A great big slice of humble pie

Hi folks...time to share my "demonstrator to the rescue" last minute trip to Hobbycraft Sheffield...I had a interesting journey down on the train in the company of two lovely offshore workers who kept me topped up with coffee and entertained all the way...before I knew the dreaded 7 hours had passed in a flash...quick taxi trip to my city centre hotel...checked in and headed to my room which was lovely...all mod cons...everything this weary traveller would need for a comfortable stay and woohoo free Wi-Fi so I could stay in touch with you all on Facebook and it was all going swimmingly until I walked in to the bathroom...blimey who fitted the over the sink mirror...a 7' giant...obviously a man...the applying of the polyfilla in the morning was going to be a big challenge with much standing on tippy toes.

After a quick wash and brush up I headed down for dinner...to be told that there was a private function in the restaurant but there was a small table in the corner I could use.  For starters (forgive the pun) I stood out like a sore thumb compared to the dressed to the nines bejewelled diners and no way was I gatecrashing anyone's party so I headed off in search of an alternative eating establishment and lo and behold I stumbled upon this absolutely fabulous Italian Ristorante...Mama's and Leonies...apparently very famous in the surrounding area for it's fabulous food and buon appetito delicious it was too...the best pizza I've tasted outside Italy and 10 out of 10 for their friendly welcoming hospitality.

But with a busy workday looming...I headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep....fat chance with the constant traffic noise in a city centre location but I finally drifted off around midnight only to be woken an hour later with the domestic of all domestics taking place out in the street directly below my window...shouting screaming bad language and threats of violence...thankfully the police eventually turned up after an hour or so of this assault on my ears and carted them off to cool down in the cells but I tossed and turned for the rest of the night...gave up trying at 6.00am...hopped in the shower and headed down for breakfast at 7.00am to be told that breakfast at the weekend isn't served until 8.00am...crikey it's not going quite so swimmingly now.
And here's where I ended up eating a great big slice of humble pie...normally when I visit places with Fiskars...I fly in and out so to speak and never really get to see beyond the venue I'm demonstrating at and to be honest I wasn't too bothered...the image of Sheffield in my head was industrial (think steel) and probably a bit grubby...crikey how wrong was I. With an hour to kill before the Full English I set off on a little adventure to explore the city centre sights and was blown away...for starters there can't be much wrong with a city if they have Starbucks...sadly not open at that time of the morning but look what else I found...

The Crucible Theatre...venue of all those nail biting snooker finals...

the most stunning architecture...

beautiful squares...

pedestrian walkways everywhere...

and the perfect way to start the day...a delicious Latte with only some cheeky pigeons for company...

beautiful Winter Gardens

and rather skinny locals who weren't very chatty...

Well worth a visit folks if haven't been before but it was soon time to head back to the hotel and tuck in to the fuel for the day ahead but I'll be back tomorrow to share my fun day at Hobbycrafts and the next saga in the life of my city centre stay.

Hugs Kath xxx