1st trip. A friend drove us to IKEA in a rental car. We bought stuff we thought we needed. We noticed that all the signs were in Swedish and Turkish. We were grateful to have our own vehicle for our stuff. But that friend returned to Istanbul and so did the car.
2nd trip. We took a bus in the general direction but never spotted IKEA and when we reached the end of the line we had to get off the bus. We asked someone where IKEA was and they looked mystified. But finally someone recognized the name and pointed to the metro and said 3 stops. So we got on the metro. At the appropriate stop we got off and asked again. Someone pointed in the general direction and we began walking, still not seeing IKEA. After walking about 20 minutes a woman just happened along. We hadn't seen another person the entire route. She pointed and we could almost see it. It appeared that we had walked quite away from it initially. BTW. All of this was in 100 degree heat. Well we shopped, ate meatballs, drank some water then took a taxi back to the metro, transferred to a bus line and made it home.
3rd trip - today. We now think of ourselves as very saavy IKEA trippers. How hard can it be to get there? Dad found a bus that would take us from the metro stop close to IKEA. So we left our apartment, caught a bus, transferred to the metro, then went to wait for the bus to IKEA. We waited and we waited. We saw taxies hovering, but we knew our bus number would come soon. We waited again. Today it is only 95 degrees. I kept watching shuttle buses picking people up and letting them off. Finally I asked a driver if he went to IKEA and how much did it cost? He replied that he didn't speak English but said I could get in. So I motioned to dad to come get in. We tried to pay but he wouldn't let me. And he drove off but in the opposite direction of where I knew IKEA was. He kept driving and then mid-road he stopped another van and motioned that we should get on it. We did. That van was going in the right direction. It took us almost to IKEA.
We don't even like IKEA that much. The maze is just as confusing here as other locations. But the food is good and cheap. And they have some items I haven't seen elsewhere.
Again we took a taxi back to the metro, then a bus and then a walk. Dad is tuckered out and napping while I write this.
BTW. We did check with taxi prices for trips to IKEA from our apartment but it would have cost us about 4 X's the amount. Of course we would have saved a lot of time but currently our employer doesn't require billable hours.
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