cosmicpluto knits!

May 9-10: Leeds and around

Trying to catch up! Hang on now, this is going to be a long one.

Monday morning (May 9) I said goodbye to my gracious host Elizabeth, took a quick trip to the post office to mail some stuff home, and then went back to the flat to pack up the rest of my stuff. Walked over to the train station with my pack, bought a ticket to Leeds, and got one with perfect timing. Ah, rail travel is nice. I arrived at Leeds station an hour later, took a cab to the hotel (Ibis; nice room for pretty cheap) and was able to check in. I dumped my stuff and headed out to explore!

The hotel is a bit outside the city centre, outside the ring road. Although the walk into the city centre isn’t terribly interesting, it isn’t very long or taxing either. The buildings were quite pretty. It did get gloomy and then super duper rainy, I managed to get stuck without my umbrella so I had to buy another one!

Leeds, like Manchester, has quite a compact city centre and it’s easy to walk around. I got a nice map from the hotel and that helped a lot. Most of the shopping is in a pedestrian area and various covered arcades. Really beautiful inside, with lots of high end shops.

Pretty much just walked all around that day. I hadn’t been planning on it, but I did end up walking along the river to the Royal Armoury and had about 15 minutes inside before they closed for the day. After that I took a bus back into the city centre (I had been doing so much walking!), had dinner at Wagamama and then went to the cinema to watch a film – Hanna. (I enjoyed it, though there are a few things that I had problems with.)

On Tuesday I had a meetup with a knitter who lives just outside Leeds, Kate! We were hooked up via the knitter’s network (aka ibecks in Manchester). Kate took me to lots of places I probably wouldn’t have ventured to on my own. First up was Baa Ram Ewe! Cute shop that sells British yarns and products. I just picked up some Harris Tweed covered buttons.

Then we headed back down to the train station and hopped a train to Ilkley, about half an hour away. The main attraction? Bettys tea room! We were definitely the youngest ladies in there (aside from some babies); the food was posh and absolutely delicious. We split a frittata and fried pea and mint risotto cakes. Yum! I even finished up with a puff pastry with whipped cream and strawberries, because why not do it up right?

We wandered around a bit to the local yarn shop and button shop before catching yet another train to Saltaire, a world heritage village near Shipley. It consists of a gigantic textile mill and village that were built by Titus Salt. Nowadays the mill has been refashioned with spaces for galleries, shops and cafes. It’s really quite lovely to walk around in, and the textile history is everywhere. There was even a small Yorkshire fashion exhibit on.

Doesn’t this dress look perfectly contemporary?

After saying goodbye to Kate (and thanking her for showing me such a lovely time) I headed back to Leeds, grabbed some dinner from M&S and spent the evening in my room, stressing out about booking places to stay in Ireland. It’s all sorted now, including the flights, and though my trip isn’t quite halfway over I’m starting to feel like it’s going by quickly!

(I’m a bit homesick though so I kind of wish it was going faster.)

May 7-8: Manchester, part 2

Blogging was interrupted a bit by dodgy internet access! Here’s hoping it’s better in the next place…

anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Saturday evening in Manchester my hostess Elizabeth invited a bunch of Manchester knitters over for a potluck! There was tons of food, lots of knitting and great chat. And I made butter tarts for a Canadian treat.

In the morning I headed off just a couple of blocks to Purl City Yarns, who had me in for a lovely tea and knitting/chatting session! Unfortunately, Canada Post has let me down yet again – the “3 day guaranteed” box that I sent 7 days prior never made it, and it was full of samples to show off. We had a lovely time anyway.

The rest of the day I just walked around some more, went to Cornerhouse, walked through the galleries and bought some magazines in the shop. Didn’t go to a film though – I wasn’t really up for subtitles. I had a lovely dinner that evening at Ning in the Northern Quarter.

