Leeds

Well on Sunday morning, the Jurys Inn gave me a hearty breakfast after a good night’s sleep - maybe not long enough, but for me quality rules over quantity.

Chilling

The rain disappeared overnight to give a cool but sunny day. I appreciated it, because it meant I could walk around Leeds for a couple of hours in between trains. Leeds reminded me of Glasgow - both cities which grew up in the 19th century.

Style

I walked around the Leeds City Museum and the Henry Moore Foundation. Henry Moore was a Leeds native.

19th Century

A municipal museum is always a good place to start in a new city. This was no exception. Museums and galleries are also a good bet for quality (free) toilets and cafes. Again, this was no exception.

Art

Northern Rail got me from Bradford to Sheffield (via Leeds) nicely.

Novotel gave me a friendly welcome in Sheffield and it is much better than any other city centre hotel I’ve used here. However it does feel very weird so soon after staying in the Casablanca one. So much is the same and so much is different.

I enjoyed a 3 course dinner in Café Rouge just 100m from the hotel. It’s solid French bistrot type food. I love it. I recognised the waitress from my last dinner there, which was probably 2 years ago. It’s a good sign if they keep their staff.

Sympa

As with Saturday, ice hockey was the main event. Edinburgh Universities at Sheffield Universities. A 22:45 face off at Ice Sheffield... allegedly. It turned out to be a 23:15 start. Well, at least it’s a more pleasant facility than the one in Bradford.

The game was an absolute cracker, with Edinburgh winning eventually 5:2. It could have gone either way until the last 5 minutes. The Edinburgh players had to dig really deep after their tough game on Saturday. By the end (about 00:45) they were out on their feet.

Team Huddle

Then a 5 hour journey home for them in the minibus (via McDonalds, no doubt).

A hard earned 4 point road trip!