Another weekend here and gone

Somehow it seems that the dinosaurs, dragons, and hot wheels in our little flat have mushroomed to the point that they seemed on the verge of taking over.  We could barely walk on the floor of the kids’ room, and no one could find anything.  So last weekend Milo, C.C. and I had an organizing session in which we put each kind of toy into a separate shopping bag—vehicles, dinosaurs, balls, etc.  The bags were a temporary solution so that we could see how much of each thing we had.  But we had to find a longer term container solution.  Which ultimately meant that I needed to make a trip to Ikea.  If you have been reading this blog since the beginning, you know that I have a love/hate relationship with Ikea.  Great products, great prices, but the experience of shopping there makes me hyperventilate.  Too many people.  And the whole habitrail thing of following arrows on the ground just makes me feel like a sheep, and my urge is to rebel.  And in Barcelona, it is more crowded even than in Brooklyn.  I wonder how many Achilles tendon injuries there are in an average week, just from people getting jabbed from behind by another shopper’s cart?

Ikea has recently expanded into Asia in a big way, and at the Beijing store, people actually go there just to hang out in the model rooms, with no intention of buying.  It doesn’t seem too different in Barcelona.  The habitrail path is wall to wall carts, and people stop unexpectedly.  Even with GPS, I got lost on the way there, which made me cranky, which is no way to show up at Ikea.  You need your A game.  I think it would be terrific if someone had a little cart at the entrance to the store selling shots of tequila.  You could belly up to the bar, do your shot, and everyone would be happier.  I accomplished my mission, with a minimum of the kind of impulse shopping that keeps Ikea in business.  It may be sick, but I will honestly sleep better tonight knowing that the toys are sorted and resting peacefully in plastic bins under the kids’ beds.

We went out with some friends for dinner at a terrific restaurant in the Born called Big Fish.  All seafood, and while much of the menu is Catalan inspired, there is also a lot of Asian influence.  Sounds a bit strange, but it works.  I loved the room and I loved the food.  Somehow you just ending spending a long time at the table when you dine out in Barcelona, and it was 2 am when we got home.  I turn into a pumpkin after midnight no matter where I am, but we had a friend coming for brunch today and I needed to put the strata together so it could do it’s thing in the fridge all night.  Alec grated the cheese and we made quick work of it.

We slept as late as we could and my friend Isabel-The-Foot-Analyst came at noon with her daughter Isabel.  And we passed a pleasant day eating, wandering in the park behind the house and, finally, catching a nap.  Another weekend come and gone.