Living with or without IKEA

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When we moved to Bangkok (Thailand) with 2 suitcases only, I had to setup a household. Bangkok has never seen an IKEA shop. And I had the problem to find my kitchenware, dishes and bed linen around a town with never ending traffic jams. How I envied the colleagues that have moved to Singapore where they had a one stop shopping weekend at IKEA and they have been setup with their household.

When I moved to Beijing (China), I moved into a fully furnished house (mainly furnished with IKEA items). However I appreciated to have IKEA around. It was a 15 minutes drive to the biggest and newest IKEA in Asia. Sometimes you need a chocolate powder shaker or a nice new bathroom floor mat or just lingonberry sauce.

Now I live in Stuttgart (Germany). And today, I decided to go to IKEA to buy some storage containers for toys and clothes. This requires to drive on the German Autobahn... about 30 minutes. Somehow I am not used to drive fast anymore. Everything over 120 km/h makes me brake out in sweat. Mercedes, Porsches, Audis are over passing like rockets ... finally I reached IKEA and I was surprised that it is packed on a Monday morning. Maybe I did not get the special breakfast voucher buy one get three.

I did not find what I wanted - the toys container, yes - but IKEA has no air-tight containers for clothes and I did not remember the name of a clothes-rail I used to buy (Ryäkösnix...? nor its product number) as the lady at the information counter requested.

I wondered about some rattan products made in Vietnam that used to be cute tourist souvenirs from a South-East Asia holiday and now, going global, are to be found at IKEA for 50 cents.

After having filled out my application for a Family Card (with no significant advantages), I bought some lingonberry sauce and went home. Maybe my next IKEA trip (if there is one) will be more fun.

But, I could use an IKEA to complete my palazzo household (one day in the future). My new neighbours, in Pizzo (Italy), bought some stuff at IKEA. And when I asked them where they went (I actually hoped, they will tell me that a new IKEA has opened not far away), they said, they went to Bari... from Pizzo, this is a 3 hours drive, one way ...
'Oh', was my answer.
No more complaints.

There are 15 IKEA outlets in Italy. Mainly in the North. Spain (mainland) has less. France has some more. Germany has 3 times more IKEA shops than Italy and 2 times more than Sweden. Interesting.

I think IKEA is still new in Italy and not that popular as it is in Germany. Italians have a lot of well-designed and affordable furniture and like the classic style. Even young people usually decorate their homes with antiques, combined with some modern classics. And nowadays added with some Scandinavian clean chic items by IKEA.

PS: In China, I saw once a room decorated with stuff from IKEA, mainly in white, in an Art Gallery. It was an installation. It could have been anybodies room anywhere in the world. Globalisation. Uniformation. Levelling.

PPS: Where is your next IKEA? What was your last IKEA buy and experience?

Precipitevolissimevolmente !

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When you want to say 'as soon as possible' in Italian language it might be too late... because you will not be able to finish this word of 26 letters in time: "Precipitevolissimevolmente finish the facade and install the windows!"

Is this maybe the secret behind la dolce vita, that this word is just unpronounceable ?

Does 'as soon as possible' just does not exist in the Italian every day life?

Ah, it is not that romantic, of course different expressions are possible, egg prima possibile.

The history of precipitevolissimevolmente (hey, slowly I can remember it) and the longest Italian word can be found here (in Italian).

Back from Italy

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I am back from Italy.

And I am starring at my blog and don't know what to write.

At least I want to write something interesting with some pictures.
But this is the problem.
The pictures.
I took hundreds of pictures, hundreds of landscape pictures, hundreds of family pictures and of course some pictures of the house.
My husband downloaded them to an external hard drive. And that's now not accessible. Not readable. Broken, or whatever.

I can't believe that all is gone. I still have hope that some magic IT guy will do some magic moves and *magic* all the pictures are back.

So in the meantime, I can give you a 'black & white' update:

I survived a month holiday with my Italian MIL. Actually, it was really nice. We have been a big Italian family - nine family members in peak times. And even more when friends were invited for dinner.

