Hull

Since this day, I’m on Christmas holidays but I also have to prepare for my exams coming up in two weeks. What is best to do to work hard and succeed, for me it’s definitely travel! It is my main motivation to know that I will be travelling before and/or after an important period of exams or assignments. The trip I have chosen is a mini-cruise departing from Kingston-upon-Hull to Rotterdam. So I had the opportunity to see Hull, the UK City of Culture 2017 and the region of East Yorkshire for few hours.

My train departs from London Kings Cross station in the morning to reach after 2h30min the city of Hull in East Yorkshire, Northern England. After arriving there, the weather is colder and the accent of the people fairly changes from the Londoner accent I got used to. I noticed the English flag quite frequently but alongside it the Union Jack.

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First thing I have done is getting to the tourist office and get some information. Hull is a fairly small city so it took few steps to walk the Old Town that looks nice. I have found white telephone cabins different from the red style in London. As a proper tourist, I took pictures inside/with/outside this special telephone…

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Although, my main find in Hull was a very typical and traditional pub hidden between tiny streets of Hull but then I found out that it had a small entrance from the high street too… I’m glad I had found it through the other entrance that was less obvious. This pub’s name is Ye Olde White Harte. It is very old, small, cosy and intimate where locals come to have a drink in a Christmassy spirit in front of a warm fire. I had a little chat with some of the regular customers who suggestd me to check the second floor of the pub and answered some of my questions about the boat I was going to take. The mini-cruise to Holland seems to be very famous in the region of East Yorkshire and beyond.

BoatP&OFerries

Hull is connected to Rotterdam with a P&O Ferries boat. The ticket is cheap and includes bus transfers between Rotterdam and Amsterdam (however not from Hull centre to the ferry port) and a cabin with beds for two persons. The boat has entertainment suitable for families and those travelling with friends. The boat has even a cinema so I took the opportunity with my friend to watch the latest released movie Gravity. But the best thing about my trip on the P&O Ferry is that I got upgraded on the way to Rotterdam to an outside cabin worth much more than what I originally paid for. The cabin was large and spacious however the return on an inside cabin was quite boring!

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Hull has been named UK city of culture 2017 and has several museums such as the Maritime Museum and an Art Gallery that I did not get time to visit. The city centre is very busy around late afternoon, that was the time I left Hull for The Netherlands but I got back there on Sunday morning to have a last walk in the city and a warm coffee.

After Hull, I visited Amsterdam where I stayed for one night. Stay tuned to read more about my two days in the capital of The Netherlands.