Sheffield Revisited

The journey by train up to Sheffield took about 2.5 hrs and was most pleasant. The ticket could be bought online on the nationalrail website.

It was certainly more relaxing than going up by bus as I had done in the past (5 hours journey). My last visit to Sheffield was 6 years ago.

I met Adi outside his office building which is 3 minutes walk from the train station. He brought me to his office and I got to see his working place which was staffed by an international crowd. I was finally able to charge my pda, which was running dangerously low on power, at his desk. Since it was lunchtime, we went out to catch a bite at the city centre.

Lots of construction and renovation works going on at Sheffield. A number of new buildings have sprung up, favoring light green glass facade. I cannot recall what the former buildings were like but I should think the new ones look more hip than the ones pulled down. Sheffield has often been described as industrial-looking so many of its buildings are drab and without much character anyway.

The city was more busy with people and looked happening. A news article, I came across, said Sheffield can rival Leeds (wah). There was a fair going on at the city centre. There were booths set up offering different types of snacks - turkish (sweets), german (sausages), french (crepes), etc. We went into Marks & Sparks where Adi wanted to show me some english wine but there was no stock.

After Adi went back to office, I took a walk to the university. Places looked the same and yet different. New upmarket apartments have turned up. The faint drizzle began to dust my coat with a powder of rain droplets; a weather so typical of Sheffield. For two hours, I continued on foot without an umbrella, strolling up and down its hills, enjoying the familiarity of it all..