I went to ikea this morning, hoping to have a bit of a consumerist frenzy and use up this $100 voucher that we have had since we bought our couch there earlier this year, and which is on the brink of expiring. As it turned out, it wasn't particularly frenzied at all, it was more a depressing wander around tons of crap that I don't really want and then an atrocious amount of confusion at the cash register (which went from the cashier woman saying that I couldn't use my voucher thingie unless I had two receipts proving I had bought a couch (instead of just the one that I had brought, which I thought was outrageously diligent of me), to her saying that I could use it but they wouldn't give me any change, to me saying "fine, I don't care about the change", to her saying "but it's $20!" and then letting me use the voucher and giving me a gift voucher thing for the extra $20. Mostly in german, too, mind you, which is a language I have been doing my darned tooting-est to forget lately. Not that that's a sensible strategy at all, but it's one I am fond of. I don't like german).
Anyway, as is obligatory at ikea, I went to the cafe and ate some hideous meatballs and some wacky Swedish soft drink and then I had a coffee. As
attentive readers, and coffee drinkers in Switzo at the moment will know, the coffee cream container thingies are going through an Australia phase lately. The coffee thing I had today had this picture on it:
Which, if you look closely, looks an awful lot like
this.
Which is the town hall in the wee, miles-from-everywhere, unremarkable little town I grew up in! There are no touristy attractions there, there is no reason why the town or the town hall there should be commemorated in coffee accessories on the other side of the world. And yet it has been! It's so wacky and excellent. And also extremely impressive that I recognised it.
8 comments:
wow! how strange and excellent at the same time.
I've never even been to Inverell yet I find that amazingly excellent.
Mr Mac says he digs through the Australian coffee creamers at work until he gets the one with a Royal Australian Navy ship on it. I haven't seen the Aussie one yet. I wonder if they have one with the Werribee Plaza....
According to your link, Inverell "is dominated by old buildings which reflect its long gone days of glory". So right there we have an indication that Inverell was - in fact - once considered glorious :-S
Long gone, however.
Kathryn
Woot! Inverell has the Pioneer Village, right? I even "went" to the dunny there, which makes it a great attraction... now.
AND it has the danish pastry bakery thingy, yes?
Nothing touristy my behind... :D
I'm willing to admit that Inverell is (was) the Home Of Sapphires and therefore at least a bit noteworthy, but I really think the "glorious" thing is talking it up a bit too much. And what's this danish bakery place, Nick? I have nooo memory of that, and happily most of my Pioneer Village memories have faded away (if only the photos would too. They used to make us dress up as olden days people and go to the Pioneer Village every time there was any sort of Important Australian History-Related Event, like when we all donned our mob caps and went there to get out Bicentennial medals in 1988)
don't worry, i think all primary school children across australia were made to dress up in colonial garb for the bicentenary.
So are you, with your Pioneer Village photo remark, in fact saying that you don't wan't to see a pic of me on the oldest dunny in Australia?
Kim took me to a pastry/baker shop owned by a somewhat older couple originally from Denmark. So I had a nice little chat in Danish and I believe they made us rundstykker (round pieces) - which are some type of danish breakfast buns. Or maybe they made us traditional danish rye bread. Can't remember.
Urm ... no, I'd love to see a picture of you on the toilet, Nick ... that would be ... umm.. I have to go now.
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