A Trip To Graz Had Us Thrown At The Foot Of The Altar Of Consumerism: Ikea

Casinos and Ikea surely have the same Architects...

We were accompanying friends to Graz and they wanted to have a first look at this citadel of cheap furniture. Honestly,I think if we'd been on our own, Bob and I wouldn't have gone!

As it was way past lunch time, I insisted that we stopped to graze in their food court first. Ambling hours on end while hungry is not the thing to do... for me at least. The food court was rather fun but not so easy to traverse or understand but reasonably priced none the less.

Bob had warned us all, that once you enter at the entrance of Ikea, there is only one exit. One exit that you only reach by passing all and sundry that is on offer. An exciting prospect beforehand, but rather tedious once you've entered the maze.

It is a maze and after a fortifying luncheon, we split up and had an hour to while away. Bob and I started off being contraire and going against the flow. Just in case one gets lost, they have glued arrows on the floor, showing you the way. We went the opposite way but regardless, we had to walk for miles.

Even though I know that Ikea helps further the cause of our throw away consumerism society, it was nice to see the various displays. Yet, on closer inspection, the stuff wasn't made to last. Why should it be when they want you to buy new things each and every year.

Ikea is ace at making one want stuff. They do have brilliant displays of how a room or flat can be thrown together. Bob and I picked our way through this maze and had nothing to declare once we eventually reached the exit. Getting to the exit must have taken two kilometers of walking. Seriously.

Along the way, there were many displays with running televisions, and rather a lot of bothered and deviant men were sitting and watching TV. That might explain the prolific number of women shopping on their own.

To be honest, some things looked nice and enticing, though the odds that everyone has the same is as big as the odds that once you enter a Casino, finding an exit entails loosing money along the way.

Biggi