Leeds, London, December 8th, Manchester, York.

The first half of December was full of short trips and my 21st birthday. I've taken a few trips around Europe, but I hadn't seen much of northern Great Britain. Plus I turned 21 - something that isn't really a huge deal if the legal drinking age is 18, but it's fun to pretend.

Leeds (December 3rd):

Leeds is in between Hull and Manchester, and the university had an event where students could take a coach to Leeds for the day. Me and a few friends I made from Germany went. They were excited because winter means the beginning of Christmas Markets, something that originally started in Germany. The Leed's Christmas Market was supposed to be the closest to a German Christmas Market in all of the UK.

We got to Leeds around 10 AM and started walking with no place in particular in mind. A few yards from where we were dropped off was a building called The Corn Exchange, which was a circular building that had little shops on the outside. There were vintage shops, bookstores, local chocolates, wedding dresses, and everything in between. After we stopped there, we found a couple more thrift shops that we popped in and kept walking towards the city center.

Along the way, we stopped for coffee at Cafe Nero and I got their seasonal cinnamon latte, which wasn't anything to write home about. Afterwards, we stopped at one of the largest TK Maxx's I've ever seen. TJ Maxx in the UK is called TK Maxx, I have no clue why. This is where we found out the unfortunate news that the Christmas Market we planned on going to was closed this year.

Fortunately there was a smaller Christmas Market not too far from where we were. We walked through a shopping center with designer shops and fancy Christmas decorations that had a live band playing music. The Christmas Market was more like a fair then a marketplace, with ice skating, carnival rides, and games. I stopped at one of the stalls to get a hot chocolate and some homemade oreo donuts.

After that, we decided that our best bet would be walking around the city of Leeds and stopping at places that we thought were interesting. One thing about Leeds is there is a lot of shopping centers very close together. We probably went in three or four different shopping centers just to look at all the different stores. One place we stopped was called Poundland, which is basically Dollar Tree. I had been looking for a mini Christmas tree to put in my flat for a few weeks now, and I was able to get one here that looked snow covered and lights up. I also got New York Cheeseburger flavored Pringles for my family to try when they came later than month.

After exploring the city, it began getting dark. You have to remember how far north I live. It was getting dark around 3. The coach wasn't set to pick us us until 5, so we had about two hours to kill. We found a local pub called Bower's Tap where we were able to watch some of the World Cup. I don't know who won or what game was playing, but it was a nice way to wrap up the trip. We went to meet the coach and were back in Hull before 7 PM.

London (December 6th & 7th):

My first time in London was when I went to pick Cam up from the airport. Cam was flying into London Heathrow Airport, and he was set to arrive at 7:30 AM. Hull, by train, is about three hours away from London. Sometimes you get get a non-stop ride that'll take two hours and 15 minutes. Because he was getting in so early, I decided to go to London a day early (not that I'm complaining) to ensure I got to the airport in time.

I decided to get a $9 coach to London that would take 6 1/2 hours and left at 7:20 AM. This might not seem entirely too early, but you have to consider that the buses only come to the university every 30 minutes, so I needed to be at the bus station before the bus came at 6:35 AM. Luckily, an long ride meant a long time to sleep. Unluckily for me, the coach was extremely loud all 6 1/2 hours. The coach stopped at a couple of towns to pick up more people, but by early afternoon, we were arriving in London.

Usually I'm a meticulous planner. But with London I only had two things on my agenda: go to an Apple store and get my airpods fixed and see Matilda. From Victoria Coach Station, I took the scenic route walking to Covent Garden. I passed Buckingham Palace, Green Park, Trafalgar Square and the Trafalgar Square Christmas Market before getting to Covent Garden. I got my airpods fixed, found a cute Italian restaurant called La Ballerina for dinner, and stopped by my hostel to drop some things off before heading to The Cambridge Theatre to see Matilda.

Walking probably wasn't the quickest way to get to the theatre, but it was the best way to be able to see all of the lights that were up for the holiday season. Matilda was an amazing show, and I would definitely go see it again if given the chance. After the musical was over, I walked back to the hostel (because more lights!) and headed to bed.

Even though I was in London, I was still an hour away from the airport. The Underground opened at 5:30, and I was there bright and early to get to Terminal 3 in enough time for Cam's flight to arrive. This was my first time taking the tube, so it was quite the experience. I've never been on the New York subway, but I imagine it's comparable. I got to the airport around 6:30 but still had a 10-15 minute speed walk to the arrivals gate. Once I got there, I found out Cam's flight had been delayed by an hour. It gave me enough time to find coffee, breakfast, and a SIM card for his phone so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

Cam finally got to arrivals a bit after 9 and we took the tube to King's Cross Station (another hour) where I introduced Cam to the UK staple, Gregg's, and we caught the next train back to Hull.

