See Leeds

For the second stop-off of the holiday we went to Leeds. We stayed in the Malmaison Hotel which was really great, even if it was just down from the gay village. Highlights of Leeds include The Royal Armouries (spend a whole day, as well as amazing collections they have fascinating talks, re-enactors, jousting, falconry etc etc). Shopping is a must in Leeds with beautiful covered arcades housing seriously designer shops and nifty eateries to many vintage and alternative outlets. We liked OK Comics (great selection with a relaxing sofa area for reading) and Rose & Co with gorgeous historic shop interior, amazing toiletries (Zam-Buk!) and retro dresses and undies downstairs including Stop Staring, in the girliest shop imaginable. Also huge Borders with many many amazing books (although half price Art of Dior book was too heavy to carry, sadly.) The Leeds Market is the original home of M&S and now houses fantastic butchers, bakers, cafes and market stalls selling Everything at great prices.

Rediscovered authors

I'm not sure how this was sparked off but I am currently re-enjoying (is that a word?) some of my favourite books and authors from my younger years. Alice in Wonderland is more a work of philosphical genius so is always worth going back to. Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series is still fantastic, but best of all is Diana Wynne Jones. I'm currently enjoying The Ogre Downstairs which is, inexplicably, out of print at the moment and just finished Charmed Life and Howl's Moving Castle. HMC is also an amazing animated film which is highly recommended, apparently Castle in the Sky (ditto) is also one of Diana's but I haven't read that yet. I used to read a lot of fantasy when I was younger, a genre I still really like when I can find anything entertaining.