Cities-Kingston-Upon Hull- Arrival, Afternoon 1, Day 1, Part 1.

'What do you want to go to Hull for?'  'Ooh I've not been since the mid 90's and it was...' (insert scrunched up face) 'HULL? HULL? WHY?

Well, I will tell you why,  because it is there.

Also it has been awarded UK City of Culture for 2017 and as day trips are a staple of my existence and my friend Sarah is renowned for her love and even coined the expression 'the eight hour holiday' we decided to visit this mystical land for a two and a half day mini break Hulliday. 

Hull according to when you type in Hull in Google- 

'Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea, with a population of 259,000.'

Better still read this HERE.

The way up-  Glossing over the M60, I arrived at Sarah's in good time with car snacks and corn flake cakes. After plotting our course we were taken through a selection of places that didn't look like a motorway. 

Kirklees up on a foggy mountainous ridge, the place where Last of the Summer Wine was filmed and the lovely sounding Kitchenroyd. This was all very nice but Hull time waits for nobody, so we ignored our satellite man that plotted the map and got onto the M62 where high on the hill I saw my beloved Ferrybridge teamed with Drax and Eggborough. I do like a good power station, plus as a kid on the way up to York we always stopped at Ferrybridge service station for ablutions and a Little Chef all day breakfast. 

Finally arriving within the boundary of Hulliday, we saw the majestic Humber Bridge. It is technically the Golden Gate of the East and as Sarah said, 'It is the nearest I will get and it is all we have got'.

Arriving at Lenny's House there was much excitement, mainly what we where to eat and if there would be tea making facilities and enough milk. Luckily there was and although we nearly got blown into the River Humber in a freak gust of wind, the sheer amount of accoutrements we had on our person kept our gravity central. 

After a cup of tea and a small sit, out we went in search of a feed and life. There was a lot of commotion in the town centre with flashing lights, trucks with 8 wheels or more and people all standing in a line looking at something. It then became apparent that an hour into Hulliday we had missed the giant wind turbine blade installation by artist Nayan Kulkarni but at least we were there to wave it goodbye.

Further walking led us down side streets filled with these pleasures, but hunger had hit and we needed to find St Stephen's shopping centre quick.

The rain started and Hulliday lull had taken hold until through my rain soaked glasses we spotted the shopping centre. A building with lots of nice shops and a very nice glass frontage. Upwards on a series of escalators we floated into The Real China all you can eat buffet. The premise of this is that we like buffets, we like Chinese and we like all you can eat and at this point it was imperative.

Here is the only surviving picture of my first and many courses-  I basically knew from the taste of my first prawn cracker we would be together forever. I am giving The Real China a very strong 9/10 with a point knocked off as you never give a full ten unless you are Len Goodman.

After grazing for nearly two hours we waddled back into town to look at more things. It was very quiet for a Sunday night and very clean and shiny.

Slowly plodding and trying to expel the 40 course buffet, suddenly from nowhere we were greeted with the most beautiful sight our eyes ever did see.

The Three Ships, Italian glass mosaic by Alan Boyson. I had wanted to see this for a long time, mainly because of my love of Muriel's but also as I signed the petition to get it listed. It really is beautiful and everything I hoped it would be. You can read more about it HERE and HERE as I just get too emotional when talking about my Muriel's. The ships masts spell Hull.

At this point we needed to change into our leisure wear for comfort, so we decided to go back to Lenny's and rest. The whole town centre had been closed off for the Blade to be moved so we took the long way round and saw these things.

After reaching a dead end and escaping through a shopping precinct playing Phil Collins, we saw things like this projected onto the buildings above. 

Nearly back at Lenny's, wishing for a sit, leisure and my corn plasters, we walked across the Scale Lane Swing Bridge where Spencer Tunicks 'Sea of Hull' was photographed. I liked the big red light and I read that when it is swinging open for boats you can stay on it. Fancy, but at this point I needed to sit and watch Inspector Frost on ITV3. Just because your on Hullidays doesn't mean your programming has to suffer.

We then wrote down our Monday sightseeing action plan of things to see and dreamed about Lenny's all you can eat breakfast. PS-Inspector Frost wasn't on.