The 'Ikea experience'.

Ikea Edinburgh

Well, as you see above we made it! PG was devoid of excuse number 89 or any other it seems, though in true 'man style' general rumblings about tiredness after a day at work, other things he needed to do with the time (golf no doubt) and general malaise, began at about half way there!

I am bound to say, though I hate to give him further fuel for any future fire, I wish we hadn't bothered! The place was in more than it's usual state of disarray due in the main because just about every display seemed to be in the process of a rebuild and the one or two things we could agree on were out of stock. Necessary items of purchase were bedroom furniture, blinds and a light. The bedroom furniture is a long running 'issue' in the gemmak and PG household and as yet an agreement on style and type still evades us. Having disagreed yet again on what is required we chose to differ once more and tolerate for a while longer the current installation.

Blinds? Don't go there. I did find a suitable light and of course the obligatory re stock of candles but having arrived at the checkout the queues were abnormally long even for Ikea and in a sudden loss of any further patience we ditched the said items and made our escape. Even I am not going to queue for an inordinate length of time to pay for just £20 worth of goods!

Each time we make this trip we promise ourselves we will not fall victim to the 'restaurant' ( I use the term very loosely here) but as ever hunger and a lack of anywhere else to eat in the locality forced us to weaken. The usual luke warm and slightly aged fare was on offer. We suffered bravely! Ok, at £10 to feed two one can hardly complain but haute cuisine it is definitely not!

The decision was made that to rescue the day we would drive home on the coastal route rather than hit the A1 with it's inherent problems. This route is beautiful, along the Firth of Forth, toward North Berwick and Dunbar and as dusk was falling the colours and textures of the sea and sky where something to behold.


Firth of Forth

Relaxation began to melt away the 'Ikea experience', perhaps too much so. PG who was driving averted his forward gaze momentarily (well he claims momentarily, hmmmm) to take in the spectacle of Bass Rock and failed to notice we were hurtling toward a sharp right hand bend!! Amid impressive sounds of screeching, the smell and sight of burning rubber and a sudden feeling of things happening in slow motion we eventually came to a very abrupt halt, with perhaps 2cm between my car, various signage and the possibility of some serious 'off-roading'!

It was not good, PG who rarely admits error in driving and is as cool as a cucumber in most situations fell very quiet, uttered one loud expletive of relief, pulled the car back onto the road and sat quietly for a few moments! Not one excuse did he make!! The silence spoke volumes. When a guy doesn't offer excuses for a close call you just know it was bad! There was no need for the usual feminine lecture on the finer points of driving, he knew, we both knew! Credit where credit is due, he is one of the better drivers I have know usually, my car has no ABS and he controlled it well........I would have 'lost it' without doubt with consequences I don't wish to imagine. Had I been at the wheel things might have been very different. As it is I have a stiff neck this morning.....we were very lucky.


Bass Rock