But you will ask, what about the palazzo?!
The house, the house... August is a holiday month, and so the workers left for holiday shortly after my arrival. They should be back today.

There was not that much progress in the past months. Two of the four workers had been working on another project (an Irish couple became new pizzitani, citizen of Pizzo, at least for the summer time).

However we met the architetto and met with the hydraulico and the electicista. The marmorista was also seen on site one day. The guy who is supposed to deliver the windows was on holiday as well, but we heard that the windows are ready. The doors are not finalized. Meaning that the wooden doors are not designed or decided. However the internal metal bodies of the doors were already mounted.

We made some decisions on the lighting of the seminterrato (basement). And I was measuring the six bathrooms to be able to make decisions on sinks and shower plates.

In the last days I was a regular visitor at Duravit & co (see my bath links on the blog roll). And I found out with my sister - while observing our kids playing in the sand box - that we have common interests in supergliss and softclose that can be ordered for Starck 3 toilets.

And some very pleasant news from Pizzo.
We met new neighbours!
They have been living in the same street for a year now and we met thanks to my blog. They bought a former furniture warehouse that was located in the seminterrato of a plazzo with same sea views from the same rock as ours. They used to work with another architect. And I was really impressed how they changed the dark warehouse space into a modern but cosy Mediterranean open space loft style apartment.

It was great and helpful to get some hints for our renovation. E.g. instead of terracotta tiles as flooring they use oak panels, everywhere, including the entrance, kitchen and bathrooms. And they painted walls with bold colours, in the kitchen and the bathrooms instead of using tiles.

That's enough for today. I will be back with more 'black&white' posts, or I will have to use some flickr pics for a change.

Daytrip to SCILLA

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Our Fiat was leading us up and down the mountains on curvy and narrow streets, on the old national road towards Scilla. This small pittoresque town is located on the Straits of Messina, just before Reggio Calabria, the toe tip of the Italian boot.

After Nicotera, above Palmi, on Monte Sant'Elia we made our first breath taking pitstop. From 600 meters above sea level you have 180 degree sea view with the Calabrian coast line underneath and Sicilly in the South. You can't tell where the sea ends and the sky starts. It feels like flying.

A few kilometers further South we finally reached Scilla.
To find a parking spot at an Italian sea side village in the middle of August is like winning the lottery. Especially because our Italian family has grown to a party of nine in two Fiats.

Having lost and found sight of half of the group and having solved the different priorities, like visiting the old town, having lunch or finding a beach, we visited the town by strolling down one small aley at the Marina to finally jump into the refreshing sea at a small beach near a small church.


It happened that we met a local gentile signore who not only gave us the same hint for the restaurant we got from another amico, but he also gave my son a collection of shells.

The recommended restaurant 'Glauco' was only 50 meters from our little beach and made us all happy. When we climed up the stairs to the restaurant, I was overwhelmed by the terrace 'sul mare' and its beautiful view of Scilla on the left and the coast on the right.


I immediately had to think of the movie 'The big Blue' where Enzo (Jean Reno) had to eat Mama's pasta on a similar terrace.

To top my impression, Dino, the owner of the restaurant, gave my son a few more shells.

I ordered spaghetti Glauco - they come with a sun dried tomato sauce and pine seeds - and had some white wine and was happy for the rest of the day. (photo left: linguine cozze e vongole)


(Maybe I should also mention, that the restaurant was all ours, as it was around 2.30 pm when we arrived from the beach.)

Back home, I realized that I had lost something to Scilla...
The red pants of my son, he jumped in the sea with, that are still drying on a fisherboat.

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RISTORANTE GLAUCO
via Annunziata 95, Chianalea
89058 Scilla (Reggio Calabria)
Tel./Fax +390965 754026

open from February to end of November

Antipasto Misto Mare 8,00 Euro
Spaghetti alla Glauco 12,00 Euro
Linguine Cozze e Vongole 12,00