A Trip to England

Millennium Gallery

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Attraction | "Outdoing the Tate"

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When I visited the Winter Gardens in Sheffield in 2008, I completely overlooked the Sheffield Millennium Galleries that are attached. When I returned in 2012, I quickly learned that this was a crying shame because they had lots to offer. I was surprised to find that they were not only interesting as galleries, but also they offered some fantastic insight into the history of Sheffield as a city and the steel industry upon which it grew to prominence.My girlfriend and I began our visit to the galleries feeling rather sheepish. The reason for this was that we felt that we had been somewhat burned by our visit to Tate Modern in London. Based on the reviews and media comments that we had ...Read More

When I visited the Winter Gardens in Sheffield in 2008, I completely overlooked the Sheffield Millennium Galleries that are attached. When I returned in 2012, I quickly learned that this was a crying shame because they had lots to offer. I was surprised to find that they were not only interesting as galleries, but also they offered some fantastic insight into the history of Sheffield as a city and the steel industry upon which it grew to prominence.

My girlfriend and I began our visit to the galleries feeling rather sheepish. The reason for this was that we felt that we had been somewhat burned by our visit to Tate Modern in London. Based on the reviews and media comments that we had read, we presumed we were set to experience a modern art utopia in a stunning setting with increasingly remarkable pieces of artwork hidden behind each corner. Sadly, it had not really measured up and we were sceptical about other modern galleries.

Thankfully, the Millennium Galleries proved to offer no such disappointment. They were on a scale much removed from that of Tate Modern of course, but the quality to hype ratio was far closer to the level I consider acceptable. If we start on the purely artistic level, the main exhibition on show at the Millennium was a good start to demonstrating this. It featured the Sheffield-born artist Paul Morrison. The heart of the exhibit was a giant black and white mural, but the whole thing was crammed with works done solely in black and white that featured some powerful imagery. It was extremely interesting and very well presented.

The second major room in the gallery is taken up with the history of Sheffield as a major steel producer. There is a wonderfully interactive museum that gives some wonderful examples. As you might expect there are scores of different pieces of metal-ware on show – chief amongst these being cutlery and tableware. There are, though, also audio displays with experts explaining the history of the industry in Sheffield and some of the techniques involve din production. There are also tactile displays that allow visitors to identify different metals by texture and even temperature. To marry the ideas of steel, the gallery also features a modern statue created solely out of cutlery produced in Sheffield.

The Millennium Gallery in Sheffield is free to enter and was well worth the visit. As it is connected to the Winter Gardens, it allows visitors to view two of Sheffield's best landmarks in a single visit.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 14, 2012

Millennium Gallery
48 Arundel Gate
Sheffield, South Yorkshire S1 2PP
0114 278 2600

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Etap Hotel Birmingham Airport

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Hotel | "Convenient and Economical"

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As you may have seen from one of my other journal entries, when my girlfriend and I visited my parents in the UK, we took the budget option when booking our flights. This allowed us to find extremely good fares with Monarch from Nice to Birmingham. The major downside to this was the service, which was pretty poor, but we also faced the problem of an early flight from Birmingham when we returned to France, leaving at 8am. Unfortunately, as my family home is over an hour from Birmingham this meant we needed a hotel close to the hotel. As the trip had taken in lots of restaurants and shops, we were not looking for the Hilton, we needed a budget option.After checking the options on various lis...Read More

As you may have seen from one of my other journal entries, when my girlfriend and I visited my parents in the UK, we took the budget option when booking our flights. This allowed us to find extremely good fares with Monarch from Nice to Birmingham. The major downside to this was the service, which was pretty poor, but we also faced the problem of an early flight from Birmingham when we returned to France, leaving at 8am. Unfortunately, as my family home is over an hour from Birmingham this meant we needed a hotel close to the hotel. As the trip had taken in lots of restaurants and shops, we were not looking for the Hilton, we needed a budget option.

After checking the options on various listings websites, we found that it was relatively scarce pickings. As my father would drop us at the aiport the evening before our flight and then drive home, we did not have a car. This meant we needed to be very close to the terminal. In this scenario there were only three major options. The Etap, the Ibis and the Novotel (all owned by Accors, so I guess they have some form of deal with the airport). As we were planning to be there for less than 10 hours we chose the Etap for the price.

It cost 34GBP per night and I would venture that we got a little more than we paid for … but not much more. The major plus point was the service. The lady behind reception was extremely friendly and extremely helpful when we checked in and in booking us breakfast for the next day. When I asked for a morning call she explained that she could not do it, but that the TV could be programmed to issue an alarm on request – she even offered to come to our room and set it up for us.

The room itself was very basic. There was no lush wall to wall carpeting or well-stocked mini-bar. And, the décor was extremely plain. However, it was not uncomfortable: the bed was large and clean, and the shower was very powerful and relaxing. There was a reasonably sized TV, but it showed only basic channels. There was also free wi-fi in reception though not in the room.

