Travel – slightly weird

20th April 2026

My travel fantasies – now what?

Wednesday, 15 April, 2026

(My live feed is updated here. Now on with the present:

My travels these days are fantasies. I realised this while talking to my brother yesterday, when I discovered he was closer to Montreal than I was.

Gas prices though
But in my dreams we meet there and come to Toronto. However I am going to blog about that, my travel dreams that is
I’d love to visit Montreal. I’m sure I will, and it would be so much better if you guys were there too. I haven’t been there since 1967. There’s no reason why it can’t happen some time.
Pray for me!

Apparently, according to John, the archangel Raphael is the patron saint of travellers, mental health, healing, and eye afflictions. That covers me very nicely. When finding out that Raphael’s feast day is also John’s birthday, it’s a no-brainer.

It set me off, though. Not that I haven’t been thinking about this quite a bit lately. I miss travelling. As I get further away from my surgery and chemo, I fantasise about going somewhere.

Apart from London, there are three places that I know I’d love to see again. They don’t top many people’s fantasy travel destinations, but that’s OK. I mean, not being on the list means they aren’t crawling with noisy tourists. On the whole, I don’t worry all that much about tourists when I travel. The city’s top attractions are rarely on my own list. I like the neighbourhoods and back streets. I was famously gawped at when I said I had no desire to see the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty or MOMA when I first visited New York. What kind of person am I? I’ve heard the derision – many times.

I’m very fond of dereliction, working-class neighbourhoods, and hole-in-the-wall, mom-and-pop restaurants. Forget the Michelin stars.

My favourite three places on earth: Torino, Budapest, and Porto. The amount of time I’ve spent in Torino means that in my dreams I’m walking the streets, knowing every turn (ha, I have an abysmal sense of direction and can’t read a map), and I’m showing my people what this place has to offer. I’m scouring the markets, cruising along the narrow backstreets, buying frito misto in a paper cone, discovering dragons and demons at every turn, and seeing their eyes widen as they go up to the top of the Mole. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done these tours in my imagination.

The astonishing Mole Antonelliana, Torino

Our friend, il balon Our friend, The Torino Eye, on our way home
Choose what you want! A market seller motions in the farmers’ market

I’m strolling through the working-class neighbourhoods of Budapest, exploring the little ghetto streets, finding all the hidden spots for snacks. I’m wandering from Christmas market to Christmas market and soaking it all u. I’m sitting in the “sisters'” restaurant* on the steep Rua das Taipas, eating the amazing bolinhos de bacalhau and drinking vinho verde on tap. (*The place I’m not supposed to tell anyone about in case it becomes unapproachable.) I’m making my way through the hilly Maragaia neighbourhood, photographing the tiles, the crumbling houses, and the multiplicity of doors.

The truth is, these things may never happen again, at least not in the way I’m used to. I know that when I make my way to Contra Cafe, some 200m away, and collapse into a chair, congratulating myself on having made it this far. So silly. So tragic really if I let myself wallow. Such an easy way to test my sense of humour and gratitude. This is coming from someone who could walk for 5 or 6 hours and needed to learn how to travel and adapt rather than abandon travel completely. I want to do it again. Somehow.

There are places on my list that I don’t suppose I will ever get to now. I shall travel virtually to them all … Copenhagen, Rio, Mexico City, Morocco, Sicily, Krakow, Valencia, Bilbao, Belfast, Spit… and others. There are places I might make it to, with good fortune and health, like Boston. I’ve heard someone say it underwhelmed them, but I’ll judge for myself. I want to hope I will get back to London for any amount of time and would need to be super creative and develop a strong sense of willingness to let it go again. This will be the hardest.

Meanwhile, WheelTrans is taking me around to where I need to go. Nothing exciting, nothing that lights me up, but it’s out. I’ve planned a couple of things for when my brother visits, but aware that even they may be too ambitious for now. Denise told me that I am getting out for walks often, and I suppose it looks that way in others’ eyes, as seen in this blog. The truth is, my walks are very brief and often tied in with doctor or other vital appointments. I just try to do what I can manage, rarely overdoing it, and adjusting my expectations as I go along. I was born to explore and investigate, so this is the new version, the one that makes sense and is manageable.

Last week, I took the few hours between work shifts to get over to the discount optical store. I’ve been there before in 2019 when I decided I wanted contact lenses for Krish’s brother’s five-day Hindu wedding celebrations. They took a look and understood what I needed. Within minutes, they had found some frames that my lenses fit into, and I was sorted. Such a relief. How foolish I felt for not going there before. The TARDIS is in the shop, so I can’t go back and not have suffered through the last many weeks, but I’m so happy to have these glasses moving forward.

