The Best Way to Leeds...

We were invited by my cardiologist to go to a seminar /slash/ meet-up for people with similar health concerns as myself. The event was held in Leeds, near the hospital where my doctor works. 

Self-portrait at Leed's Trinity Centre

We have been to Leeds on a number of occasions, it being only a 30 minute drive from our house, it is a much quicker commute to this hospital than the one I attend back home in San Francisco. The first few times we went to the doctor's, we drove. To say Leeds is a maze of one-way streets, crazy-confusing roundabouts, and mystifying signage is to belittle the fact that Leeds is a maze of one-way streets, crazy-confusing roundabouts, and mystifying road signage. The first time we drove to Leeds we got in a huge argument because we got lost, the GPS re-routed us through the ass-end of nowhere, and once we found the hospital, we couldn't find parking. We barely made it to my appointment, even though we gave ourselves an extra hour and a half to get there in time. Oh! And three weeks later we received a ticket in the mail for apparently driving in a bus-only lane - oopsies!! 

So, the second time we drove to Leeds for an appointment, I researched the specific post code for the hospital's patient car parking garage, printed directions from the computer (so we weren't relying on the GPS alone), and gave ourselves an extra hour to get to the appointment. Easy-breazy; we made it to the car park! Only to find out that the patient car park consisted of approximately 50 parking spaces (all filled, of course); the rest of the 4-story car park was for permit holders only. CURSES!!! We then had to drive around (getting lost in the process), found parking, and barely made it to the appointment on time. Again.

Cool artwork inside & church steeple outside Leeds mall 

The third time we had to go to an appointment, we took the train and walked the 20 minutes from the train station to the hospital. BLISS!!! This is now the only way we'll go to Leeds if we have to be anywhere specific at a particular time, such as for the medical seminar /slash/ meet-up that we attended a while back. 

The information we received at the seminar was invaluable, meeting people and their loved ones with a similar condition as I do was also eye-opening. I am, thankfully, doing very well, especially considering some of the stories I heard from a few of the other folks in the room. 

Enclosed view of modern Leeds cityscape

We left the seminar feeling informed and empowered. And we had a 'return anytime' ticket for the train, so we walked to a trendy mall, window-shopped, and enjoyed their indoor hipster gastronomic food cart hall. I had a BBQ pulled pork sandwich with skinny fries from an American-style food truck and Bill had a tandoori burger from the indian-fusion truck. And we had a pint or two… because we knew we didn't have to navigate the mean streets of Leeds by car.  Yay, trains!!