I was up early this morning - it was the beginning of what was to be a glorious day. Although I would not normally see Mum on a Saturday things are a bit different at the moment and with John away I thought it would be nice to take her out around the Old Town and then for some lunch.
We set off and parked up near the opticians which gave us a chance to walk in through the Next Outlet for a mooch. I have been looking for some cropped trousers which are straight legged so that I don't end up looking like Don Estelle from It Ain't Half Hot Mum - this has proved difficult because I wasn't blessed with legs that are in proportion to my body. However, Mum spotted a pair of lightweight soft jeans which fitted the bill exactly except they weren't in what I thought would have been my size but they were perfect and at only 10 euros a bargain. We decided to walk down to the Market to see if we could find old friends John and Rula who used to run a linen and jewelry stall but not having been to the market since its refurbishment wandered round and round until we decided that the area where they used to be had been completely rebuilt and their stall was no longer in evidence - it was a shame as we had hoped to let them know about Dad. Still it was not to be and we will have to try and find them some other way.
Huge areas of the Old Town around the Market have been smartened up and the shops which were so affected by the road closures have started to fill again and it is bright and clean and pleasant to walk around but every other shop seems to be a craft shop and you have to wonder how many can be sustained by the apparent limited footfall in the area.
I am sure for the short term visitor this is a great place to while away a couple of hours but I am guessing rents are high and you would need to sell a lot of stuff to start to make a profit. We headed for old man Gregory's watch shop for him to fit a battery into Mum's watch - it only seems five minutes ago when Mum and I were in there choosing a watch for Dad for Christmas.
If you scratch beneath the surface you will see that there are still many buildings in need of some major refurbishment if they are not to disappear completely. It would be a shame to completely lose the character of this area but I guess money can only stretch so far and then there is the age old question of who actually owns these buildings. On the whole though I think they have done well - Mum said she wondered what visitors think to what has been achieved so far and I guess there will be some of us who loved the old run-down ramshackle almost Middle Eastern feel to the Market and its surrounding areas and others who will be more appreciative of the updates.
There are some little hidden gems if you know where to find them and plenty of coffee shops and cafes for the thirsty visitor. We chose to have a cup of tea at Boo-Tea-Licious because throughout all the upheaval Kathryn continued to trade when everything around her was a complete shambles and it must have been so disheartening. We were greeted like old friends by her and her daughter Simone (Swifty as we call her) who is a firm favourite of Rob's as she appears on the local radio channel Rock FM. We only had a drink because I had planned to take Mum to Let Them Eat Cake (if I could find it) as it had been recommended to me by Elena Savvides and during the road changes we had failed miserably to find it.
We headed towards Kennedy Square on the lookout for our lunch venue and eventually found it but were in the car and so needed to find somewhere to park - had we known there was parking right next to it but we were on the wrong bit of road (it is on a corner) and had to do a circuit which involved negotiating a street where even Mum and I breathed in because the parking made it exceptionally tight. We managed to park up and walk - this area has also been refurbished and is really lovely with some beautiful street cafes and interesting buildings with almost a Venetian feel to them.
It was a such a crystal clear light and bright day that everything looked sparkly white but even though it was lunchtime there were very few people in this area. We managed to park up at a meter which only allowed you to stay for an hour but we thought this would be fine for a sandwich and a drink.
I had read about the lovely garden at the back of Let Them Eat Cake and so decided to walk through and sit there. Unfortunately our experience was somewhat spoiled by the poor service as we had to wait almost 45 minutes before our food arrived which necessitated a quick trip to the parking meter because although we were told that no-one checks them this is me we are talking about and I had visions of it ending up being a very expensive lunch. Apparently the waitress should have told us at the outset that there would be a wait but she didn't! The food we had, when it arrived, was quite nice but I asked for no rocket for Mum and the salad which accompanied her croissant was 90% rocket! Oh well you can't win them all.