We lived in this neighbourhood, not so far from here, when we first landed in Toronto. I didn’t love it, but it’s familiar. I spent a little time in the health food store, buying some ground cumin and faro. Then I went across to the Salvation Army thrift store. They’ve changed the layout in there. So much nicer. I poked around a bit, leaving with just a pillowcase for Krish. After my appointment, I decided on some momos and a mango lassi for lunch. Too many momos and not my favourite food, but they sounded the most comforting. I’d have liked to have gone into the Korean spot, but it was inaccessible with my walker. No go. My ride came and spirited me home. I can see!

Mango lassi, chicken momos with turnip salad – lunch

One of my favourite murals in Toronto, by the opticians – at The Bee Shop – it sells honey and beeswax products. My photo doesn’t do it justice so if there’s a way to zoom in, please do or view it here

Another day, I was ambitious. I took the bus to the main street, Bloor. From there, I went to check out the Value Village, a very large chain thrift store, whose HQ store isn’t too far away. I wasn’t going to buy anything, but just scope out the offerings. I need to go back with more energy and time. I popped into the Paradise cafe for a cappuccino and a sadly rock-hard scone (dreaming of lighter ones with clotted cream and strawberry jam). Since I was last here, it must have changed hands. The ice cream freezer cabinet was gone, the selection of cake had diminished, and there wasn’t a sign of any bread for sale. I’d heard about a small art exhibition on Bloor Street, Gallery 1065, so I went in. The theme was On Time. I had two favourite pieces in there. One felt like it was from the pandemic, and the other was an imagined sundial made from found objects (including wooden bobbins, which got my eye right away). A perfect (for me) small room, easy to get into and around and then leave again. I have zero patience. or lately energy, for large galleries. I picked up a prescription before heading back to the station, and I was feeling very proud of myself for still having the power to get there. This was my biggest “day out” in ages.

Need to find the info on this. The numbers are random, and the pointer is filled with wooden bobbins. The artist uses found materials, just my style

Maker Bean Cafe. They run workshops. On my list

This church is converted into apartments. Will get closer photos when I can

Great toy aisle in Value Village’s basement

My final accomplishment this week was making lunch for my sister, Ruth, who’d asked me to make my “interesting salads” instead of giving her a birthday gift. Normally, the work would have taken a few hours, but these days I’m not up to it. I took all of Thursday and all morning Friday to put it together. Ruth and my niece, Suzanne, came over and ate. We chatted about this and that, and after they left, Krish and I relaxed and later ate some leftovers from the freezer. I did it!

Lunch for Ruth and Suzanne. From the top – tabouli made with quiona, raddichio with beet, goat cheese and thai basil, beans with olives, pesto, olive oil and lemon, spiced squash lentil soup, baba ganousy, crackers, pita, veggies – Chai and spiced pumpkin banana bread to follow

My travels have narrowed lately, but I need them. I won’t say my heart isn’t broken at the thought that I may not see my favourite places again, or any new ones, but I have to live with my new reality. I’ll plan some short excursions with WheelTrans. Onwards!

Friday photos (April 17):

The tree. You’d need to look closely for buds but there are some

The side. I wonder when side patio dining will start

The back. Still no sign of garden prep so we’re losing hope that the Old Man is around or even alive. I choose to believe he’s living with family, being well cared for. Don’t tell me otherwise! The restaurant’s back patio is slowly showing signs of being brought back from hibernation so I shall track it

24th June 2022

Bradford Day 1 – Arriving and Yorkshire Puddings

Wednesday, 16th June, 2022

I had left packing until the morning we left for Bradford. My packing phobia – what if I forget something? what if my packing takes forever and I miss the train? – is tempered by my eventual realisation that, as long as I had my medications, my phone, and my bank cards, I was going to be fine.

It was Krish who had decided on Bradford. Hard to say why really, and backed up by the number of people who, when I mentioned I was going to Bradford answered with ‘Why?’ or ‘Bradford? Well, I’m game for anything and anywhere really. Nothing to lose.

We’d been watching the weather forecast – rain, then no rain, then cool, then very warm. My preferred weather when going anywhere to explore is 15-21C, not windy, a few light showers OK. We were in for 23C on average. I anticipated lots of rest in between short excursions.

Traffic was crawling as we left Dalston and we decided to get on the tube for the rest of the journey – just one stop. This got us to Kings Cross with about 40 minutes to spare. I spent some time trying to upgrade our journey but the bidding was too high. Our train was at the very far end of the station but we got our seat and were on our way. A three-hour, easy journey with some brunch along the way.

Crowded tube — The tube was busy and we were the lone mask wearers

Busy Kings Cross — Kings Cross was busy. I hoped not too many of these would be on OUR train

Waiting at Kings Cross – the platform is sometimes announced very close to departure time, then it’s a rush!