December 8th:

My 21st birthday was mildly underwhelming because I wasn't in the United States. However, it was the perfect excuse to go to The Artisan Coffee and Art, a local cafe with delicious coffees, cakes, and sandwiches for brunch. We ordered a cajun chicken sandwich, walnut and coffee cake, a dirty chai, and a honeycomb latte. There's a table in the bay window where you can watch people passing by - the perfect seat for enjoying a birthday brunch.

Afterwards, Cam and I headed back to my flat to just hang out and enjoy the rest of the day before it was time to get ready for dinner. We went to a Brazilian steakhouse called Beleza and had a fantastic meal with good wine, fancy cocktails, and oddly shaped churros. Then we headed back to watch a true crime documentary and just enjoy each others company.

Manchester (December 10th):

Going to Manchester was a must while Cam was here for two reasons: Cam had never been to a Christmas Market and Manchester is home to the People's History Museum. We got into Manchester around 10 AM and walked to the People's History Museum. It was cold outside and it was about a 20 minute walk. Just a note is you plan on coming to Europe - your GPS will need a couple days to adjust. However, the GPS leading us down random backroads gave us the opportunity to see a bit more of the city, which was nice.

The People's History Museum was very cool, and we were there for a couple of hours. It has the history of labor unions, strikes, and different milestones in recent British history (recent as in the past hundred years). It was interactive and I would recommend it if you're in the Manchester area.

After that we headed to one of Manchester's many Christmas Markets. We had a lunch of mustard chicken, rice, and garlic potatoes, picked up some fudge, a custom ornament, and mulled wine that came in special mugs you could keep. It even started to snow a bit.

We took a look around the city before heading to a Korean BBQ restaurant. Cam and I have been wanting to try Korean BBQ for a while now, so when we happened upon Annyeong Korean Restaurant & Bar we took it as a sign. We ordered strip steak and ribeye for grilled, kimchi, and potato pancakes. It was delicious, and I would highly recommend going to a Korean BBQ restaurant if you can.

After dinner we decided to head back to the station to catch a train back to Hull. I was telling Cam I was slightly disappointed because in Copenhagen, there were a lot of sweets being sold at the Christmas Markets and we hadn't had seen anything like that in Manchester. Within the next couple minutes, we came across another Christmas market that was selling mini pancakes. Cam got some with maple syrup and I got mine with nutella. It was the perfect treat to end the trip and warm us up.

After our slight detour, we headed back to the station and were on our way back to Hull.

York (December 11th):

York is known for having 350+ pubs, but I had also heard rumors of an amazing Christmas Market. So the day after getting back from Manchester, Cam and I were on another train to York. York is a lot smaller than Manchester and has an old-timey feel to it. We found a marketplace in an old church building we stopped in and got some art pieces before heading to the Christmas Market.

The York Christmas Market was huge. We wove through the stalls, I got a couple of homemade snowmen that reminded me of pieces from my grandmother's collection. Cam got a really warm scarf. I got rapeseed oil infused with lemon, oregano, garlic, and thyme. We tried a hot toddy, mulled wine with brandy, and roasted chestnuts (which you peel like an orange). People were selling crafts, leather bags, homemade pies, candies, and a range of other things.

We spent hours exploring the entire marketplace before stopping in a pub called Gert & Henry's. Cam tried yorkshire tea for the first time. We ordered yorkshire puddings, cam got fish and chips, i had lentil and carrot soup. All of it was delicious. Afterwards we headed to a board game shop down the street to get a unique souvenir to remember our trip.

Afterwards, we headed to the York Castle Museum and saw a variety of different exhibits about what life in York was like hundreds of years ago. We tried mince pies that were made using a recipe from the 1500's. We saw a lot of old artifacts ranging from a pot that held leeches to boots from the 1800s.

After the castle museum we headed back to the train station, taking in all the cool old buildings and the many, many pubs that York had. The sun was beginning to set, so there was a golden glow over the water and buildings that was absolutely beautiful. When we got back to the station, there was a small "potion" shop that sold fancy lemonades and juices made to look like potions. We stopped in and got a snake venom lemonade and some butterbeers (which were awful) for the road. And soon, we were headed back to Hull.

After:

After December 11th, we took a break from day trips. There were bigger things to come.

Pictures in order: Views While Walking in York, Canal in York, Victoria Train Station in Manchester, German Mustard Chicken, Me on my 21st, a Pigeon in Trafalgar Square, Poster for Matilda the Musical in London, Victoria Quarter Decoration in Leeds, Cam and I Together for the First Time in 3 Months.