We've not long been back from 2 nights away in Leeds. We booked for something to look forward to during the second half of the Easter holidays. We love exploring different places and this was our first time visiting Leeds. It took us approximately 2 hours by train to get there and once we arrived we had an hour till we could check into our hotel room. So we decided to head to a nearby coffee shop called Laynes espresso. It's a great little coffee shop which is in an ideal location with it being in nearby proximity from the station.
We stayed at the Leeds Novotel which wasn't too far from places we wanted to visit. We stayed for 2 nights in a standard room with a queen bed and sofa bed. Personally we felt the bed didn't feel like a queen bed more like a standard double. There was an En-suite with a bath/shower which was super handy as quite a few places we've stayed in just have a walk in shower. The toilet is in a separate room which is handy especially if staying with children. Other facilities in the room included: a large working area, a 55" LCD TV, hair dryer, fridge with cans of water, Coffee/tea making facilities, a safe and complimentary WiFi. We had no issues with the WiFi so Blake was happy on his tablet in the evenings.
Bill's Restaurant
Once we had settled in the room it was then time to head out and find the restaurant that we had booked in advance. We chose Bill's restaurant as when looking at places to eat this was a family friendly choice. We each opted for fish goujons and chips for our main ours came with a pea puree and Blake had beans with his. For dessert Stuart had sticking toffee pudding with ice cream, Blake had chocolate ice cream and I had Eton mess. I also opted for a passionfruit martini which was amaxing. All 3 of us really enjoyed our meal and we will definitely eat a Bills restaurant again.
The next day we headed to the Royal Armories in the morning. Unfortunately we couldn't get the water taxi there due to the que so we decided instead to walk along the Leeds Dock to get there instead. The Royal Armories is a free museum of a national collection of arms and armour. The Royal Armouries Museum has five floors of galleries. With over 4,500 objects on display. It was really interesting to see how arms and armour have shaped society, art, and culture throughout history. My favourite display has to be the Hall of Steel where you look up to see the sword wall. Another favourite is the elephant armour which is an incredibly rare surviving example of a suit of mail and plate armour for an elephant.
We managed to catch the water taxi back. It costs £2 per person, per journey which we didn't think was too bad. It's a great way to go along Leeds Dock instead of walking.
In the afternoon we headed to Maths City which based on the top floor of the Trinity shopping centre. You get to explore and discover the wonderful and surprising world of mathematics with over twenty interactive exhibits. Our favourite has to be the bubbles especially being able to stand in a giant one. Definitely reccomend this place when visiting Leeds.
The Botanist
In the evening we headed to The Botanist for dinner.
We've never eaten at the restaurant chain before but we were very impressed with the food. Stuart and I opted for a sharing kebab meal which was chicken, crispy halloumi and lamb kofta kebabs served with seasoned fries, coleslaw, houmous and flatbread. Blake had chicken goujons, chips and beans which he scoffed. For pudding Blake had seaside jelly and sandcastle icecream, Stuart had lemon tart with raspberry sorbet and honeycomb and I opted for white chocolate and peanut mousse with oreo soil and cinnamon shortbread. I also opted for a delicious lilypad sour cocktail and Stuart opted for a mocktail.
Overall we had a great 48 hours despite the rain and get lost a good few times.