Inside train carriage — Here we go again! We’re on our way

Quality Street poster — A promising sign – Quality Street is made in Bradford

Arriving at Bradford Station — And we arrived a minute or two early to a station that reminded me of Southend

I liked Bradford at first glance. It was more wide open than I’d expected and some of the architecture was quite arresting. It was an easy 10 or 15 minute walk to the hotel too, although the last bit was uphill for a short distance. We checked in, were told that we had to pay extra since I’d booked for only one. I was sure they were wrong but later on discovered they were right – oops. The hotel was a grand one and quite old. It felt official. When we got off the elevator, it took a while to get my bearings. Which way? I had to find a cleaner and ask where to go – ah, I see. But when we walked in we were in a small room with twin beds. Nothing to do but go back down to reception and get a new room and new keys. The ‘right’ room was large and very brown as usual (can the hotels please leave the 70s) with a king bed, bath and walk-in shower as requested. And no fridge. Damn – there go plans to have some food and real milk for tea available.

Henry Irving plaque — One of the strangest hotel plaques I’ve ever seen. Very encouraging!

We rested for just a short while and then wandered around the city centre. There was almost no one around and it was rough – lots of closed shops, lots of aimless and homeless people, indoor markets that had seen better days and no sign of anywhere promising for dinner. The markets were full of Indian places serving deep fried snacks and small crowds sitting together eating.

Bradford - wool city — I loved this needle and thread structure , which -reflects Bradford’s past as a major woollen textile producing city. Near the hotel and opposite Forster Square Station

Fascinating building — I was really attracted to this building, which was smothered with all sorts of signs and advertising posters. The busiest shop exterior I’ve ever seen!

Solly's Fruit and Veg — An interesting sight. In a city populated by many Asians today, there’s Solly’s – a reminder of a Jewish immigrant past, in Oestler Market

Here and there remnants of Eid — Some streets still had Eid lights. I was hoping they’d be switched on at night, but they’re waiting for next year…

Bradford has bid for and won city of culture for 2025 and remarked that they had a LONG way to go. I asked Krish where he thought the regeneration might be happening and then we saw where it would be – right next to a market, with hoarding all around….excavating – for something tall, I’m sure. This will be weird for the city, which is stuffed with very old (many, many listed) buildings housing pubs and nail bars and the like. We walked around a few blocks, managed some steep hilly streets, and took in the chaos. ‘It’s beat up and run down,’ I told Krish. He said ‘that’s the same thing’ but I don’t think so.

This isn’t the day we’d go in, but the Wool Exchange is an amazing building – the exterior is soiled but you can’t help noticing all the beautiful detail.

As you leave the Wool Exchange, and before you get to the Midland Hotel, there’s a brand new mall, The Broadway. We picked up a snack and some water and on up the hill to our room.

Now, my first mention of food. Bradford is known as the curry capital of the UK. It has a huge Asian population. How many Asian restaurants would you think there were? Two hundred! That’s what they say. So much curry that, when Krish and I did our usual ‘where to eat’ research, we couldn’t really see anything other than curry. There were a few pubs, some also serving curry, a bunch of burger places, some kebab shops, a couple of fish and chip cafes…one restaurant looked promising – the 1914 in the Alhambra theatre, but sadly it opened only during performances and we’d hit a period where nothing was playing. We did searches for Best Places to Eat in Bradford and Google was great at coming up with places…in Leeds. We were determined to not let this get to us and for the first night we’d 90% decided that we’d go to a nearby pub and have their Giant Yorkshires.

The menu read ‘A giant yorkshire pudding filled with your choice of filling from below, served with rich and tasty home made gravy.’ and below that – Yorkshire Burritos ‘Wonderful home cooked fillings wrapped in a light fluffy giant yorkshire pudding, served with rich and tasty home made gravy.’ We’d been to Yorkshire a couple of times and not been able to find a menu with Yorkshire pudding (very odd) so this is where we had to go.

Shoulder of Mutton — If they’d had food here, we would have gone. It looked so charming.

The City Vaults was once an old (Lloyds) bank built in 1880. This is a grade II listed building on a street intriguingly named Hustlergate. (Hustlergate is named for wool merchant John Hustler (1715-1790) a man credited with turning Bradford from a village into a city, a city which was to become the world centre of the wool textile industry because of his work.

We were an oddity in that pub, which was filled with half-drunken people who seemed at loose ends, many sitting alone. We shared a giant Yorkshire filled with a vinegary (was it red wine?) stew, and a Yorkshire burrito – a YP wrapped around pulled pork, stuffing and apple, accompanied with a large gravy boat. This was a heavy meal really so we didn’t try to eat it all but we’d done it – had a Yorkshire pudding in Yorkshire!

‘Home to bed’ and to ponder the obvious question. Is a Yorkshire pudding done better in Yorkshire? The answer – NO!

