A holiday in Halifax, Shopping and attractions in Halifax . [1] [2] [3] [4]
As By this time I had grown rather famished and I caught sight of Café Sol,
on the corner of Alexandra Street. I felt guilty having to leave Mr Kipling
tethered to a bollard outside, but he didn’t seem to mind, particularly
when he got many admiring glances and attention. I sat inside this friendly
little café with a can of Coke, biting into a delicious tuna and mayo
baguette. I could have possibly eaten all the baguettes which were so beautifully
displayed beside the counter, but instead ordered a small flapjack. Outside
I shared the flapjack with Mr Kipling, before we took a tour of the shops.
Or rather, I did some shopping and he sat once again tethered to a bollard
outside.
I happened to find a Topshop store, but
was disappointed to find that it was very small and there was hardly any room
to move. However, they still had plenty of on-trend clothing and I managed to
buy myself a pair of jeans and a small, woolly cardigan for the colder months.
Next door was New Look, and due to the vast size of this store, I wouldn’t
be surprised if they had taken some space from Topshop. I could have spent hours
in New Look trying on every single pair of shoes they had on display, but I kept
being reminded of Mr Kipling waiting outside. I bought myself a pair of dark
pink suede platforms before joining my loyal companion back outside once again.
Feeling guilty for having made him wait outside the shops, I found a pet supplies
store and bought him a packet of biscuits which he quickly wolfed down.
“No more shops,” I told him, although I felt a desperate urge to
go inside every time I passed Boots, River Island and Marks & Spencer.
Afterwards
I took Mr Kipling for a walk through the Eureka! grounds beside the train station.
Unfortunately I had not bought any children with me or I could have gone into
the or I would have explored this national children’s
museum. Stepping into the foyer, I curiously went up to the counter, and
pointing at my basset hound, asked whether he would be included as a child.
The assistant looked at me for a few moments, before telling me I did not
have a child with me and no, my basset hound would not be included as a child.
I nodded understandingly, and took some leaflets instead, which explained
all about the Soundspace section and the ‘Our Global Garden’ attraction.
I decided that next time I’d bring my two young nieces, providing that
they let me in next time after the ‘basset hound incident’.
One
historic monument we could not miss was the Piece Hall in the centre of the
town. Similar to what the Corn Exchange used to be in Leeds, the Piece Hall
building centres around a grassed courtyard and houses hundreds of small,
independent shops selling everything from crafts, clothing, jewellery and
photographers’ studios. Mr Kipling and I made our way around the square
building, stopping occasionally for me to peer inside the shops selling quirky
pieces of jewellery. I bought a teddy each for my two nieces from a friendly
little shop named Serendipity, before touring around GB Glass jewellery shop,
Red Patch and the Piece Hall bookshop, where I browsed through the shelves,
finding classics such as Charles Dickens and lesser known second hand novels.
There were plenty of cafes for me to sit and enjoy a cappuccino but feeling
that I had made Mr Kipling wait around for me enough that day, I forced myself
away and decided to sunbathe in the courtyard instead. Truth be told that
I suffered severe sunburn on my face from just ten minutes of lying on the
grass and had to wear large, thick sunglasses for the remainder of the day.
Mr Kipling looked at me sadly once again when we left the courtyard as he
had been enjoying the sunshine: it was all right for him, he had tons of
fur.
Halifax Parks and Gardens Info >
Gallivanting in the Lake District >