I survived IKEA

I learnt some things in IKEA today:

You have to go with the flow and visit everything, as then you will eventually get to the bit you want. Going back, against the flow, is fatal - you will get lost.

It's no good going with someone who hates not knowing where he is. He will try to use the maps and they just make things worse.

Following signs is no use at all, as the place you are trying to get to will at some point disappear - and not because you've got to it.

Staff are very helpful, but when asked for directions are trained to give the longest route possible and call it a short cut

Do not follow shortcuts - they are not short

You will inevitably visit the bedroom section three times, even though that is not what you came for.

If you go for an hour to get three chairs, you will almost certainly emerge three hours later with three chairs and a blue bag full of all sorts of things you didn't realise you needed!



We returned via Hadrian's Wall and got out for some fresh air in the real world. This is Caw Gap Turret, with the Wall following a line over the hills into the distance. Turrets were simple watchtowers, built when the foundations of the Wall were laid out. They were built to a standard plan, ready to be linked into the Wall as it was constructed. Here is a impression of what this Turret and the Wall in this area might have looked like.

And be honest, you thought it was another sheepfold didn't you!!