28th October 202121st November 2021

Leicester – All’s well that ends well

28 to 30 October, 2021

I wanted to go to Leicester to see the Diwali lights and to meet up with our friends, Avi and Farrah. It’s about halfway between London and Sheffield and on the same route so that was handy. The lights were being turned on for 24^th October and the crazy Diwali day was 4^th November, so we were nicely in the middle.

When we arrived in Leicester, I was immediately struck with how much more genteel it felt than Sheffield. Sort of like Bristol but a bit grittier. A first it also seemed busier, at least at the station. I got on my cab app and a taxi arrived quickly to take us to the Holiday Inn. It was a nice big room with a car park view. The hotel in Sheffield had a view onto the next building. One day I’ll have a nice hotel view!

After a rest we opted to not have any dinner but to go straight to Belgrave Road, which is also known as the Royal Mile or Curry Mile. It’s a big Asian community. Belgrave Roa hadn’t changed since we were last there. There’s a big, illuminated Ferris wheel and there are Diwali lights strung along the road with some illuminated decorations on the lamp posts. It looks very festive. Last time we were there for Diwali night and there were big crowds and fireworks. It was manic! This time it was deserted apart from some busy restaurants.

I’d said that maybe we could find a simple bowl of dhal and skip anything fancy, but most of the places had bigger meals or were fast food outlets. Apart from Bobby’s. Bobby’s is the best-known Indian restaurant in the area. It’s a vegetarian hotspot. I didn’t really want to go there so we walked on. I tried to go into a shop or two that were selling Diwali trinkets but, despite their open doors, they were closed – or so I was told as soon as I put my foot in. We walked along to the end of the road.

Right down where it started to thin out was a Chaiwala and I thought we could at least have a cup of masala chai, but again I was ushered out – more kindly this time. They were apparently setting up for their grand opening the next day. And so back we went to Bobby’s and miraculously got a table immediately. Then we waited. We probably waited longer than we’d ever waited, since Krish is notoriously impatient, but there wasn’t anywhere else to go, and it was wet and chilly outside. Finally, they came for our order. I wanted dhal and a puri, and true to form Krish (who always over-orders) wanted dhokla and chaat and naan. And we waited again – a long time. We weren’t alone in our impatience. At every table people were looking around wondering where their food was.

The dhokla came first, then some naan, then some puri – I forget how long afterwards. We ate the dhokla, which is a spongey type of pancake. It was slightly spicy. Not bad but not as good as our friend, Rakhee’s. I had two pieces. Krish ordered a lassi to cool us down from the spice. I ate two more teaspoons of dhal. Krish ate everything else. The chaat never came, nor the lassi. Finally losing patience, Krish asked for the bill – the chaat was on there so he told them to take that off, and the lassi had never made it to our order. The verdict was – slowest and most unfriendly service ever, but the food had been very nicely made. We took a look around the street for something else (I’d barely eaten) but there was nothing and everything was dark – so we ordered another cab and went back to our room, settling for a cup of tea and sharing a pack of hotel biscuits.

Overnight my stomach was so sour, and by morning I felt truly ill. I could barely move from the pain in my abdomen and lower back. Krish lingered in the hotel with me, we fashioned a hot water bottle from my drinking bottle, and he went out for an hour or two at a time, while I stayed in bed hoping to recover by evening so I could see our friends later that day.

Krish found this plaque. Attenborough was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys!

Krish also found a Timmie's in town — Krish also found a Timmie’s in town

Butt Close Lane, Leicester — And he got giggly over this street name (It has to do with archery!)

Krish picked me up a sandwich – an omelet on white bread, I told him. Only they didn’t know how to make an omelet so gave him a fried egg one instead. I got brown sauce on it, said Krish, I know you like that. Oh well, I couldn’t eat anyway. I drank though, whatever I could stomach – some very weak tea, some ginger beer, some coconut water. It was clear I wasn’t going anywhere with our friends. I told Krish, please go anyway. I’ll feel less guilty. he said no, so I told him to call and explain and maybe during the chat he’d change his mind. He did. I was glad for that.[/caption]

He was out for three or four hours. They had fun. I’m so glad. In retrospect, I’m pleased I didn’t go. If my response to spice had been that bad from Thursday, how much worse would it have been if it had happened on Friday night with the journey ahead! Ah well, spice or not – DONE!

I took an extra dose of my meds in the evening, having actually managed to eat TWO CRACKERS! Yay.