As we were leaving early and had quite a bit of travelling to do, we decided to have breakfast. This cost 4GBP and, again, reflected what was on offer. It was all perfectly serviceable, but we were not talking about a full-English. There were scones, cereals and toast as well as a selection of fruit. However, the major plus point about it was the rather good coffee, which was unlimited – as we were up before 6a.m, I was in massive need of a boost.

Overall, we were very impressed at the Etap considering the price we paid for it. It was cheap and convenient as it was less than 300m from the departures section of the airport. We will use it again when we take our next trip home.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 14, 2012

Etap Hotel Birmingham Airport
Ambassador Road
Solihull, Birmingham B263QL
0121 780 5858

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Budget Battles

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Story/Tip

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I am from the north of England. My family lives close to Sheffield, which is one of the UK's major cities, but is not served by it's own airport. Therefore, whenever I decide to take a trip home from my base in the Cote d'Azur I have three or four options in terms of destinations. Manchester is 45 minutes away, Liverpool John Lennon about an hour and 15 minutes and Birmingham International about one hour and a half. Therefore, when I look to book my flights back from Nice, I have several options.Thankfully, all three of these airports are served by budget options that run to Nice. Manchester is served by Jet2, an airline that does actually offer good prices, but is constantly in danger of ...Read More

I am from the north of England. My family lives close to Sheffield, which is one of the UK's major cities, but is not served by it's own airport. Therefore, whenever I decide to take a trip home from my base in the Cote d'Azur I have three or four options in terms of destinations. Manchester is 45 minutes away, Liverpool John Lennon about an hour and 15 minutes and Birmingham International about one hour and a half. Therefore, when I look to book my flights back from Nice, I have several options.

Thankfully, all three of these airports are served by budget options that run to Nice. Manchester is served by Jet2, an airline that does actually offer good prices, but is constantly in danger of breaking advertising ethics laws. It is a big fan of advertising flights for 9GBP. However, in reality with taxes and charges for (a) booking, (b) using a credit card, (c) seats, and even (d) fuel (although how they would operate without that if people refused the charge is beyond me) the prices tend to be closer to 100GBP. This is not so bad compared to British Airways or Air France, but tends to leave a harsh taste in the mouth after all the broken promises. It tends to operate well with few delays.

Liverpool is served by budget veterans Easyjet, who are by far the best of the options. The prices are a little less than Jet2 and there is far less borderline fraud involved in booking a ticket. They are also very reliable and the planes are probably a little more comfortable than jet2. The only downside for me is the extra 30 minutes driving. Both jet2 and Easyjet fly at a convenient slot in the afternoon, which if I leave on a Friday is great for a long weekend.

Both Jet2 and Easyjet are much cheaper than mainstream airlines. However, their prices to Nice are not what I would describe as being truly 'budget' - perhaps they work on the assumption that if someone is flying to the Cote d'Azur, they can afford a few pounds more. Therefore, when Monarch Airlines started anew route from Birmingham to Nice at prices significantly less than either of their competitors, I was delighted. I was so delighted in fact that when my girlfriend and decided to visit my parents, we opted for it. The price was great, but there were a few problems.

As we were going for a week and had luggage to check, we arrived at the airport about two hours before the flight. Not only was check-in not open, but no-one knew where it would be. We were sent to queue at three different desks before it eventually opened barely an hour before the flight. We then discovered that Monarch did not have enough of its own planes to actually operate the route to Nice. So, as a consequence, it was leasing an aircraft and crew from a Lithuanian airline. This meant we boarded a rather antiquated aircraft – it still came equipped with ashtrays – and were shown to our seats by a flight attendant who spoke very little English. Thankfully, the flight was smooth and passed by without alarm.

By adding their new route, Monarch became by far the cheapest operator from northern England to the Cote d'Azur. However, the only good point was the price.
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Rice Flamebar and Grill

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Restaurant | "What went wrong?"

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It is rare that I deign to write a second review of a restaurant at which I eat. In fact, I think this will be the very first time I have done such a thing – so those who are reading this are in one way extremely privileged. So, exactly why did I decide to break my habit. The answer is a simple one. On the second occasion I visited the Sheffield-based restaurant Rice, the experience was so different to the first that I felt the need to offer both pictures.In my first review, I waxed lyrical about the wonderful fusion approach Rice took to presenting Asian food. I paid great compliments to the Chilli Beef and to Japanese Udon Noodles. On our first visit, my mother and I enjoyed it so much t...Read More

It is rare that I deign to write a second review of a restaurant at which I eat. In fact, I think this will be the very first time I have done such a thing – so those who are reading this are in one way extremely privileged. So, exactly why did I decide to break my habit. The answer is a simple one. On the second occasion I visited the Sheffield-based restaurant Rice, the experience was so different to the first that I felt the need to offer both pictures.

