17.02.17 — Travel

Ollie & Thuy in Leeds & London

Since landing back in the UK from Portugal, my time has been pretty much just dedicated to university work, with a multitude of deadlines bunched together, including a draft copy of my dissertation. In between the madness however I have managed to do the odd fun thing, the most important being catching up with Thuy, who I worked with in Spain!

First up Thuy was roaming around the north of the country as part of her new London-based job, and so we were able to meet up in Leeds for a catch up over some Belgrave pizza and a G&T, and go on a shopping and eating tour of Leeds the next day before she had to Leeds. Here we are roaming around Victoria Arcade…

Reunited in Leeds
The Parkinson Building in the setting sun

Just last week, and in another flashback to life in Spain, I decided to try my hand at preparing a few small dishes of different types of food for one of my friends who swang by for a movie evening. I managed the spread that you can see below, which is a small miracle given the equally small size of our kitchen!

A mini feast of bits and bobs

Just this Wednesday it was time to go and see Thuy again, this time in her new stomping ground, London! Having not been in a while, I boarded the train and killed some time once I arrived by paying a visit to the Design Museum, which was much grander than I expected…

The interior of the Design Museum

I had a good snoop around all the exhibitions upstairs, taking photos for project inspiration and just enjoying the general public who’d come to learn a bit more about the work of designers – speak of which, I’m very excited for Netflix’s new documentary, Abstract: The Art of Design. I’ll be prompting you all to take a nosey at the Graphic Design episode once it’s released!

Space to chill

Once I’d exhausted myself flicking through books in the gift shop, and payed a customary trip to the Lush shop on Oxford Street, I headed through the very British dismal weather to go and meet Thuy as she finished work.

Impressed by the London weather

Soon or later I’d found Thuy’s office, and to my joy I was welcomed in for a quick snoop around – it was lovely! We then set about more important things, namely finding somewhere for a drink and a catch up, and we soon wound up having pizza by Covent Gardens and wandering down the Thames enjoying the nighttime lights of the city.

Reunited in London

We finished up our day in a mini pub on a terrace in Covent Gardens, where we continued our chatting way into the evening, or until I had to head back to King’s Cross to catch my pretty much empty train back up to Leeds. It has been so lovely to be able to see Thuy a couple of times after what feels like ages – and now we’ve crossed paths in three cities!

In other news I’m about to head off with the UGRL Scholars for a Cultural Capital Weekend in York, after which I shall be sure to report back once more with anecdotes from the couple of days worth of cultural exploration. I am also continuing work at full tilt for the launch of my new website (including an updated blog design), with my good friend Kevin lending a hand with the Spanish translations for the relaunch of the Spanish site which has just gone down ready for the new one.

Other than that I must bid you all farewell, as I have cake to eat and washing to dry!