Rainy in Leicester — It was rainy in Leicester. This was the view from the hotel room and you can see the water streaming down after collecting on the flat roof of the car park

The next morning, I planned to stay in bed and ignore the jibes from Krish about going to seek breakfast. Instead, I took another pill, ate some crackers – AND A COOKIE, yay. I didn’t feel quite right but at least able to move about and talk without sounding like someone had strangled me. Avi and Farrah had said if I was feeling well enough, let them know and they’d pick us up to go over. I messaged them that I was OK and to get back to us.
We then had a lazy morning with Krish packing and me just resting and praying. Just before we checked out, Avi phoned to say he would come by at 1pm. So, for one hour we explored around the old centre, and I was able to get some photos. Leicester has a small but interesting medieval quarter. There’s a big Richard III connection in Leicester.

Wygston's House timber-framed facade — (Is this Wygston’s House? I think so) 15th-century timber-framed merchant’s house thought to be the oldest dwelling in Leicester. Wygston’s House is a beautiful example of a medieval wool merchant’s residence.

Wyggeston Hospital and Boys School 1877 — Wyggeston Hospital in Leicester was founded by William Wyggeston the Younger in 1513. This building went up in 1877 as a hospital boys grammar school

From Applegate towards the Guildhall and the cathedral

Cathedral and Guildhall — Leicester Guildhall started life in 1390 when its Great Hall was built as a meeting place and banquet hall for the Guild of Corpus Christi. It’s believed that Shakespeare performed here

RIchard III statue — King Richard III was killed in the battle of Bosworth Field (Leicestershire) and his body was crudely buried near the present day cathedral. In 2012 his skeleton was found and when it was confirmed to be him in 2013 it was reburied in the cathedral

We bought gifts for Avi and Farrah – a lovely scented candle (winter scent) and some halal chocolate (harder to find than I would have imagined, considering the Moslem population. and we went into the visitor centre and I bought two Diwali items – a bird with a bell, and a string of birds with a bell. They’re both very pretty and seeing the price now, I should have bought many more. Then we heard from Avi that he would leave in ten minutes so we headed back to the hotel to collect the case. That is, Krish headed back and I sat across the road where Avi would be pulling up. The following photos are of the fancier shopping area, Loseby Lane.

It was really nice to see him. He took us to his place by the scenic route (I now surmise) and picked up somewhere from ‘our favourite place’ which was grilled marinated chicken on a bun and some chips. He ordered mine plain. They live in a small community with suburban housing and their place is traditional and neat. it was my first meeting with Farrah, who was wearing a hijab (she wore it for dinner the day before so obviously that’s a normal thing, although I’ve seen Instagram photos of her with her hair showing) and was very chatty. She’s a Computer Sciences teacher and very articulate and interesting. So nice to meet her, two years after the marriage, and already chatting a little through our Instagram pages. I managed to eat half the burger which, despite being ‘plain,’ had been marinated and I tasted it for ages, I also managed a handful of chips.

Avi showed us around the house and then suddenly realised we had fifteen minutes to get our train. Panic! We raced along with us telling Avi, get us there but alive, we’d rather pay the fare again. in fact, our train was 3:32 and we arrived at the station at 3:31! (This is when I discovered getting to the station was probably a THIRD of the distance we’d travelled coming from the hotel to his house – so yeah, scenic route.) We raced through the barrier, up the stairs to the footbridge, all the way along, and saw that the train was on the platform. I tucked my cane under my arm, got down the stairs as quickly as I could, grateful for someone who was holding up the boarding process a bit, jumped in the closest door to me and we took off. This is the second time we have absolutely rushed to Leicester station and just made it. I hope it’s not a trend.

The train back was packed, mostly with football fans – definitely Arsenal at an away game, definitely drunk, and definitely super noisy and boring. Every five seconds or so someone – usually the same person – started an awful fan song which the others joined in or not. The second song seemed to need some clanging and banging of the train seats and overhead railings. Joy! Facing us across the table sat a man with his young daughter. She was watching a video on her tablet the whole time so wasn’t subjected to the swearing that was part of the whole thing. Anyway, no ticket inspectors, no hassle, straight through to London in an hour. And here’s the song:

F*ck em all!
F*ck em all!
United, West Ham, Liverpool
Cos we are the Arsenal!
We are the best!
We are the Arsenal!
F*ck all the rest!

At St Pancras, my taxi app was painfully slow and eventually it told me no drivers. I tried once more, and we settled for a bus and ended up taking two buses after seeing the best bus was 19 mins away (what???). We arrived home 90 mins after our actual arrival in London. A bowl of soup and a small slice of bread and off to bed with a hot water bottle. So, all in all, a bit of a blip here and there but a good trip.

28th October 202117th November 2021

Sheffield (part two) – Kelham Island mostly

Wednesday, 27 October, 2021

We stayed in bed till late. It was nice to not be rushing about. Then some time before noon we went to the bus stop. A day bus and tram pass is £5.10 so we got one each. My London bus pass is good for any bus but doesn’t work on trams.

