Today I visited Leeds with my family to do a spot of post-Christmas shopping – that is to spend some of my Christmas money, grab some new clothes and grab some leftover Boxing Day bargains!

As you can see, the weather has been particularly festive recently, with most of the countryside through Burnley and Yorkshire covered in a layer of snow. This provided a lovely backdrop to the family ‘discussion’ (see: argument) over which colour my sister’s new iPhone should be.

Anyway, we arrived in Leeds and I headed for my student house, where I stopped for a quick brew with my dad before heading on a walk towards the city centre. However, I was not prepared for the eerie sight of a totally desolate campus. We were the only human souls wandering through…

The main area outside the Student Union looked as picturesque as always with the clear skies and winter sun providing some beautiful lighting for a few quick photos as we passed through.

As eerie as standing in the middle of a usually bustling hub which was completely lifeless was, it was nothing compared to being stood in the shadows of the Chamberlin, Powell & Bon 1970s brutalist buildings, including the Edward Boyle Library and Social Sciences Building.

This was followed by the familiar yet still impressive sight of the Roger Stevens building (see this link for an interesting article on it’s design).

After our eerie photography trip around campus, we met up with my mum and sister in the city centre and proceeded with our shopping mission. Ellie still hadn’t decided on what colour iPhone to pick up. I ended up wandering into Primark and Next, my usual clothes haunts, and returning with some new goodies.

I also rediscovered the pure bliss that is Café Nero’s Hot Chocolate Milano – it’s like pure melted Belgian chocolate bliss. I recommend that you all try one. Ellie had finally chosen a colour of iPhone.

We wound up eating at Rola Wala in Trinity Kitchen, where we somehow made friends with the staff when they thought the fact that me and my sister are called ‘Ollie & Ellie’ was hilarious. For tea (or dinner, if you’re southern) we ended up at my old favourite haunt, Belgrave Music Hall, where we treated ourselves to pizzas, burgers and a huge platter of Session Fries. Delicious as ever!

At the end of the day my mum and sister were tired and stuffed full, and so insisted that we hail a cab back to the car before heading back home to good ol’Burnley.

In case you were wondering, Ellie decided on gold. Hmm.