagination environmentally friendly in their operation – but I will use them whilst they’re there.
Ikea was not too crowded – the reason I decided to just go today instead of a weekend when the GF would be there for muscle and moral support. I must say, I did a rather good job – I got a mattress pad for the guest room, as well as pillows and duvet, plus other useful bits and pieces. Some of which I abandoned before the checkout, but now regret leaving behind. Oh well, it’s nothing that I could not get from elsewhere, it’s more that one is in the mindset to fill any gaps whilst at Ikea. It took a bit of going back and forth through the labyrinth of hell that is Ikea – I began by bypassing the showroom section altogether, and only at the end discovering that mattress pads were in the warehouse so you couldn’t tell how soft they were. So I had to leave my trolley and dash up to the showroom bit and find the mattresses, and since I missed all the shortcuts, had to go through the whole labyrinth. But I made my choice, realised at the very last minute that I’d picked too large a size, so changed to the smaller one, phew.
As I got back our contractor was at the tea stall and invited me to join him for a glass. He told me about his endoscopy, I told him about my trip to Ikea. All in gestures and broken words, of course.
Then I had a meeting for the magazine, with the editor of another magazine. This was disrupted by the internet failing, and I had to cancel my Turkish lesson which followed immediately after for the same reason. Such a hassle.
The kitchen remains out of commission so I ordered what turned out to be a really excellent burger from Afil. I am busy topping up my iron levels before the GF’s return tomorrow.