On Friday, myself and Troy made the impromptu decision to take the two hour drive from Newcastle to Leeds.
We set off at about 10am, and after a few wrong turns, which I blame entirely on Apple Maps' Navigation System (shite), we made it, at 12:10pm.
I've only ever been to Leeds on passing. I've driven through the city a few times on the Megabus to London, and more recently, I had a trampolining competition that was held at Leeds Uni back in February. However, in February when I visited, we were restricted to spending our time in the sports hall of the University, with the occasional trip to the Tesco Express down the road. This time I was determined to have a good wander around.
We parked up pretty much slap bang in the city centre, and only had to walk for about 10 minutes before we reached the main shopping district.
What I really loved about Leeds was the architecture. I'm not usually one to notice that sort of thing, unless it's really prominent, but I absolutely loved all the little arcades between the shops, and the Trinity shopping centre ceiling was just amazing.
I only had one rule for the day; I will not eat at anywhere where I have eaten before. This wasn't a very good rule, I might add, because I basically only eat out at Frankie and Benny's, Pizza Express, and Pizza Hut, (yeah, I really like pizza), with the occasional Nandos thrown into the mix. We settled on Trinity Kitchen, which to me, sounded a lot like a Food Court, but I was pleasantly surprised. Although, categorically it is a food court, the food places are all so unique, the furniture is gorgeous, and the layout, makes it feel a lot more upmarket.
We settled on a place called "Tortilla", which I'd never heard of before. It's basically a Mexican fast food place, which prepares the food exactly to your liking, in front of your eyes. We both ordered a large burrito; mine with chicken and peppers, Troy's with beef and beans, and lots and lots of hot sauce.
After our exhaustingly filling dinner, in which I proceeded to quote Anchorman for the rest of the day, ("this burrito is delicious but it is filling"), we continued to wander around the city centre... only to end up in Primark.
After such a huge spending spree last week, I really didn't have a lot of money leftover, so I bought some essentials. A floral rain jacket for festival season! Last year, I bought a few of the disposable ponchos, and they barely lasted two minutes, plus one was used to cover a gap in the tent, so this year I wanted something a little more sturdy. I also bought some new underwear, and I found this amazing Pulp Fiction tee shirt, in the men's section, no big deal, and who can say no to pug socks? Certainly not me.
I also treated myself to some new hair dye. I've been using directions for quite some time, and thought it was about timeI branched out. As you may have noticed from my latest post, I no longer have pink hair! As of right now, I'm thinking this is just a temporary measure for my pending graduation ceremony, which is on Monday. However, if all goes well in this platinum hair experiment, I may keep it. I'll update you on my progress!
I also was the victim of some sneaky product marketing by a young man selling makeup products in one of the shopping centres, and treated myself to a gift bag worth of cosmetics for £30. I haven't yet tested the items out, but he gave me enough to cover my entire face for a good year or so. Providing it is of good quality.
Overall, I had such a lovely day. My resolution this summer was, as well as my local to do list I featured a while back , was to visit more cities in the UK that I've not been before. So Leeds is the first to be ticked off the list.
Sunday 6 July 2014, 12:30pm