Trip to Leeds
A Couple of weeks ago, my sister Katherine and I took a trip to Leeds. It was a spur of the moment trip booked as a part of celebrating her birthday. It is a few years since we last took a trip so it was nice to get away without the kids and our husbands to do a bit of shopping and relaxing!
Getting the train
The start of the day was hectic! It looked as though Kath might miss the train. Her husband
2015 v present Leeds
We last went to Leeds 3-4 years ago, it is a shopping fave of mine. I love Leeds Trinity – it has shops such as Hollister and Victoria Secret that we don’t have in Nottingham or Derby. In recent years a Hollister and Victoria Secret opened in Meadowhall, but it’s still nice to revisit where we first went to those stores. There are also flagship stores like Harvey Nichols.
Other things have changed though. It was a little disappointing in the market. We’ve always loved the fabric stalls and they sadly have reduced considerably; not sure if they have moved or closed but there were not many. In some ways, it’s a good thing. I do not have time to do much sewing at the moment, but I do love a nice fabric shop!
The other big change since our last visit was the Victoria shopping centre. This was lovely and had a nice John Lewis; and a Nespresso shop.
Victoria shopping centre Leeds Corn Exchange I always seem to take pics of the local graffiti!
Scary but funny times
I did have a bit of a odd experience at the John Lewis, we popped into the lovely loo’s. One side of me was Kath, then in the other was two or three girls. They were all in the same cubical gabbling away in a foreign language. Then as I came out of the cubical, I went to wash and dry my hands. Stood harmlessly drying my hands when a woman walked in with another lady, who then just stood and full on screamed at me.
I jumped back from the dryer but I don’t know who was more scared – her or me. I think that the noise must have scared her, but her carer didn’t say anything and guided her away. Katherine came out of her loo and took one look at my face and burst out laughing – think I looked terrified and bemused at the same time. It’s not every day someone screams at you in a public loo!
Where we stayed
After doing an initial wander we checked into our apart-hotel which was a Roomzz one. Lovely clean room; very dark and the bed wasn’t huge but it was nice and clean and great to have a little kitchenette in our room. It was also in a great location for the train station and the shops. We popped up to our room and got settled. Katherine decided to empty the contents of my case on the floor, which had us both in stitches – she thought my case was zipped up and tried to move it into an alcove to tidy up, but I had left it unzipped so she basically chucked all of my possessions onto the floor.
What I bought
I must admit I did not make a huge amount of purchases, a shirt for Eddie from Hollister, some watercolour pencils for Ewan, a candle from TK Max for Tom and a sketchbook for Chloe. All I got myself was some £6 PJ’s from Primark and some new pants – I know how to live the high life eh?!? There just wasn’t anything I liked. I did get some Pumpkin Brulee coffee for the cafetiere which is amazing!
We were lucky though, as un-be-known to us when we booked, it was Light Night in Leeds. Lots of light shows and projections which were really good (and it was free) much better than the last light night I went to in Nottingham.
Light Night by day
The parade – my photography doesn’t do it justice! Its good but a little scary Looks so different lit up This one moved like a human – amazing Selfie in front on the big man Inside Leeds Corn Exchange – Philharmonic Orchestra and moving pictures Trapeze inside Leeds Trinity
We always plan a big night out, but not once have we done it. This time was no different. We went out and said we would go back and change to have a night out, but to be honest we shopped then got hungry and decided to go for a drink and a Wagamama.
In Trinity Kitchen, we found a cute cocktail bar. He had run out of both glasses & plastic cups. so we were drinking cocktails out of a paper cup (stay classy!!) Then we got stuck into Light Night and before we knew it we were tired and ready to go back to the apartment. Not before buying a cheeky pud to have with a cup of tea back at the apartment (rock and roll eh?)
Cocktails in Trinity Kitchen
Back in the room
I had my new P
It wasn’t a particularly early night as we noticed Pretty Woman was on and I love it so we watched that and a few other odd programs before going to sleep. I did get a good sleep though.
The next Day
We got up early enough, grabbed our take away brekkie of croissants and pain au chocolat that was included as a part of the room deal. Then we checked out and headed out for another day of funny but unsuccessful shopping. The train back was rammed so I perhaps would leave earlier or later next time.
All in all a great couple of days, and I cannot wait for the next one!