There was just a driver and a ‘learner’ and us on board. The driver said we’d definitely know when we reached our stop – Kelham Island. Where exactly were we going, he asked. No clue, we said. He smiled. We sailed through the centre of town and it got woodsy very quickly. The houses start to look more like you’re in Yorkshire and there are pockets of new housing areas. But, as Krish pointed, the edge of the city and the countryside isn’t very far at all. The bus pulled over, its first stop. This is Kelham Island, said the bus driver, all this (gesturing with his arms). We’ll just get out here and explore, said Krish It’s a great area that the River Don weaves through. Old mill houses and factories long forgotten but it was fascinating to imagine the time gone by. Some buildings are beautifully preserved or restored or repurposed, but with so much dereliction there are very interesting new builds, some almost Scandinavian looking. Must be the forest effect

A building off the main road had caught my eye so we headed towards it. Along the way there was an art trail with plenty to photograph. (There are a lot of street art photos to show, but so many that I’ve decided not to post any here but make a whole page of them as part of my Sheffield ‘series.’ I know there’s much more to see, but not this time.) I noticed a few people heading down the road too, all with takeaway food boxes and I began to wonder if perhaps there was no food down here. That wasn’t a pleasant thought since I was pretty hungry and getting lightheaded. I hoped there would be at least a corner shop somewhere. Meanwhile the streets were very interesting and looked they might have housed factory workers at one time. We crossed a bridge over a lovely river with a weir. This was a nature reserve and there were quite a few ducks. Downstream I could see the Kelham Island Museum. It was difficult to figure out how to approach it so we followed the road around and hoped it would eventually be clear. At the end of the road, just over the river was the building I’d spotted. There was a bit of facadism but the factory building was pretty much intact, stretching to the bottom of the road around the corner for some distance. It was now residences.

I really needed to eat but so many places were closed, till evening or forever. I saw a café that I’d read about and went in. It was so warm and lively in there but every seat was taken so I bought some orange juice and we carried on.

Around here were some old buildings, but also new housing. There were hoardings and some construction and older buildings that were now commercial or office space. There was clearly a lot of regeneration in this area. Already I was telling myself, This would be my place.

And now we could see the museum in sight so we made a beeline down beside a canal lined with old factories and the odd shop, none selling food.

Outside the museum were very large pieces of machinery including an enormous melting cauldron (as we guessed it was – in my hypoglycaemic state of mind, reading plaques was out of the question).

Inside the museum entrance hall we looked briefly at the walls. I had thought we might go to a place called The Cutlery Works, a sort of modern food hall (called the largest in the north) inside an old cutlery manufacturers (a mainstay of the area). I’d meant to go there at the beginning of our exploration and avoid a low blood sugar crisis, but we’d not found it. The bus driver had said ‘All this is Kelham Island’ so I thought it would be apparent, but no. A museum volunteer offered me a museum map and I told her we couldn’t stay today and asked her if she knew where The Cutlery Works was. She seemed puzzled, shook her head, and told us we could go the museum café across the walk. Sadly, their café smelled like Brenda’s so we left. The museum might have been fascinating (she promised steam engines) but food was more important right now. Just up the road, we found a little pizza place serving pizza from noon. It was 1:30pm so I ordered one. The server went away, came back, and said the oven wasn’t ready. That little bottle of OJ saved me from fainting and we headed along and saw a main road and…Tesco!! Lifesaver. I got a pork pie and some Maltesers and had two bites of the pie, determined to feel human again and ready to explore some more.

There was the River Don. And an obelisk with mill stones stuffed with rubbish. Oh dear. Then we saw a building with a piece of art from Phlegm, Sheffield’s most known artist, and when we went around to the front it was a German pub. We went in and shared a ridiculous plate of thick schnitzel, bratwurst and some pickles and fries. Not the best, but at least edible and between us we were full and ready to go.

We considered again going to The Cutlery Works but I couldn’t make sense of the map and now we’d already eaten. Which way should we go? Should we turn back? Could I manage more Kelham Island? In the end, we decided that we’d head back towards town and see what we could see along the way. We looked for a bus. Nothing in sight and so we walked towards some spires that we guessed were in town. Still no bus stop, although one or two wandered by without stopping anywhere. We found a good cut-through street that seemed to be a trendy oasis between two older areas and explored just a little more. At the end of the street we turned again and found some old factory buildings leading towards a main road.

Up and down (Sheffield is hilly) and then I asked a student, how do we get into town? If you go along this road all the way to the end, you’re in the centre. I want a bus, I said. No, she said. Maybe she was wrong. We saw a man on the street and asked again, Where’s a bus into town? You ARE in town.

Were we? Well, not that far from the centre, but my legs were done, and another but – NO BUSES. He’d pointed towards the same street the student had been on, so we went there. There was construction on the corner but then the street became very interesting.

