That's what I've basically done this week - Monday early morning I was on a train up to Sheffield for a meeting, and that evening I was on another train over to Leeds for a couple of days so that I could get some work in with my team. Which actually meant only two days of the normal daily commute, but it's not like I've spent any less time on trains. I'm really growing to hate trains...
I've never been to Sheffield before, and I was actually pretty impressed with the place. The train station is super modern and fancy, with fountains and stuff to dress it up a little. I had to walk through Sheffield Hallam campus to get to the office, and really loved what a cute little university that is. There looked like some decent pubs around the town, and I certainly enjoyed going for lunch with my colleagues at the Zizzis (a chain, but man do they do good pizza).
Something to bear in mind though - never be selfless and book a late train after a meeting, in case that meeting runs later. What's more likely to happen is that the meeting will finish more than an hour earlier than you expected, and after a pint with the colleagues, they all bugger off to get their trains booked for sensible times and you find yourself alone in Sheffield with three hours to kill. Not fun when your phone is running out of battery and you can't risk getting drunk because you still have to navigate to your hotel in Leeds, and hey, what's the fun in getting drunk alone? Oh yeah, and the shops were closing.
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| Accident!!! |
I managed to kill the time somehow and, after spending probably a bit too long staring at a tram/bus collision (no one was hurt from what I could tell), I successfully got myself on the right train to Leeds. I've been to that train station loads of times, on account of regularly flying home from Leeds Bradford airport, but I've never been outside of that tiny bubble of space. I was actually staying about ten minutes walk away in a (pretty crappy) Travelodge, and it was nice to walk around Leeds for a change. I wish it hadn't been at 8.30pm though - the shops were all closed and there were a few dodgy looking characters around. Still - made it, and boy was I exhausted!!
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| Fancy Sheffield Train Station |
I had planned to spend two days at our Leeds headquarters, Quarry House. This building is actually incredible - one of the largest buildings I've seen in the UK, and apparently contains it's own pool, gym, sauna, you name it!! Only problem was - I didn't know where I was going when I got there, so spent plenty of time wandering around looking the fool. But never mind, I sorted it out eventually and found the canteen in the meantime, meaning I was never at a loss for a cup of tea.
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| Quarry House Entrance |
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| Pre-cinema spicy meatballs at Frankie & Bennys |
Just like when you're attending a conference, I always find I'm a better worker when I'm away from my normal place of work, and the two work days absolutely flew by. I managed to entertain myself pretty successfully in the evening too - you all saw my post about the Inbetweeners 2 the other day, and that's exactly what I did that night. I'm not one of those people who's scared to go to the cinema by myself - it's not the sort of place you want to socialise and have witty banter anyway - but I did have a pretty funny experience in this respect. Some woman sitting behind me stood up and started complaining to her partner that she didn't want to go to the loo alone, because walking back into the theatre would make her look like one of those sad losers who go to the cinema alone. I immediately turned around and gave her a death glare and the poor woman nearly pissed herself!!! She apologised so profusely that I almost felt bad for her, and the way she sunk her head into her hands as she nipped off to the loo made me laugh so much. Some people are so silly!!!
That's probably all I wanted to say about this trip I guess. Work day stuff is off limits, and I do not even want to begin to think about the train journey back from Leeds which was uneventful, long and ever so tedious. Huh...could use those three adjectives to describe so many aspects of life though, right?
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