In my first review, I waxed lyrical about the wonderful fusion approach Rice took to presenting Asian food. I paid great compliments to the Chilli Beef and to Japanese Udon Noodles. On our first visit, my mother and I enjoyed it so much that we were almost gushing with praise. We loved the food, we loved the concept and we even loved the style of the place. The service was also excellent. With such a fantastic precedent, it was no surprise that my mother decided that when my girlfriend and I took her out for lunch on her birthday we should go to Rice. Sadly, our second experience could not compare to the first.

The major difference was the food. It was by no means as good. the quality was not there and the quantity was also not what we expected. My mother had the Chilli Beef again, which was good. I was immensely relieved about this as it was her special day. However, my girlfriend opted for an Indian style Byriani, which was the stuff of nightmares. Not only was it extremely dry and lacking in sauce, it was also extremely spicy. The menu listed it as spicy, but not extravagantly so and we had asked for it to be kept relatively cool. However, it was like eating lava. My girlfriend was unable to finish it and left Rice feeling rather let down.

I opted for the set 'Street Food' menu. I ordered a combination that featured Japanese noodles, a buritto and Korean dumplings. I was extremely excited about this as finding Korean food in the UK is next to impossible outside London. However, I was astonished when my combo arrived with two extremely small dumplings. I was so surprised about this that I actually checked with the waiter that it was correct (alas, it was). My buritto was good, but the Japnese noodles were rather greasy and tasted astonishingly like Chinese Chow Mien. For the record, the two dumplings were good – but there were two!

Rice the second time around was poor. There is no other way to describe it. I would like to hope it was just a blip because my mother loved it the first time around> However, the 47GBP I parted with was certainly not worth it. Read Less

Member Rating 1 out of 5 on August 14, 2012

Rice Flamebar and Grill
Meadowhall Shopping Centre
Sheffield, England

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ChaoBaby at Meadowhall Centre

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Restaurant | "Good, but expensive"

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Eating whilst on a shopping spree can often be a terrible experience. Finding good food in shopping malls is not always easy. For example, at the epically proportioned Centre Point in Muscat in Oman, the only serious options were junk food. It was the same in countless shopping centres I visited in China and Korea, where the only options were noodles or western fast-food. There are some notable exceptions to this problem. Cevahir in Istanbul probably offers better dining options than it does shopping ones. A few years ago, the Meadowhall Shopping Centre very much belonged to the first school of culinary options. There were lots of fast food joints and few opportunities to eat 'real food'. ...Read More

Eating whilst on a shopping spree can often be a terrible experience. Finding good food in shopping malls is not always easy. For example, at the epically proportioned Centre Point in Muscat in Oman, the only serious options were junk food. It was the same in countless shopping centres I visited in China and Korea, where the only options were noodles or western fast-food. There are some notable exceptions to this problem. Cevahir in Istanbul probably offers better dining options than it does shopping ones.

A few years ago, the Meadowhall Shopping Centre very much belonged to the first school of culinary options. There were lots of fast food joints and few opportunities to eat 'real food'. The closest you came was a branch of TGI Friday's. However, in recent years, this has changed. The arrival of a Spanish-style Tapas restaurant seemed to kick things off. And, since then they have snowballed. There are now Mexican, Japanese and even fusion options on offer. There are plenty of good places to eat. However, Chao Baby quickly established itself as the best.

For 13 GBP - not cheap at all in a shopping mall in Sheffield - you get an all-you-can-eat Thai buffet. Despite the imposing price, this represents great value. The food is absolutely fantastic. For starter, there is a fantastic selection of soups and Thai snacks. I simply could not get enough of the spring rolls and Satay pieces. These may not be particularly original or unusual, but they were fantastic and I could - quite literally - eaten a hundred of them.

For the main course, there was a selection of traditional Thai dishes. I started with musselman curry, whcih was good, but the sauce was not as rich as I had hoped. However, everything after that was immense. The Slow Cooked Pork was out of this world and - even though it may sound like a cliche - melted in the mouth. The chicken with cashews was also great. The highlight for me, though, was the beef with chilli, which was astoundingly good. There was also a great supply of rice and noodles to go with the main dishes.

The decor at Chao Baby was also very good. The seating was comprised of large leather chairs that were immensely comfortable. One of the walls that separated the dining from area from the larger area of the mall was made from a fish tank that contained some stunningly blue jellyfish. There was also a fanatstic glass statue of Buddha that was made from thing pains of glass stacked upon eat other to form the shape of the deity.

The food, decor and ambience at Chao Baby were fantastic - much better than you would ever expect to find in a mall. However, the one draw-back was the prize. Lunch for three cost around 50GBP, which is extremely steep for the location.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 13, 2012

ChaoBaby at Meadowhall Centre
Upper Level of the Oasis Dining Quarter
Sheffield, England S9 1EP

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