Lazy Sunday Photo- Harewood Garden Walk, Leeds, UK

Harewood Garden Walk, Leeds, UK

It seems like ages since I walked for 10-12 kilometers and I am missing it.

Entrance to the Central Library Leeds

Entrance to the Central Library Leeds

The Leeds Corn Exchange

The Leeds Corn Exchange, June 2008

I have been to Leeds twice but the first time I missed visiting the Leeds Corn Exchange. This time Kullukid from Indiamike had kindly volunteered to take me around, I visited this beautiful building. My picture does no justice to it.

Here is an aerial view of the Corn Exchange at Leeds.

Another Blogger writes about the Corn Exchange, Leeds, UK.

I have to do a post on Leeds in Pictures!

Purple Rhododendrons

Purple Rhododendrons

I saw these Rhododendrons in Leeds and I had to stand back and take notice. There were two reasons for this. One, I love Himalayan flowers and these Rhododendrons reminded me of the treks I have done. Two, I had never seen a purple one before! I have seen red Rhododendrons, even white and their variations but never purple.

When I shared the pictures with my colleagues, one of them came running to me and told me, "How did you manage to make the Rhododendrons purple? Aren't they red? I have never seen a purple one." Now that is something because he belongs to Uttrakhand and has lived for considerable time in the hills.

But then in Leeds these purple Rhododendrons were growing with glee!

Oh! and VJ shared his pictures of Oxford with me and take my words for it, they are brilliant.

Park Plaza Hotel, Leeds- A Review

This time in Leeds, I stayed at the Park Plaza. I initially had no clue what kind of money was available for this trip (remember this was for work) and what kind of hotel could I afford. It was quite close to the trip that I realized that I could manage to stay in a place like Park Plaza. I needed a place for two days and my prime concern was to stay close to my conference venue. So, the Park Plaza served the purpose adequately or so I thought (Will write more about this in another post).

I booked the hotel and then went to Tripadvisor! Not a very intelligent thing to do. The average consumer rating was just three and I was a bit disappointed. But what could be done? The hotel was booked and it cost me on an average 75 pounds per day. The Friday rate was low around 59 pounds but the Saturday rate was quite high, more than 85 pounds.

This trip to UK was after gap of four years. I have often said on this blog that my sense of direction is absolutely pathetic and I find maps full of mystery. So, while the Megabus that I traveled from London Victoria was approaching Leeds, I was quite anxious. It did not help that due to the Friday traffic the journey took six hours instead of four and I was completely jet lagged as I had reached London the same day in the morning.

The Park Plaza, Leeds

It was a blessing that I could see the hotel from the bus itself. That gave me confidence that the place existed! That is how nervous I was, traveling alone after so many years. In fact I remember saying to my colleagues, "Kisne kaha tha mugjhse ye saab karne ko?" (Who had asked me to attend conferences and all, so far away? How will I find Leeds from Heathrow when I can't find Nehru Place from Dhaula Kuan). The good thing was that the hotel was still visible from where the bus dropped me. So, one worry was out of the way, I knew where the hotel was. It was right across the bus stop.

The Room at the Park Plaza, Leeds

Then it was time to get inside the hotel and check-in. The lady at the counter was quite pleasant (quite contrary to what I read on tripadvisor about the customer service at the Park Plaza, Leeds). First she could not understand my name, and I don't blame her. I gave her the print out of my reservation and sure enough she could find it. Then she started explaining that I need to pay some advance in cash or through my card as per hotel policies. I thought I would pay cash. But then I was so tired it was difficult for me to understand what exactly was going on. I told her so, and she said she was so sorry! I finally dished out my credit card and she did some transaction (which was not a transaction but only putting some money on hold). Then I got the room key and the room was on the 15th floor. I liked the room, nothing very fancy but a good clean comfy room, with lots of pillows, and hot water.

So, the first hurdle to the UK trip was over. I could find the Park Plaza under five minutes and could safely check-in. Later I realized that the hotel was 2 minutes from the train station, 2 minutes from the conference venue (but this is another story) and 2 minutes from the Megabus bus stop. The Park Plaza, Leeds is quite conveniently located in the city center. I took only a breakfast in the hotel and no other meal. And one of the staff in that shift was an Indian. Of course, we chatted in Hindi! I stayed only two days (mostly out of doors) and I must say I had a pleasant stay!

But We Changed the Clock!

Leeds City Center and the Bus Stop to the Left as Marked by Two Waiting Buses

My first real stop in UK was the city of Leeds where I was presenting a paper at a conference. It was a hectic trip. I landed at Heathrow on a Friday morning and then took a National Express bus to the Victoria Bus Terminus. From there, I took a Megabus to Leeds. Megabuses are definitely low cost but they also have a very small seat. The journey was supposed to be of 4 hours but due to the heavy Friday traffic it took 6 hours to reach Leeds. The next day morning I had a paper to present followed by a visit to Saltaire. Later in the evening was the conference dinner at the Royal Armouries.

So, it became past 11 at night when I came back to my hotel after the day's program on the Saturday. And then I had to take a Megabus to London at 6.15 the next morning. The hotel phone gave an option of stetting the alarm on my own but I could not figure it out. So, I asked the good people at the front desk to give me a wakeup call at 5.00 in the morning. And then after doing the packing, I collapsed to sleep.

I woke up with a start at 5.00 without any wakeup call. The wakeup call never arrived. By 5.45 I checked out and walked for 3 minutes to the bus stop. Being Sunday morning the roads were mostly empty. Only a place by the name of Blue Leopard had some people mingling about it. I could not figure out what it was. People came out of it for a smoke, some kind of employees hanged at the door. Another surprise was that there was activity at this place at the ungodly hour of 6.00 am.

By 6.10 there was still no sign of a bus and I was wondering what is it that I am doing wrong? Is this not the correct bus stop or the timings have changed or what? By 6.20 I was getting desperate. So, I decided to ask the people at the door of the Blue Leopard if they had any clue about the bus.

A young lad told me I was at the correct bus stop and then asked me what time my bus was. I told him it was at 6.15. Then he pointed out to a town clock and said, "But we changed the clock, look it is only 5.20 in the morning. We put it back by an hour this night!" I had of course read about changing of clocks but as nothing like this happens in India, I could never figure out what this meant! Now that I have experienced it, I am not going to forget it in a hurry.

I finally understood why the wakeup call never came. It must have come through an hour later. Also, it was a cold and windy morning and I did not enjoy the prospect of spending an hour at the freezing bus stop. Luckily the train station was just next door and it was covered. So, I went in and waited for an hour there. And of course later when it became 6.10 am again, the bus promptly came. This time it also took the appointed 4 hours to reach London.