IKEA, Ioannina (Sweden in Greece)

Leaving Zagori (Epirus) a few days ago, I stopped to visit the new IKEA store outside Ioannina.

It was good to wander round this treasure-house of affordable Swedish design and the sparklingly clean in-store restaurant offering the customary range of IKEA fare.

I couldn't miss the opportunity to buy several jars of pickled herrings.

I was surprised that the store was almost empty on a Tuesday morning. A sign of the recession? Anxiety about  ECB/IMF unwillingness to sign off the next tranche of bail-out money until further privatisation of state assets is implemented?

Maybe people haven't got used to Scandinavian styles, lines and light colours- or flat pack assembly instructions?

For me it was a pleasure driving from IKEA down the equally empty Egnatia highway to Igoumenitsa and the Corfu ferryboat.

How long before the Egnatia highway is privatised or equipped with toll gates? It might be more profitable to the state coffers to have a small IKEA restaurant every 30 km! But it looks as if the Greek government plans to sell 100% of the Egnatia Highway in 2012. The private owners may find that people will start using the old road once again.What's the point of owning stretches of empty highway?

In the meantime a Corfu tour company is apparently already organising coach day-trips from Corfu to IKEA, with a meal thrown in.

For me, it was three worlds in one day:

Epirus and traditional Balkan stone architectural influences

Sweden- at least a touch of Sweden and good contemporary design

Ionian Island- Corfu and its Venetian atmosphere.