Meeting my friend in Leeds

As part of my degree at the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid, studying International Relations with Translation and Interpretation, we have a compulsory Erasmus year in an English-speaking country. The aim of this exchange is that from the start we will have perfected our English and we can focus on other languages.

Think of the thrill me and my friend Ana (or as I call her, Naits) got when they told us that we would both be doing our Eramsus in the United Kingdom. Our happiness was due to the fact that a lot of our other friends had decided to cross the pond and start their adventure in the United States. As I saw it, just being in the same country was already a complete success.

Source

All was laughs and promises of seeing each other when we discovered that Swansea to Leeds was more than a five-hour drive away and that the UK's public transport system left a lot to be desired. Yes, friends, don't expect great things from the United Kingdom Trains because they are really slow and very expensive, nothing that our magnificent AVE (Madrid train service) needs to envy.

Day 1

Finally, the day of travel had come and it was my turn to wake up at 6:30 am in the morning because of course, even though the train took 5 hours, there was no direct one. I also had to tackle three changes. The only thing that comforted me that cold morning in Swansea was that I had a window seat in store for me on the train so I could catch up on some sleep. It didn't amuse me to see a woman sat in my seat, half asleep, that didn't even bother to ask me if I minded her being there. And I was even less pleased when she kept getting up every five minutes to go to the toilet, as this meant that I had to get up too. Here we go, another little trip for me.

Look, here are the British train tickets. They look like tiny little orange cards. That is to say, even though you have to pass through a turnstile to enter the train platform, don't throw them away because it's really likely that the ticket inspector will come by and ask for them on a few occasions.

Warning: Be very careful when arriving at Leeds Train Station. I was daydreaming, and instead of using logic, I started to follow the exit signs. Naively, Leeds is a fairly big city and obviously it's station will have various exits. Little did I know, that I exited onto a weird alleyway which really frightened me because it sounded like a giant river. This was my first impression of Leeds. Luckily for me, afterwards the guards let me re-enter where I had previously exited and finally I could meet up with my friend.

That first day seemed to be pretty chilled until one of Nait's flatmates and her twin encouraged us to go to the gym to do a foreign kickboxing class. The reality is that the University of Leeds is impressively big. The gym is enormous and offers a huge variety of activities.

In the evening, some Bridget Jones and a classic Spanish tortilla.

Day 2

In theory, a lot of people say that Leeds is the dryest city in the United Kingdom. I'll laugh in your face. My first day in Leeds and it has to rain. But it is the UK. What had I expected? Sun? Ha! As a cure for this rainy day, we went straight to Trinity Leeds, the shopping centre.

A little story behind the photo: Most of the photos that we took we had to be in by ourselves, so just one or the other in the picture. Basically, it was because we didn't have any else so that we could take photos together or someone who was around. Look, I understand that not everyone is a professional photographer, but if you're under 30 I'd hope that we would at least be in the frame. This photo was the second attempt, because the first person, a young girl that we trusted to take the photo, could not even focus the picture. And although it would have focused well, she took almost all of the photo of the floor, and the rest of the shop next to us. Is it really that difficult?

Of course, we couldn't not have a little look round Primark. Too bad that it had just been the weekend that Ed Sheeran had released his new Divide album and we had to buy it.

This shopping centre was also huge. I heard that it has one of the coolest cinemas in the area. Apparently, the seats are like sofas and the waiters bring you popcorn and refreshments, like in a restaurant. So expect a price reflective of the service. If going to the cinema is already expensive, this is another level.

In the evening we were hoping for the party of the century. We're two Madrid girls who had by then been in the United Kingdom for a few months, who missed going out and listening to reggaeton. It turned out that this city also had a night out, which around about every month, had a big Spanish themed night out.

Here we are before they ambushed us with mariachi fans and sombreros. It was an amazing night. My one complaint? That in the UK clubs generally close at 3 am.

Day 3

For the 3rd day now that the sun had made us smile a bit more... We were told that they had a great market in one of the main streets, which had a food stall which incredible chocolate brownies, so we went there. The disappointment we felt when we say that it was completely empty was huge, but anyway, that didn't stop us from eating something similar in a different shop.

This is the famous empty street, with nothing to eat, the diva photo had to be done.

We continued our walk to the Corn Exchange, a building in Leeds City Centre where previously, as it's name entails, used to exchange corn and other similar products. Now, for obvious reasons, this is no longer its function, but it still operates as a shopping centre, with shops, cafes and even ping-pong tables.

On the walk home, we always walked in front of the steps of one of the University of Leeds' buildings, the Parkinson Building. It is a building with very pretty outside architecture and we saw it as another great opportunity to take a photo of us. We felt like Blair and Serena from Gossip Girl, in the heart of Manhattan.

In the evening, unexpectedly, someone invited us to go and grab a drink with them. Leeds connects two or three university (the biggest and most important one is the University of Leeds and it is weird that their is so much rivalry between. This creates a big student atmosphere and a big part of the social life here centres around that. Thus, I'd like to mention that there is a huge variety of bars, clubs and and different places to go and hang out.

Source

In short, we went out for a drink, but we went home pretty quickly as it was cold.

Day 4

It was already time for me to return back home, but not before taking a little walk into the city centre. Oh! What a surprise! It was raining! (Note the irony).

All in all, it was a fantastic trip and I had an amazing time. I was thrilled to see my friend and that she taught me about the city which she was studying in. If anyone was interested in visiting Leeds, I'd strongly recommend it because it is a big city but it offers every type of activity and you will never get bored. Above all, its a student city.

Cheers!

Photo gallery