Hull (for the Continent)

So imagine my surprise when my mate Thibault messaged me on a Wednesday afternoon to see if I would be interested in a long weekend on the continent one weekend soon. He was just floating the idea. I said that actually I was available this weekend (because I had reserved it for some holiday planning of my own) and by 4pm he had an itinerary and booked ferry tickets to the Continent from Hull. Hull being between our respective residences of Edinburgh and London. 

And next day I was on train to Hull. Although much ridiculed, it had been made UK city of Culture once, and since I had never been before I decided to get an early train so that I could spend an afternoon in the city, and primarily so I could visit the art gallery.

To my immense surprise, I found Hull was beautiful. Obviously the blue sky helped, but honestly it had a lot going for it in the old town. (I can't speak for the rest of the city)

The Ferens Art Gallery, built in the early part of the 20th century by a local philanthropist.

Its really got a very pleasant and varied collection which can comfortably be done in 90 minutes (which is how long I spent there) 

Below is the star exhibit, Portrait of a Young Woman by Frans Hals of Laughing Cavalier fame

And yes a Canaletto too

I am not such a big fan of modern sculpture. This is a Ken Armitage bronze of a figure lying on its side. Really

Upstairs was a"Calm Gallery" - the paintings not hung by schools or periods, but just chosen for calming scenes and pastel colours!

So as you can see, Hull has much to admire. And at about 6:30 Thibault picked me up from the train station and got us to the ferry for overnight trip to Europoort. We had dinner aboard at the posh dining restaurant rather than the buffet restaurant. You could tell it was posh because the buffet was in the Four Seasons restaurant, we were in the Quatre Saisons. Yup, just putting it in French takes it upmarket. Unfortunately can't say this was much reflected in the food or wine...