May 6-7: Manchester

Friday morning was my last in Edinburgh for the time being (though I’ll return before the end of the trip!). I puttered around the flat in the morning, packing up my stuff and doing internet-y things, before meeting up with Sarah and Rebecca for lunch. We went to Ooud Kitchen (which makes me think of the Ood) and all shared a mezze platter with falafel and grilled halloumi along with all the fixin’s. It was delicious!

My shawl grows, slowly.

After a bit of a harrowing adventure involving catching my train with only a minute or two to spare (note to self: leave way earlier next time) I got my train to Manchester. Unfortunately my reserved seat ended up being in a group of young men who were going to a match or something and were drinking beer on the train, so I decided not to sit there. I was able to get a good seat after the first stop, about 30 minutes out. The journey was a little over 3 hours, and I did see sheep out the window though I didn’t photograph them!

I met up with a Manchester knitter, Elizabeth, who generously let me stay in her gorgeous flat in the Northern Quarter. That evening we went out to dinner down the street – I had a yummy butternut squash and cambozola risotto.

Saturday was pretty grey and rainy, but since I didn’t have a ton of time I braved it anyway to go exploring. Turns out the city centre is really quite compact, and I was able to see everything easily on foot. First up was the Manchester Craft and Design Centre, which is a sort of cooperative where artists have work and retail spaces. Tons of beautiful handmade jewelry, bags of different kinds, pottery – all the wonderfully crafty things I love to buy! I was restrained though, and didn’t purchase anything. It was still really lovely and inspiring.

I wandered down to PIccadilly Gardens and took refuge from the rain in a restaurant, where I had a full (veggie) English breakfast for lunch! It was yummy.

That afternoon I stopped in at the Manchester Art Gallery (the Anish Kapoor exhibition is really interesting), saw the Town Hall, and then went to the Museum of Science and Industry, which is housed in the oldest surviving passenger rail station in the world. There’s a great textile exhibit, and the whole thing was really interesting but a bit huge! It’s sort of overwhelming.

Some more photos from around Manchester – I have more that I need to get off the camera before I can write about the rest of my weekend!

May 4-5: Holyrood, Arthur’s Seat, Leith

I’m trying to keep up the blogging, I really am! Really must try not to let it get away from me or it’ll be so hard to catch up – as it is, 2 days’ worth of photos is a fair amount to sort through.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I managed to get up a whole 2 hours earlier than the day before, had some breakfast in the flat and then caught a bus out to Holyrood Park. My first stop was the Palace at Holyroodhouse – the official Scottish residence of the Queen. No photography allowed inside, sadly, so you’ll have to take my word for it! It was interesting enough, a bit stuffy but still pretty cool. The plasterwork ceilings and original furniture are pretty.

My favourite bit was the Abbey, which is a ruin. The nave is the only part still standing.

Then I headed up Arthur’s Seat, the tallest hill in Edinburgh. Unfortunately due to the lack of maps and/or trail markers, I ended up taking a Very Tricky Route up involving very steep stone “steps” (sorta). Got a bit discouraged and ended up calling it quits most of the way to the top. Yeah, I’m sort of disappointed in myself too. Maybe another time, with someone who knows an easier way!

Still a pretty great view from the ledge where I stopped though.

Also I didn’t have any food with me, which was a bad plan. So it was sort of bad all around. At least it was sunny! I headed back down and then had lunch at Fruitmarket Gallery. Another day, another shot of my knitting on my skirt!

I wanted to see the exhibit, but then I rushed over to the Camera Obscura to catch the last show of the day. It’s pretty cheesy, but super fun. The camera is really cool. The rest of the attraction is different floors with “world of illusion” stuff – magic eye, optical illusions, lights and the like. I had some fun taking photos.

Today I took a longish bus ride out to Leith, the port which was only integrated into the city of Edinburgh in the 20th century. I got off the bus a little early and walked to Ocean Terminal, which was interesting but as it was raining a little, it was a bit bleak.

With some time to go before meeting up with a friend, I decided to take the tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia. It was a fun way to pass some time.

