WALK WITH ME: Up In Victorian Leeds

I'm back at it again with my England trip entries!! I still want to finish this, and I will. :)

I'm moving on from London now. London was a great experience; I loved walking and seeing so many different things, with the old and new coexisting, the well-preserved culture, and of course the Underground. Taking the tube was a really cool experience for me, even though everyone's generally busy and wanting to go from place to place, but I just really loved observing it all, unfolding in front of me.

But then now it's time to go further North to Leeds.

We woke up early to go to King's Cross and catch our train.

 This immediately caught my attention, and I don't think anyone could miss this.

Another thing anyone shouldn't miss is the fact that the platform 9 3/4 is found here. It's just that the trolley wasn't out yet. My sister and I were probably the first ones for the day to take our photos here. I've watched all Harry Potter films, but I'm not really a big fan hehe.

Some random snippets of what I saw outside our train window. Life can actually be simple. You can live in a street with identical houses and live within your means. Really.

I loved the rolling hills most of all. And whenever we'd see sheep or cows, we'd be like: "lookieee" . I also finally got to see and understand what they meant when grasses have different colors and it's like they're all divided in straight lines. It's a pretty sight to see.

One ticket to any destination, please!!

We arrived in Leeds right on time, and it was colder than London. Or maybe, it's because I'm a tropical girl and the cold bothers me more than it should. I headed towards the washroom right away and put on leggings because I was wearing a dress. Silly me.



I can say that walking around Leeds was more peaceful and the whole city just felt a bit more laid back than London. In fact, I didn't see much people around when we were walking, or maybe we just stayed in the more outskirt-ish part of the city. I didn't see much tourists either. I have no complaints, though!

Passed by this abandoned looking warehouse which turned out to be a hostel. It's called the Arts Hostel, and it's real quirky inside. 

A little bit of a background on Leeds is that it used to be one of the powerhouses of the Industrial Revolution. This was the time the grand Victorian buildings were built despite the poor conditions a portion of the people experienced. Perhaps I can liken it to an Oliver Twist film, where small children can fit in chimneys and do all the work.

This is the Leeds Kirkgate Market, and to my surprise, it's considered as the largest covered market in Europe. I have to agree, because we kind of got lost while inside.. it was really big with so many shops.

Downtown Leeds! There are many shops, restaurants, and cafes lined up here. There area also thrift shops around, and that's what we were trying to find most of our time here.

From time to time, we'd spot an Arcade. I always thought it meant those games kids play like in Timezone and Tom's World in the malls, but it's actually a hall filled with shops. Truly, I learned something new everyday while here.

I loved the detail and the ceiling most definitely.

I used to read Steampunk novels and I honestly can associate all the buildings I saw with Steampunk even if I read them years back.

This is the Leeds Corn Exchange, where they used to trade corn. They don't do that now anymore, although it's now lined up with shops and the architecture inside is bright and a-m-a-z-i-n-g !

I took this one time when we woke up at 7AM just to walk around. It's nice to explore while the whole town is still asleep, or just about to begin their day.

We definitely had a great time walking around Leeds and seeing all the buildings around. Leeds became our resting place a couple of days, as we planned to see the nearby historic cities, namely York and Durham.

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Thanks for reading, dear reader! Hope you enjoyed this Walk With Me. :-)

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