Sunday 3 August 2014

Last Day in Sheffield

Monday the 9th of June was our last day in Sheffield. We had three things in mind for that day: Weston Park Museum, the Botanical Gardens, and some shopping. 

We took the SuperTram to uni and walked the short distance from there to Weston Park, where these pictures are from:

This is Weston Park Museum:


The museum itself was very interesting, but by the time we left there, what had started out as a nice day had turned very wet. We still wanted to stick to our original plan of walking to the Botanical Gardens. On our way home from Bradfield yesterday, Jean and Brian had taken us past there in the car, and told us of a nice café where we intented to have lunch.
However, we did not manage to find the Botanical Gardens; we asked a friendly-looking couple coming our way which way to go, but they could only tell us the general direction. It was raining harder by now, and we walked up and down the area until our feet were very wet. At that point, we decided to give up and walked back into the centre.

We paid a visit at the cathedral, where a very kind but slightly confused elderly gentleman in a long red robe (part of the welcomers' team) got hold of my sister and nearly wouldn't let us go again. He had lots to tell, but we couldn't always follow his winding stories of counts and ladies, bishops and knights; I usually am very much interested in knowing the history of a place, but his tales were a bit on the strange side. Besides, our feet were still wet and we were still hungry. Eventually, we managed to tear ourselves away from Mr. Kindly-Odd, and stopped for a late lunch at the Blue Moon Café. 
As it was full of people, I did not take any pictures, but it is a beautiful location, and their food is delicious (I am not a vegetarian or vegan, but if I have the choice between a meaty dish and a veggy one, I usually go for the latter). Click here for their website with pictures, if you like.
 

It was mid-afternoon when we returned to our hotel to get dry clothes on and decide what to do with the rest of our last day. Since in Sheffield itself, most shops close surprisingly early (some as early as 5.00, even big stores), and it was still/again raining, we went to Meadowhall. It wasn't too crowded, and we had a good time there, leisurely browsing the many shops, and I even found a birthday present for RJ there.

Unfortunately, our choice of evening meal turned out to be the worst we had during the entire holiday: There is a place called "British Classics" at Meadhowhall, and we thought it fitting for our last night in England. However, the food was awful, with soggy chips and everything listlessly slapped on the plate, tasting of either nothing or like a mouthfull of glutamate, straight out of a bag, not like real cooking. I was truly sorry about that, but it was getting late and we needed to catch the bus back into town at a certain time and couldn't afford a last-minute change of plans.

By 9.00 pm, we were back at our room. By the way, all during our stay there, 4 nights, the room was never properly done: it wasn't hoovered, and the beds were made in such a sloppy way we could have done them better ourselves. We were not given the necessary number of towels. But when we called room service for more towels (there were two of us, after all) and also to give the room at least a superficial going over with the vacuum cleaner, ten minutes later the head of room service came to do that personally. She was friendly, and apologized, but I doubt I will ever stay in that particular Holiday Inn again. 

This is how our beds looked when they had been "professionally made":


Anyway - don't think my sister and I are spoiled brats who always find something to complain about; we really are quite modest in our expectations. And although this post may sound as if we did not enjoy our stay in Sheffield, that's only half true: we DID enjoy it, just had been a bit unlucky as to some of the choices we made (which of course is entirely our own fault). We'll know better next time!

14 comments:

  1. It was a very nice time in Yorkshire and I am looking forward to the next trip.
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  2. I am sorry that so many things went wrong at the end of your visit, but confident that most of that will slowly fade from your memory and the good memories will strengthen! Weston Park looks delightful and your lunch was good! At least you know some things to avoid next time!

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    1. Well, it was our own choices (except for the weather) that made some bits towards the end of our visit not as nice as the rest, but we still had a good time, all things considered. Plus it made saying good-bye to Yorkshire for another year easier than if the holiday had ended directly from our nice cottage :-)

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  3. So you didn't like my long red robe when I met you in the cathedral? No one has ever called me Mr Kindly-Odd before. I hope it doesn't catch on. Visitors pay quite a lot to stay in any Holiday Inn. Sounds like the service you received was not entirely up to scratch. On Trip Advisor The Holiday Inn Express is ranked number 13 out of 57 hotels in Sheffield.

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    1. When we visited Sheffield for the first time a few years ago, we were staying at the Leopold. That was really good, and bang in the middle of the city centre.
      Next time, just make sure you are available as our tour guide, YP - preferably without long red robes. They can be a bit impractical on long walks.

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  4. As with all things in life, it sounds like it was mostly good with a bit that could have gone better. It's also very nice to know what hotels are good or not from others who have been there, as the voice of experience speaks volumes.

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    1. That's right, I much rather rely on recommendations made by someone I know than by those on various internet platforms; you never know how real those are.

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  5. Good grief! It shows what kind of overall standards apply at Holiday Inn, doesn't it? I've never been that impressed by them.
    Sheffield must have changed so much. I last visited when I was a student!! :)

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    1. Breakfast wasn't exactly good, either. What passed for "orange juice" there was a yellow sugary liquid even I couldn't drink, and usually I don't mind sweet drinks.
      A lot has been done in Sheffield; many of the buildings are well cared for, and there is clearly pride of place in the immediate centre. All the more it's a shame that there is so much rubbish along the river, where otherwise you could have such nice relaxing walks and views.

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  6. Hoer mal, das hoert sich alles so richtig ‘classic Brtitish’ an. Ich will mal lieber nicht auf Englisch kommentieren, ausnahmsweise.

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    1. Das stimmt wohl, nur waren wir bisher sehr verwöhnt nach dem tollen Häusle, das wir hatten, und dem guten Service und leckeren Essen überall. Das Personal in dem Hotel war übrigens fast ausnahmslos ost-eurpäischen Ursprungs, was die Verständigung nicht immer ganz einfach machte ;-)

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  7. With so many places still to see in life I think I may give a re-visit to Sheffield a miss.

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    1. I just wish I could have seen more of the places YP keeps mentioning on his blog, the ones that are in or very near Sheffield. Looking them up on the map, I found them all rather difficult (or taking a long time) to get to by public transport. Therefore, I know there are plenty of fascinating and beautiful spots in the city; it was just not possible for us to get there on our own.

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