Day 1-4th December 2023 - Travelling and orientation evening

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City break

I’m going on a welcome city break. It’s a bit different though, I’m not going on my own for a change! I’m going with my friend’s younger sister, Kerry. I have been friends with my friend Donna since we were about 11 years old. We met at Amy Johnson High School for Girls. I was given a locker on the top level…. That, at my height, was just about impossible to reach! Donna, a stranger at that time, stood next to me at her ‘given’ locker, which was at my perfect height! I instantly looked up at mine, down at hers, back up at mine, and back down at hers…. Then I ceased the moment! I introduced myself, and asked her if she would agree to exchange our lockers…. Pointing out the obvious elephant in the room…. The fact that I am vertically challenged! Donna instantly agreed. That was the best, life-long’ move I could have ever made, and the best friend I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.
So consequently, I’ve known Kerry for a long time, and have been away with her before, as part of a small group, but this is our first time just us. Based on our history…. We will have a great time! Kerry is free and single, like me, so it’s a good match!

It’s not an early set off, so that was pleasant! I got up at 9am, threw the last bits into my case, which I packed last night. I was quite pleased with myself for being so well organised. I knew I had very little petrol, so had accounted for needing to fill up before I go, I don’t really need that for now, but I won’t have a lot of time to fill up when I return! This little job was complimented with a drive through…. At McDonalds. A last minute lazy treat for me… and I’m finally off.

I head straight to Kerry’s house… enjoying my breakfast in the way. I can’t actually remember when I last had a Maccy D breakfast! but it seemed perfect to me!

It was a quick stop at Kerry’s then we set off to Leeds Bradford Airport. We decided to set off a little bit earlier due to the ongoing rain, it generally seems to slow the traffic down, so just to air in the side of caution!

Kerry is driving her car to the airport; I’m happy as the driver, and as the passenger so that suits me just fine! It was an easy drive, no major hassles or hold ups, so we arrived in good time. We started off with a coffee before going through security as we need to get our paper work in order because I’d done some, Kerry had done some, so it just needed to be put together!

We checked my case ad I wasn’t sure id it would go on as hand luggage due to the new case sizes, it was actually ok, which surprised me!

To be honest we did get cargo luggage included, so it wouldn’t have really mattered either way, I just hate the wait at the other end, waiting for the carousel!

We decided not to get lunch for on the flight in favour of going out for tea after we get settled in at the hotel. If I eat a lunch after 2pm, I certainly won’t want tea later!

The flight was annoyingly delayed by an hour, although it didn’t really make a lot of difference to us! We continued chatting on, and putting the world to rights! The flight was short and sweet, only 2 hours and 15 minutes. I had a little snooze, then watched an episode of Virgin River which made my eyelids seem very heavy…. So had another snooze. Then I finished the flight by watching a bit of The Guilded Age series 2. Then it was time to pack all our stuff away and prepare for landing. To be honest, time flew by so quickly!

On arrival we found our transfer taxi very easily. The driver was really friendly, and very much on the sales pitch, but she was very nice with it , and never pushy. It took about 30 minutes to get to our hotel, there were 4 different drop offs in the one taxi. A good use of resources… I would say!

When we arrived at the hotel, there was quite a queue of about a dozen people. The first person I saw was a guy that I chatted to about the over priced beer and coffee in the airport!! We all laughed when we saw each other!

We got booked into our room, dropped our cases off, then went straight back out to have a look around the area. We appear to be right in the centre of the town. It is beautifully dressed for Christmas. We are in walking distance of the Xmas market, Fashion Street with all its designer shops, and a wide variety of restaurants, and eating and drinking places.

We considered our food options, finally settled for a burger bar. It turned out to be a good choice for us both, except the only drinks they had were fizzy, sugary drinks, which I found really harsh. I decided I could have a coffee when we get back to the hotel. I do feel a bit like I’m on coffee detox! I haven’t had a coffee since we arrived at the airport this morning! I have brought everything I need for a coffee back at the hotel. Great disappointment there though…. No kettle! I decided I would order one from room service, but by the time I’d got sorted for bed, I’d simply got past it!

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