Tampere and a very famous Blue and Yellow Store...

I recently went out of town to a bigger city between JKL and Helsinki, called Tampere.
It was amazing walking down the street and seeing so many people of different cultures that were perhaps not just students studying there!
Also there was a lot of great food to try - we however, only stayed for the day and it was a fast trip because we limited ourselves to some craft shops and................IKEA.
That's right folks - it was my first time at Ikea and it was amazing.

In the Stockmann's underground parking lots there were special spots for electric cars to plug in.

Plug the car in here!...Somewhere...

A stop at a waffle house...

Taito Shop sold these local map underwear for kids and men!

From across the way...

Entering the parking lot and I was grinning like a 5-year old about to meet the Tooth Fairy, Santa and some hot boy-band member all at once!

Just some friendly advice that buying stuff from Ikea and shipping it out yourself via vehicle is much cheaper than getting it shipped to you.

I could hear angels singing by this point...

Finnish flag on the left, Swedish on the right

My friend wanted an ice-cream cone (the restaurant options are super cheap) and they give you the cone and  a token and I was so confused.
"Where's your ice-cream?!" I asked.
"Oh I have to build my own.  This IS Ikea..."

The lever lifted your cone up and it squirted ice-cream onto it and lowered it for you.  I must say - this was incredibly handy in preventing massive line ups at the cash register!

There was a HUGE canvas with a super large world map on it and I quickly found NS on it.

For 4,95� I got 10 meat balls with gravy, my choice of potatoes and some lingon berry sauce...and a glass of water.
Apparently these Ikea meat balls are FAMOUS.  Well, they were certainly tasty!

So - tips on how to shop in Ikea?

• If possible, know what you want to buy before you go in.  Get a catalogue or look online.  HAVE A LIST.
• When you enter Ikea - you'll probably enter the display floor.  Here you'll find all the Ikea furniture assembled and even layouts of rooms - completed decorated with Ikea items....so it's nice and much easier to imagine what this and that would look like in your own home.
• Pick up a YELLOW bag for your little items - it's not for keeps - it's for shopping with and you'll return it at the cash.
• You can also find a YELLOW cart - not like a shopping cart but for carrying tall and heavy boxes - maximum weight was 33 kg (or about 66 lbs) - so it says.
• Every item has a price tag and beneath it, each item has a code number.  It was on a piece of red paper in the plastic sleeve.  So, write that 4 digit number, "18  35" down (for example) because you'll need it to find that piece of furniture from the warehouse.
• Go to the next floor (I feel like I'm giving you cheats to a video game!) and you'll find all the smaller stuff that you can pick up right then and there.  
• Once you're through - you'll enter a giant warehouse and that's where those little special numbers are much needed.  Because there are not always displays of what the item is at each section.
• Look up - WAY UP and you'll find the first number set marking each aisle.  Go to that aisle and then look around and you'll find the second number set and see your item.
• DOUBLE CHECK THAT IT IS THE PROPER ITEM.  I was picking up some planks of wood for the inner bed frame for a friend and we ended up grabbing the wrong size.
• If you forgot to jot down the number (they even provide pencils and pieces of paper) - there should be computers nearby and you can double-check what that number was and go on your merry little way to find it.
• When you go to pay, you can buy those ever-so-famous BLUE Ikea bags and the smaller ones are 40 Euro Cents and the bigger ones were 1� and they hold A LOT!

I would strongly recommend following the arrows on the floor - so you don't get lost.
Also, you probably should not go too close to Christmas or immediately after...just imagine the line ups....

And make sure you have had lots of rest!