Leeds, 11 - 13 April 2009

This Easter holiday was a suddenly-planned trip for us. Just several days before the trip, Lan decided that we should go to Leeds and have some fun there. So, we booked hotel for 3 days-2 nights stay and so looked forward to the trip. Leeds is around 2 hours and 30 minutes from Liverpool by coach and have warmer weather than Liverpool. Still, we prayed for a nice warm weather for our holiday...

11 April 2009
We headed out from Liverpool at 09.00 a.m. The weather was nice and sunshiny, the traffic was okay. We arrived in Leeds coach station on-time, around 11.30, then we made our way to the city centre to get something to eat.
What I noticed is that Leeds has more shopping malls than Liverpool! And, God..., people shop like crazy! After walking here and there, with a printed google-maps of Leeds in our hands, we finally decided to eat in a pub; fish and chips for me, Southern fried chicken for Lan. It was surprisingly cheap and we were full to the neck!
Well... it's time to head to the hotel. This time we stayed at Hilton Hotel. Since we decided on the trip so close to the date, all the 'cheap' hotels are not so cheap anymore... so we might as well go to better hotel with the same price, right? Checked in, sorted out our stuffs, then... a bit of rest on the comfortable bed. Ughh... so nice, that if we did not have any other plan, I'd be happy to just snooze in.

However, we did get ourself up to go to the next destination: Kirkstall Abbey. We were supposed to head to the coach station, first, and catch a bus to get there... instead, half way we took wrong direction and got lost to this very quiet and kind-of-creepy community. It took us almost an hour to finally get the right track to get to coach station! Then, 20 minutes on the bus, we got to Kirkstall Abbey (Kirkstall Abbey, one of the most complete examples of a medieval Cistercian abbey in Britain). It is a very nice place for a nice and relaxing stroll in the afternoon. With the birds chirping and the flowers blooming, the place is very beautiful!
When the sun goes down, we returned to Leeds city centre, got something to eat and watched "Fast & Furious" in the cinema, before we went back to hotel to take our rest.

12 April 2009
The second day of our adventure began after we had our breakfast in the hotel. This time the destination is Harewood House, home to the Queen's cousin, the Earl of Harewood. Again, we got on the bus for around 30 minutes to Harogate. It was a busy Easter Sunday in Harewood. A lot of family came by cars for picnics, camping and even to attend the dog-show, which happened to be on that day!

We started by going to Harewood house first, admiring the art of old time English house decoration. Sadly, we were not allowed to take any photographs, but each room in the house was simply magnificent! All the details, colors and furnitures are really elegant the way they are! After that, we sat in the cafe for a cup of Yorkshire tea, while feasting our eyes on the colorful garden scenery. Simply a bliss!
Refreshed, we continued our stroll along the garden and the bird park. They sure have a lot birds from many countries! I am so proud to see Jalak Bali & Ayam Jago there... Hehehe... At 4 p.m., satisfied with what we have seen, we headed back to Leeds and had dinner in Picolino, an Italian restaurant. Delicious but a bit too dear... I must say.

13 April 2009
Happy 31st birthday, Honey!!!
It was a day of a little bit shopping... We went to the visitor information centre to buy some souvenirs for ourselves and our parents. Then, we headed to city centre to window shop and bought some chocolates as Lan's birthday present.
Then, at 15.45, we got on the coach back to Liverpool. It was a short but sweet and beautiful, as well as adventurous trip we had. I enjoyed it so much! I cannot stop thanking my husband for organising this trip and thanking God for such beautiful weather we had.