Life in the Left Lane: Lovely Leeds

Five days and four nights in Leeds. Sounds great? But...

Mike and I were both starting to get cold feet about having booked this trip when everyone we talked to about it said something to the effect of, "Leeds? Why Leeds?" Did we get blinded by a great deal hawked off on us by the travel agent?

Turns out, Leeds is a pretty cool city with its own unique personality, the Royal Armory museum (free!), fantastic parks (also free!), and lots of great restaurants. There are also tons of high-end stores and boutiques; with stores like Diesel, Vivienne Westwood, and Harvey Nichols, a girl could get into trouble...fast. (I didn't really shop, just bought one pair of cute three-inch wedge sandals.)

So, join us in this photo-journal recap of our Easter weekend with the kids. In Leeds! Yes, Leeds.

The view from the bridge just behind our hotel. We checked in late Thursday night
after a 1-1/2 hour train ride. Our hotel was located in the Brewery Wharf
district, where the Tetley's Brewery plant is, on the River Aire.

The boys had fun playing with the water in this sculpture/fountain.
Friday was a gorgeous day! Actually, all four days we were blessed
with lovely weather!

On our way to The Corn Exchange.

This building, The Corn Exchange, used to be a market for wheat, corn, and other
grain to be bought and sold. It's been completely gutted and redesigned
for shopping and dining. What a remarkable building!

If there's a guitar shop ANYWHERE in a city, Ollie will find
it. The man who owned this store immediately asked about
our accent. He himself is from Virginia. It was nice to hear a
voice from home.

Taking a mid-morning smoothie break.
Yes, he's smooth too!

Outside the Royal Armory museum.

The boys won't get anywhere with Mike leaning on the ball like that!
Mike says the hallmark of great city-street sculpture is that people
engage with it--climb it, sit on it, etc.

Family portrait.

Clarence Dock, an area of the city that has just recently been renovated.

What kind of boats are these? They sort of look like barges but people seem
to live--or at least sleep--on them. Houseboats? Cruisers? Pretty cool.

England's only cemetery at 45-degrees. When the high-
speed rail came through, the gravesites were left alone, but the
headstones were relocated along the slope of the man-made
hillside. The vicar of Leeds Parish Church insisted that
the headstones be placed directly above their respective
gravesites. At least, this is the story they told us as we passed by
the site on our tour bus.

A good value, and a lot of fun. Of course, Ollie was thrilled to ride on the
second story of a double-decker bus!

A narrated tour like this is a dream for anyone with even a passing
interest in architectural styles. It was awesome.

Inside the Royal Armory museum. This stairwell is decorated with all kinds
of breastplates, spears, swords, crossbows, etc.

Merrit working on a puzzle-picture of a young Henry VIII at the
Royal Armory museum.

An armoured mask for Henry VIII, used only for parades and
tournaments, not for battle. It's called the Horned Helmet, and was
a gift from Maximilian.

At left, one of Henry VIII's suits of armor. Mike and Merrit are still working
on that puzzle!

Outside the Royal Armory museum, we bought tickets for a stunt horse riding
show. The horses and riders just starred in the movie Warhorse, directed by
Steven Spielberg, which just wrapped filming. What a great show! Ollie, in
particular, loved it!

The riders and horses played out different eras of the horse's history in Great
Britain--from the Romans to the Mongols to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show
to the messenger horses of World War I.

We ambled along to a restaurant that had been recommended by a co-worker
of Mikes: The Restaurant Bar and Grill. Redundant?

Oh my. Filet mignon with bearnaise sauce. Grilled portobello mushrooms
and tomatoes. Bok choy with chili and ginger.

The boys split an item off the kids' menu: An order of risotto with leeks and
haddock topped with a poached egg. Gotta love the kids menu here. No chicken fingers!

On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, we went to Roundhay Park, just
outside of Leeds. Wow! What a gorgeous place. It was stunning.

Walking around one of the two lakes.

We found the castle.

My little princes.

What kind of ducks/birds are these?
We also saw a swan's nest, but didn't get a great shot of it.

What a ride!

Mike called this ride "The Copyright Infringement Express." Let's see,
we have characters from Madagascar, Thomas the Tank Engine, the Cheshire
Cat from Alice in Wonderland, Buzz Lightyear, and the Disney Princesses.
All on one train. Awesome.