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Airport News / Design News / IKEA / Paris Travel / CDG / Airports / → All Tags

Hopefully This First IKEA Airport Lounge Won't Be the Last

We hear it over and over from frequent travelers—why isn't Apple designing seat-back airplane entertainment systems and why isn't IKEA in the business of outfitting airline gate areas? Well it looks like we may have gotten the latter wish, as IKEA has opened a pop-up airline lounge at Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport.

Why Paris? Why not? There's a regular IKEA store like a 5-minute drive down the A1 from CDG, but it's not like it's that easy to just duck out of the airport to scarf some Swedish meatballs or purchase a living room set.

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Food Travel / Foreign Grocery Friday / Sweden Travel / IKEA / Holiday Travel / → All Tags

Foreign Grocery Friday: Sweden's Nygårda Julmust

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

When the holidays roll around, you can be sure that food companies around the world are rolling out their seasonal products, some true specialties and others made to be consumed as often as Coca-Cola. In Sweden, there's Nygårda Julmust, which belongs in the latter category, except that it's more popular than even Coca-Cola at this time of the year. Let's investigate...

The Taste: The ingredients on the back include hops and barley, but trust that there's no alcohol present; there's just a curiously bitter cola. In fact, the closest thing we can liken it to is the Italian Chinotto soda, a bitter citrus drink, but far more gulpable. Did we sense a hint of coffee in there as well? Possibly, but the taste runs more along the lines of a flatter Coca-Cola that's been brewed with non-alcoholic beer.

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Prime-Plane-Spotting-Map / Plane Spotting / New Jersey Travel / EWR / IKEA / Continental / → All Tags

Where to Find Continental Jets with a Side of Swedish Meatballs

We bet you would never think that a place exists where you can both planespot Continental jets by the buttload and also chow down on some meatballs by the forkload. But lo, such a place does exist and—surprise, surprise—it's in New Jersey, as the IKEA near Newark-Liberty International Airport.

Long a favorite haunt of local plane spotters, we were only turned on to the place recently when, after taking off from EWR ourselves, we looked out the window to see the big blue ox that is Elizabeth, New Jersey's IKEA store. It was right across the highway from the tarmac! Later investigations uncovered that not only is IKEA ideally positioned for catching most of EWR's runway action, but that the store's cafeteria conveniently offers the best views.

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