June 16 Leeds

6:30 a.m. out the door to head off to Round Hay Park, some 4 1/2 miles distant.  It was quite an ugly walk although the park itself is big and beautiful.  I did not spend much time exploring because I wanted to visit the Royal Armouries Museum again—and the park is VERY BIG— after which I would be heading off to Ilkley, where the Dales Way starts.

I did take a tour around the lake, though.

Real ducks:

Not real, and not a duck:

Rhododendrons across the lake:

Another perspective:

Tree stump repurposed

"Within a Frisbee Throw!"

The river front at Leeds:

Back at the Royal Armouries Museum where one could easily spend a full day.  They have really good videos about a variety of topics one might not expect.  I watched one about Westerns.  Turns out—sorry to disappoint—that all those gun fights in the movies were totally so not the way it was.  For example it was really hard to actually hit anyone even from not far away. Bottom line:  The West was not so wild after all.  

I also listened to a talk on longbows. I don't have the energy to describe, so click on the link!

Who does not  like a decorated weapon?

Get a load of this Japanese horse and rider!

Black horse, no rider! Click on photo to better see the stirrups:

A fact:

War elephant: 

He is worth two views!

And, if you are interested in this particular elephant and a bit of controversy, read the reddit thread and for war elephants in general, the Wikipedia entry (even though I am very down on Wikipedia these days), and there are a bunch of other sources out there.

The Asian exhibits were great; the only problem was that to protect the fabrics and other materials, the lighting is kept low, so a bit hard to read the descriptions, and not easy to photograph. You just have to go see for yourself!  

My original plan had been to stay in Leeds tonight and leave early tomorrow morning, but I had booked the Air B&B in Ilkley an extra day so that I could enter at, say, 7:00 a.m., and then take off to hike. But since Leeds is well, just not great, and the hotel was a little bit depressing,  I decided to take off in the afternoon, and have the extra night in Ilkley.  Good decision!  Ilkley is a lovely town with good groceries nearby and the AirB&B is super nice.  Very happy to be here.