It was a lovely street to walk along. More repurposed old buildings dating from 1700 and some very old municipal buildings. Krish wandered up a hill I didn’t dare climb and saw a synagogue turned into flats so I missed that, but he sent me a photo so I could see it too and I’ve included it here. I took more photographs, rested a little on some steps outside an office building, and told myself that my knees might hurt but I’d never have discovered this had we found a bus. It helped…sort of.

I suspected this area – called first Queen Street and then Bank Street – might have been the original municipal centre of town. I was right. It used to be the main business street.

We found our way to a stop finally and got out where the trams are. They only go across town, three lines. We rode a few stops, then back five stops and I told Krish I’d find a bus to the hotel and he should explore alone.

It’s interesting finding your way around when you’re on your own. I wanted to find the same bus back to the hotel that had brought me this way, but I couldn’t see where it stopped. It seemed the way back wasn’t an exact version of the way here, but I followed the road around to where I assumed there would be buses going my way. There were, in fact, three bus stops with several routes at each. I took the first bus from the list that Google showed me. I think Google led me slightly astray!

The bus route showed me I was only three stops away. Funnily, the stop before mine was the Interchange near the station. When I got out, I felt confused. The name of the stop on the map was not the name of the stop in reality. I thought perhaps I’d made a mistake. I looked both ways and chose the most likely and peopled route – a pedestrian area with a lot of university student. I asked where Arundel Gate was. She repeated it with a different pronunciation – lesson learned. I was just half a block from the hotel and, as soon as she showed me the right way, I could see it ahead of me.

So it was a bit of an adventure finding my way from the destination stop to the hotel but I did it. Rest time.

All the Sheffield blog links:
Sheffield (part one) – A long-awaited exploration – Arriving
Sheffield (part two) – Kelham Island mostly
Sheffield (part three)- An evening out and the next morning – Leaving
Sheffield (part four) – All the street art

28th October 202122nd June 2023

Sheffield (part one) – A long-awaited exploration – Arriving

Tuesday, 26 October, 2021

We hadn’t been away for ages and then suddenly there we were planning a trip. We thought Sheffield, Nottingham, and Leicester. Then we thought Sheffield, Leicester and Conventry. Eventually, it was Sheffield and Leicester – two places were enough. Why those? We’d heard a lot about gritty Sheffield with its old buildings, regeneration and street art – just our thing. As for Leicester, I wanted to revisit the Diwali lights and also see our friends, Avi and Farrah. We hadn’t seen them since their wedding in February 2019.

There had been the usual last-minute getting ready. I’d had Monday to get most things prepared but Krish usually leaves it later, had been to the hospital, and just generally overdoes everything so Tuesday morning he was still doing. I made sandwiches and packed leftover quiche for the journey. Our plan was to get the bus by 8:30 to get to the station around 9:30 for our 10:01 departure.

At 8:30 i went to the bus stop alone, knowing I’d be slow and Krish would catch me up. But four buses came and went and no Krish. I tried not to panic but a 9am bus would get us to St Pancras at maybe 9:50 with at least a 5 minute walk to the train and quite likely much longer… if any slow traffic at all we would miss our train. It wasn’t looking good. Krish showed up around 8:55 and I resigned myself to not making it really and staying as calm as I could. He’d thought the train was at 10:30… Never mind, I said, we’ll get to Sheffield somehow and what about the tube from Angel – just one stop. The bus was crawling so we figured out that it was also one stop from Highbury in the Victoria line. Those tunnels and escalators never seemed longer but at least I knew we could make it

First time on the tube since the pandemic. Eeek. Packed and not many masks. Grin and bear it… At St Pancras more tunnels, more escalators and then at the main station a long, long walk with confusion on where to get the train. The ticket office helped me out and there we were with a stunning twenty-minute wait!

It was an old train, not very clean, not very busy. And definitely not many masks. Even the ticket inspector wasn’t wearing one. There are four stops -Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield, Sheffield. I confess to not looking out of the window. I watched Last Christmas, or 3/4 of it – terrible. At Leicester someone got off and a woman showed up with a cloth. A millisecond swipe at the table and off she went – wow! At Chesterfield went to the toilet, or tried to buy in the end there were three of us waiting and engaged engaged engaged. A young woman suggested people get in without a ticket, head to the toilet to evade inspection and no one can use it. But waiting there meant I could see the scenery. Green fields giving way to gorgeous old stone houses and scattered old row houses on narrow streets – I was in Yorkshire all right.

