Suburban Sprawl

This past Saturday did a field trip to the south side of the city to do some shopping. We needed to stop by a sports store and we want to check out Ikea.

So after a 10 minutes walk to the metro station, an hour on the metro (including one transfer),  a expensive lesson on how to buy our metro tickets next time, and another 10 minute walk we were here:

 I can not begin to describe the culture shock this gave me.
(I do not mean the  American fast food restaurant sign, those are everywhere.)

I have now been in Spain so long I have actually had the thought recently "why is the woman talking funny?" when a woman addressed her kids in English on the street as I passed.
Now I was looking at the kind of suburban sprawl you can see anywhere in the US! When my husband (who lived in the US for about a decade) and I saw this sight we literally stopped in our tracks. So weird! Like taking the Metro back to the USA! Then we turned around and saw the restaurant pictured below it called "Buffalo Grill".

 Really that could almost (with the exception of the "zona infantil" sign which I still find hilarious) be any steakhouse in the West of the States. (Putting sign in English is a common practice and considered very chic here.)

 My husband is from Barcelona, there is no room for urban sprawl there, this took him by surprise too.

 We had such a hard time taking this all in that we almost got ran over in the parking lot going to Ikea 5 times! My entire lifetime's worth of parking lot skill, has been erased in 3 months. HAHA

 Also it is NEVER a good idea to go to Ikea for "a look" on a Saturday afternoon in the 3rd largest city in Europe...just saying. Also if there is anyone out there that has yet to be to an Ikea (this was our first time) there is only one path through the store, there is no backtracking, no way to leave the store until you have been passed everything, just a warning.

For today's crafty note:

Fall seems to be finally here and well I enjoy the fresh air my kitties get cold.

Want a quick kitty cosy? Simply take that crochet purse you made that felted into a funny shape, cut along the seam lines, and wrap it around your cat. TA-DA! Now you are officially the crazy woman that has crocheted a cat cozy. ;)