What Sophie Said

At the beginning of our second year of university, Andy (my boyfriend) and I made the decision to move in together and commute to and from university. We settled on Darlington – a half hour train from each of our universities – and moved in at the beginning of September 2 years ago. Now, university is complete and we have temporarily moved home whilst we start to find our feet in the world of jobs, but two years of private renting has taught me a good few lessons. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made, but I’ve definitely learned some things for next time I leave home… British Gas and Sky will never, ever be on your side This was obviously the first time I’ve had to deal with bills, utilities and the like, and I was a bit unprepared for just how unhelpful the customer service departments at big companies can be. British Gas regularly tried to overcharge us, and when we moved out demanded an extra £200 that I knew we didn’t owe. Sure enough, about a month ago,...

After a pretty boring lunch of ham sandwiches today, I remembered a few snaps I took at a recent Pizza Express lunch. The setting was Darlington, the occasion was UNIVERSITY IS COMPLETE, and I needed a simple, relaxing lunch with Andy (the boyfriend). Pizza Express is one of those restaurants you can always rely on: everyone has their favourite dish, and the restaurants and relaxed and friendly. I lived in Darlington for 2 years before recently returning to Manchester, and visited the Darlington Pizza Express a fair few times, with various friends and family members. Twitter has been busy recently with news of the summer and gluten-free Pizza Express menus, so we were tempted back for a relaxed and yummy lunchtime. The Darlington Pizza Express is right in the centre of town, and is a big space with high ceilings. It never seems too crowded, and the service is usually friendly and fast. On this particular day, it did take 10 minutes of standing being ignored at the d...