State dining room – it was huge. All around the room were presents to the Queen, displayed on various walls, and on one end of the room was a narwhal tusk! What?!

Firth of Forth. (That’s more of Scotland over there)

Phones on the bridge.

Rolls-Royce in the Garage. Obviously.

Then this evening I headed out to knit night with the Tea Tree Tea knitters which was lovely! Tomorrow I’m leaving Edinburgh in the afternoon to head down to Manchester, where I’ll be doing an appearance and trunk show at Purl City Yarns on Sunday the 8th of May. Won’t you come by and see me?

May 1-3: Edinburgh

After all the leadup and talking about traveling and planning and everything, I’m finally here! I’ll admit I had a slight freakout just before I left home, second guessing myself for planning such a big trip for just me.

I got a ride to the airport with my parents, and did the usual waiting around thing (no hassles at the airport, straight through security in under 15 minutes), and was glad that YYZ finally has free wifi. The flight was fine, although there was a fair amount of turbulence that kept stopping the drink service, which in turn delayed the meal – we left at 8:30pm and dinner was finally served around 10:30. It’s an odd time change, because you lose an entire night to a flight that’s only 6.5 hours; we landed at 8am British time and I pretty much hadn’t slept a wink. I even had a bit of a panic attack about halfway through, ugh.

Once I landed in sunny Glasgow I took a cab to the train station then the train to Edinburgh. After being cramped on a plane for the night, the quiet train ride was relaxing. Train travel is so civilized. I knit a little on the train, which I didn’t do at all on the plane – I just didn’t feel up to it.

I’ve been to Edinburgh a few times, so it was nice to make my way over to ysolda’s flat, though my backpack and carry on bag were awfully heavy! It would’ve been much better and quicker if I’d say, had a map. Oops. The walk from the train station really isn’t that long, but it’s longer if you keep having to backtrack! After a few hours’ sleep, I headed out for a short walk around the neighbourhood and picked up a bit of food from Tesco to cook for dinner. It really is awfully nice to have the option to just cooking some comfort food for myself – something I’m sure to miss when I’m staying in hotels further along in my trip.

I didn’t really do anything in the evening, just relaxed and watched Doctor Who, and did some thinking about what I want to do the rest of this week. I’m pretty much on my own the whole time, which I’ve never had in Edinburgh because every time I’ve come, ysolda’s been here! The time zone change really kicked my ass this time – I couldn’t fall asleep for hours, then slept the morning away. Luckily all I had planned today was a bit of wandering around the city centre and shopping.

I walked through the Meadows and stopped off for a wee knitting break in the sunshine.

Had some delicious soup at Hula near k1 yarns on Victoria street, and bought some yarn and whisky!

Walked through Princes St Gardens, along Princes St then back along George St with a stop at one of my favourite fancy clothing shops, Jigsaw

A bit of a wander down an alley set me atop Victoria St, which is a very cool view. The sun sets really slowly here – it doesn’t just disappear. The light sticks around until nice and late – it’s still a wee bit light at 9pm so far, which will continue to get later through the summer!

After taking this photo (it was brighter than it looks in the photo though) I stopped off at Mums for a dinner of mushroom wellington, then headed back to the flat – and it was still light! It wasn’t the longest day of activity ever, but I figure I need a bit of time to get into the swing of exploring on my own, and rebuilding the stamina for going around all day. I really love having such a comfortingly familiar place to stay here, it’s perfect for helping ease me into feeling more comfortable for the trip ahead.

leeds?

I’m thinking of going to Leeds instead of Newcastle – any recommendations for places to stay? Areas to avoid?

This whole trip planning thing is overwhleming! And the planner in me thinks I’m leaving things way late. Luckily train tickets still look pretty reasonable since I won’t actually be going anywhere until the 2nd week of May.

And for a little fibery content, a project I’ve been working on (not very hard) for ages is finally starting to come together. It’s a blanket, though this isn’t the final configuration at all – just needed to see how many more hexes I need!