Ding Ding Ding Goes The Puppy!

The last few days have seen us sample the wide range of bars and eateries that Leeds has to offer.

On Friday, we headed out with Avon, Skavi, Panthras, Xoltin and Wolfie to The Pit for craft beer and American diner food. I had the fillet steak burger, which was expensive but delicious. Most people had to leave around 10pm, meaning Wolfie missed most of the proceedings due to work, but it was a great evening which turned to heated political debate. Wolfie and I also had an argument due to our shared sense of smugness.

On Saturday, my sister came to visit from Sheffield for her birthday. This was the first time I had seen her since my mother's graduation in June and it was great to catch up. She wanted to go to a BrewDog bar and as Sheffield's has been delayed, Leeds was the only option. She enjoyed some of the brews they have on offer while others weren't to her taste.

I picked up a new wallet and shaver - both of my current ones being broken almost to the point of being unusable - and we walked around Leeds before heading to the German Christmas Market, one of the highlights of Christmas here. She had never been to a Christmas market in the UK before and she loved it, particularly the food and the trinkets on offer. She particularly enjoyed the Knobibrot, which is one of my favourites too. Wolfie insisted I spoke German to the shopkeeper, a 50/50 chance at the market as many of the stallholders are from Essex. Luckily we got lucky but my German is quite rusty.

On Monday, having worked a 12 hour mammoth shift on Sunday, we met up with Oracle in the evening to try a few new places, taking advantage of the warm evening for the season and the quiet nature of a Monday night. We called off at the Market again before trying a pizza restaurant which had great pizza but calamitous service. Afterwards we went into The Alchemist in the Trinity Centre, a popular new cocktail haunt with views over the Corn Exchange and Burger King. It was full of hipsters and socialites, always a negative, but the range of the cocktail menu was exceptional. I had a cranberry white chocolate thing with pomegranate cream on top while Oracle had a strawberry milkshake. Wolfie had driven in so wasn't drinking.

We sat on the heated outside terrace, overlooking the Merriot Centre and the adjacent church, marvelling at the height of its tower and the architecture at roof level in the city, which is often where the best architecture is in a Victorian city. We enjoyed our reasonably priced drinks, avoided the douches and then went home.