Back in England John had a great day (apart from the disappointing draw) because when he got to Brammall Lane he did so at the same time as the players arriving and he managed to get photographs with them including this one of the captain Billy Sharp. It was pure luck but it made his day! He was off to an unofficial school reunion this evening and I know he was really looking forward to it - this will be the third one he has managed to organise and he always has a good time.
We set off and parked up near the opticians which gave us a chance to walk in through the Next Outlet for a mooch. I have been looking for some cropped trousers which are straight legged so that I don't end up looking like Don Estelle from It Ain't Half Hot Mum - this has proved difficult because I wasn't blessed with legs that are in proportion to my body. However, Mum spotted a pair of lightweight soft jeans which fitted the bill exactly except they weren't in what I thought would have been my size but they were perfect and at only 10 euros a bargain. We decided to walk down to the Market to see if we could find old friends John and Rula who used to run a linen and jewelry stall but not having been to the market since its refurbishment wandered round and round until we decided that the area where they used to be had been completely rebuilt and their stall was no longer in evidence - it was a shame as we had hoped to let them know about Dad. Still it was not to be and we will have to try and find them some other way.
Huge areas of the Old Town around the Market have been smartened up and the shops which were so affected by the road closures have started to fill again and it is bright and clean and pleasant to walk around but every other shop seems to be a craft shop and you have to wonder how many can be sustained by the apparent limited footfall in the area.I am sure for the short term visitor this is a great place to while away a couple of hours but I am guessing rents are high and you would need to sell a lot of stuff to start to make a profit. We headed for old man Gregory's watch shop for him to fit a battery into Mum's watch - it only seems five minutes ago when Mum and I were in there choosing a watch for Dad for Christmas.
If you scratch beneath the surface you will see that there are still many buildings in need of some major refurbishment if they are not to disappear completely. It would be a shame to completely lose the character of this area but I guess money can only stretch so far and then there is the age old question of who actually owns these buildings. On the whole though I think they have done well - Mum said she wondered what visitors think to what has been achieved so far and I guess there will be some of us who loved the old run-down ramshackle almost Middle Eastern feel to the Market and its surrounding areas and others who will be more appreciative of the updates.
There are some little hidden gems if you know where to find them and plenty of coffee shops and cafes for the thirsty visitor. We chose to have a cup of tea at Boo-Tea-Licious because throughout all the upheaval Kathryn continued to trade when everything around her was a complete shambles and it must have been so disheartening. We were greeted like old friends by her and her daughter Simone (Swifty as we call her) who is a firm favourite of Rob's as she appears on the local radio channel Rock FM. We only had a drink because I had planned to take Mum to Let Them Eat Cake (if I could find it) as it had been recommended to me by Elena Savvides and during the road changes we had failed miserably to find it.
We headed towards Kennedy Square on the lookout for our lunch venue and eventually found it but were in the car and so needed to find somewhere to park - had we known there was parking right next to it but we were on the wrong bit of road (it is on a corner) and had to do a circuit which involved negotiating a street where even Mum and I breathed in because the parking made it exceptionally tight. We managed to park up and walk - this area has also been refurbished and is really lovely with some beautiful street cafes and interesting buildings with almost a Venetian feel to them.
It was a such a crystal clear light and bright day that everything looked sparkly white but even though it was lunchtime there were very few people in this area. We managed to park up at a meter which only allowed you to stay for an hour but we thought this would be fine for a sandwich and a drink.
I had read about the lovely garden at the back of Let Them Eat Cake and so decided to walk through and sit there. Unfortunately our experience was somewhat spoiled by the poor service as we had to wait almost 45 minutes before our food arrived which necessitated a quick trip to the parking meter because although we were told that no-one checks them this is me we are talking about and I had visions of it ending up being a very expensive lunch. Apparently the waitress should have told us at the outset that there would be a wait but she didn't! The food we had, when it arrived, was quite nice but I asked for no rocket for Mum and the salad which accompanied her croissant was 90% rocket! Oh well you can't win them all.
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