Sheffield station isn’t remarkable and there are no maps and no information booths. We headed outside with Krish asking me, which way – I’d put him in charge of that since my map reading ability is poor at best and results in confusion all around. We found a map on a board and started walking. We passed some long sheds called interchanges.. People were sitting inside waiting for buses. Ahead was a huge multi-level car park and Krish told me there was a long walk around or we could climb the million steps and go through it. I resigned myself to the steps – maybe five flights on different levels … Gah…. But I did it. On the other side another map and we headed down the road. (Later we discovered that, had we turned the other way, we’d have been looking at our hotel not very far away. Live and learn!)

Water feature — If we’d walked left along this long water wall, we’d have been just one street away from the Novotel. Instead we turned right from the wall

One of the long Interchange buildings near the station

There were no road signs. Anywhere! Where the hell were we? (And still no toilet.)

I asked someone who pointed in the direction we’d come from. Right then. Back we walked. Still no street signs. I asked again and was told, keep walking, it’s just past The Crucible (which meant nothing to me). At a bus stop I asked again. Back there, pointing back the way we’d come, but Krish had gone ahead anyway and when I caught up with him, there it was. Yay.

The hotel was able to check us in early so I just rested. Impressions so far were of an old city with streets intercepted by city roundabouts. No building was extraordinary but it wasn’t grim and depressing, as Leeds had struck me…my only other Yorkshire encounter.

A little discussion later and we went in search of Brenda’s Fish and Chips. The receptionist gave me some simple directions (why won’t men ask for directions???? Sexist hat off.)

In this direction it’s much more modern, although the photos below won’t show that. Another roundabout and we started seeing modern Chinese cafés. Hmmm. Krish decided congee sounded nice so was perusing menus at some not so modern windows and I spotted Brenda’s. We got as far as the door and he called a halt. I don’t blame him really. The simple little shop had a bad smell, like old fat. The floor was listed with chips. Dirty and smelly, declared Krish, and quite honestly he was right. OK Anthony, I said – referencing Bourdain who’d declared such things were never a deterrent, that some of the best tasting things come from such places and maybe the dirt was a factor.

Instead we went for wonton noodle soup with Chinese doughnut. Both were really awful and we left most of it. On the map it was listed as a Sheffield Top-rated table.

We headed towards the shopping area. Same as every UK city – an indoor mall beside a pedestrianised shopping street . At the end of it some more regeneration, some shameful facadism, and a fabulous derelict Salvation Army building. Then the town hall square, quite lovely I thought, punctuated with fairground rides and happy children (it was half term). The buildings are massive and I can’t photograph them whole. i told Krish to go explore and I’d see him later. We walked by the town hall, then down through the fountained peace garden and sat for a while. Peaceful it was!

I walked down further and saw the Winter Garden and decided to visit. I don’t have enough patience to linger and read but it’s a gorgeous building with curved wooden arches – reminded me of the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) – and beams and it’s small enough. There were a few shops and an entrance to Millennium (Modern Art) Gallery – a good plan for Thursday before we leave – and I bought a hot chocolate (and Worcestershire sauce crisps and a Dandelion and Burdock for later). I sat quietly with my drink looking at all the greenery and out to the street.

Happily the Novotel backs onto the Winter Garden area. I easily got back, put on my nightie and lay down. No sleep but it was quiet and I enjoyed the break.

Krish sent some photos from the university campus across the main road from the hotel and eventually showed up. The plan to walk a little together and let him loose to cover as much ground as he likes worked out really well.

The next adventure – dinner. Krish had decided ages ago to go to the world buffet place. It’s right near the Winter Garden – easy. It was heaving when we got there. There was temperature taking in place but I’m not convinced. I had fun checking our temperatures, though, as we waited. No masks in sight. Delta what??? But we stayed having already determined that this was a crowd well used to elbowing their way around.

Elbowing yes. Crowding yes. Godawful buffet food yes! Friendly service, though. Free for all at the buffet stations, the usual amusingly heaped plates of terrible food passing by – more noodles, more chips, more terrible pizza slices, more mountains of fatty Chinese spare ribs, and made to order teppanyakis This is no Mandarin, no Country Harvest even…a food frenzy. People were crowding the plate trolleys, piling on the little cakes, lingering at the all you can drink fountains, kids playing with the ice machines – such a novelty. We ate some imagined decent choices, got our long awaited mini Yorkshire puddings (only sort of worth the wait) and left shameful amounts on our table for collection. And that was that done.

The best thing was watching others I suppose. Absolute gluttony, you know how it is. Like a cruise ship, k asked? No, I said. Well yes the gluttony but orderly more or less and five star cooking. Maybe four. this was one and a half. Almost a zero after I came close to wiping out when I stepped on a dropped cube of orange jelly.

The server told us this was a quiet night. Astounding stuff.

We went to the little Sainsbury’s next to the hotel and got water (it tasted awful from our tap) and OJ. The rest of the evening was us trying not to fall asleep toooo early and just about lost for words.

Day one done.