One of the benefits of
moving from Bristol to London is a brand new list of places we can take
visitors when they come to see us. We recently got to take advantage of this
when my parents came to visit a few weeks ago.
During their previous visits we’ve taken Mom and Dad to Salisbury, Stonehenge, Bath, Stratford,
Windsor and Wales. All places that are predominately in the South. This trip
however Mom wanted to go somewhere north. We had discussed Scotland a couple of
times and maybe spending a few days in Edinburgh but decided that it was a bit
far of a drive if we were only going to spend one day. You really need at least
three days in Edinburgh to do it any justice and we just didn’t have that kind
of time to devote the city on this visit.
Therefore we decided on Leeds.
Yep that’s right Leeds.
Now for those of you from the states who may have at least heard of Leeds before I would challenge you to name why exactly you have heard of that particular northern city…..Anything yet…..well it’s not terribly surprising when you consider that when we tell our friends here in the UK that we are taking family to Leeds we get a lot of blank looks followed by the greatest question any 4 year old has ever learned. Why?
Therefore we decided on Leeds.
Yep that’s right Leeds.
Now for those of you from the states who may have at least heard of Leeds before I would challenge you to name why exactly you have heard of that particular northern city…..Anything yet…..well it’s not terribly surprising when you consider that when we tell our friends here in the UK that we are taking family to Leeds we get a lot of blank looks followed by the greatest question any 4 year old has ever learned. Why?
However I can honestly
say now that we have been to Leeds it’s in a lovely part of the country and we
really enjoyed our time at the Royal Armouries as well as the Bronte Parsonage
a few miles outside of the city. Plus the hotel was rather nice.
The Royal Armouries
are in a brand new building near the city centre and house a host of armour and
weaponry dating from antiquity to present day. For a guy like me who finds
military history very intriguing it was an excellent way to spend the morning.
It also made up for getting to go to the Bronte Parsonage later that day. On the way to the parsonage we had a bit of a problem finding somewhere to eat as every pub we stopped at on the way to Parsonage was only serving drinks. Finally, at one of the pubs we managed to find someone who directed us to the only restaurant in town at the local hotel. My mother got some pretty good pictures of the interior of the restaurant which had more decorative copper nick knacks than anywhere I’ve ever seen. And the carpet was so blue it almost hurt the eyes.
After lunch we finished our journey to the small village of Haworth where the Bronte Parsonage can be found. When mother first told me that she wanted to see the childhood home of Bronte family I’ll be honest that I had to actually look up who they were. I’ve never really been all that excited by great literary works as most of what critics claim to be amazing achievements in literature I find boring and often times nonsensical. Needles to say I wasn’t terribly excited to see where the creators of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights grew up. Yet seeing how they lived and where they grew up did much to lend a bit of perspective on what they were able to accomplish in a very short amount of team. And while I’m still not likely to run out and immerse myself in The Tenant of Wildfeld Hall I do have a new appreciation for their ability to influence other writers at a time when women weren’t viewed as literary giants.
It also made up for getting to go to the Bronte Parsonage later that day. On the way to the parsonage we had a bit of a problem finding somewhere to eat as every pub we stopped at on the way to Parsonage was only serving drinks. Finally, at one of the pubs we managed to find someone who directed us to the only restaurant in town at the local hotel. My mother got some pretty good pictures of the interior of the restaurant which had more decorative copper nick knacks than anywhere I’ve ever seen. And the carpet was so blue it almost hurt the eyes.
After lunch we finished our journey to the small village of Haworth where the Bronte Parsonage can be found. When mother first told me that she wanted to see the childhood home of Bronte family I’ll be honest that I had to actually look up who they were. I’ve never really been all that excited by great literary works as most of what critics claim to be amazing achievements in literature I find boring and often times nonsensical. Needles to say I wasn’t terribly excited to see where the creators of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights grew up. Yet seeing how they lived and where they grew up did much to lend a bit of perspective on what they were able to accomplish in a very short amount of team. And while I’m still not likely to run out and immerse myself in The Tenant of Wildfeld Hall I do have a new appreciation for their ability to influence other writers at a time when women weren’t viewed as literary giants.
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| Yes, this is how excited I was to visit the Bronte Parsonage. Luckily it got better. |
If you’re interested in more info of the weekend and my parents' trip you can find them on my mother’s blog here.
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