So this happened a couple weekends ago, but here it is. I had a long list of items I needed for my new room in my piso, including a desk lamp, sheets and a warm down comforter, etc. We went to a couple different small textile stores here in town, but I decided I really wanted to go to Ikea and get good products for a cheap price. The closest Ikea is in Málaga, a 1.5 hour bus ride from Granada. Sweet! Let's make a day trip of it! Adrienne was down, so we chose the Saturday after ILP classes ended on Friday, so our first free day. We bused it to the Bus Station around noon, where we paid a fairly high price for a ticket to Málaga. Unfortunately the next bus was at 2:30, so we had a while to kill. We found a cafe and I ordered orange juice and Adrienne showed her stuff and ordered a beer (ha. gross. at noon!?). We were sitting and talking when this fairly disheveled guy came up to us and asked if he could join our table, he had a few hours to kill before his bus. Sure, why not, we have time to kill too. So Chris pulled up a chair, and we talked with him for a good 45 minutes or so. Very interesting guy. From the start we could tell he was very stoned and thus rather out of it, yet he told us more or less his life story, how he had started out as a Spanish teacher in Tennessee and ended up here in Spain and now is working for some computer company and raising his two year old daughter with his wife here in Granada. whew! Funny guy, kind of hard to read, but kind and interesting. I was happy to see he was carrying the latest issue of National Geographic—in Spanish.
Adrienne and I left and boarded our bus, and it was a nice relaxing trip through the desert hills to Málaga. It was wonderful to listen to music and just gaze out the window and watch the scenery go by. We hardly ever ride in buses let alone cars here as we walk everywhere in Granada, and it was a nice feeling to get somewhere a ways away for a change.
We arrived at 4pm and immediately bought tickets for the last bus back home, at 9:30. So we had a good chunk of time. We asked a cab driver how to get to Ikea, and he said it was a 15 minute bus ride out of the city. So we made a plan to walk to the beach, shop a bit, hang out, and then hit up Ikea near the end of the day and then come back with plenty of time for our bus. We walked to the beach, and came across the “movistar street tour”, a skateboarding exposition, in a random park. That was fun to watch for a while. And we shopped a bit and found some new warm clothing. Then we decided to head to Ikea.
And thus begins the chaos.
I asked an information desk how to get to Ikea. Bus 19. We waited for Bus 19 for 40 minutes, while watching all the other buses pass multiple times. Finally it came, and we jumped on. 5 minutes into it I walked up to the front and asked the driver what stop to use for Ikea. “Ikea?” he said. “No voy a Ikea.” CRAP! We had waited for the better part of an hour for the wrong bus? So we jumped off, and waited again.
Bus 14. There it is! Before sitting down I ask about Ikea. Yes, this is the right bus! And it will stop right in front if Ikea. Sweet. So we look at our watches, and we'll be at Ikea in 15 minutes!
The minutes go by, and we drive farther and farther away from the center of the city, into the car sales district and past huge furniture stores, but no blue and yellow Swedish paradise.
Then, we are all of a sudden driving through residential neighborhoods. It's been 30 minutes. I go and pester the driver again, “Hemos pasado Ikea?” No, we haven't missed it.
Finally. After 45 minutes on the bus, we arrive in front of Ikea. At this point Adrienne and I are getting pretty worried, because it is already 8:15 and we are running out of time. Fast and painfully. As soon as the huge blue and yellow Ikea is in front of us, we make the decision that we have no time, and we jump off the bus, sprint across a lawn, and jump onto another bus heading back into the city. We have come all the way from Granada, hours to get here, and all I get is a picture of the Ikea sign. Shoot! While I sprint to the bus to go back into Málaga, I am just laughing out loud out of frustration and resignation.
We ride 45 minutes back, and barely make it in time for our bus home. We are starving as we never stopped to have a meal all day, and all we have between us is a couple coins and so we each buy a soda and a small can of Pringles for our dinner.
And that's the adventure of Málaga! We get home at around midnight, drop stuff off at home, and get ready to go out on the town with friends, despite being exhausted.
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