I learned an important lesson that night. An arthritic knee and a single bed are not a match made in heaven. The bed was very comfortable, but there was not a lot of it. Ever since I started to have issues with my knee, I have changed position at night a lot to stay comfortable. There was not enough room in the bed to do this. A few times during the night I woke up in agony. I did some gentle stretching exercises and then sat on the edge of the bed reading until the pain eased. I ended up doing this a few times during the night. Fortunately, Graham slept through all of this.
Just before 7:00, I woke up again and I was done. I got up and ready for the day. Graham woke up not long after me. Once he has ready as well, we went downstairs for breakfast. Graham started with a berry compote, yoghurt and a croissant. I had a Belgian waffle to get started. We then both had a full cooked breakfast. They had some decent coffee. Graham had an orange juice, and I had an apple juice. Breakfast hit the spot.
After breakfast, we headed back to the room to pick up what we needed for the day. Then we headed out. During one of the sleepless periods during the night, I had researched how we could get to our first destination. This could not have been easier. There was a bus stop not far from the hotel that had a direct bus service to where we wanted to go. We headed off and there was a bus due not long after we got there. We were able to get a day ticket that was valid for all buses within in Hull and was really good value. It was not the quickest way to get from point A to point B, but we were in no rush, and it was convenient.
Our first destination that day was East Park. Graham had been there a few times when we lived in Beverley. I only had been there once on a field trip when I was teaching in Hull. I remember very little about this trip. When Graham suggested that we should spend some time at East Park, I was up for this.
East Park is the largest public park in Hull and was the second public park to be created. It opened on the day Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee was celebrated. The project provided 140 jobs for previously unemployed local people. There are a lot of different facilities at East Park making this a popular recreation area. East Park is also used for concerts and other large-scale events.
We were there on a weekday at the end of September and there was nothing going on. There was however enough there to keep our interest. I was surprised how many flowers were still in bloom that late in the year. There was also a beautiful antique clock near the entrance. The most surprising feature is the public library that is in the middle of East Park. This is not a typical feature for a public park. There is also a model yacht pond with its own yacht house, a boating lake with swan paddle boats, a waterplay area and a fully accessible playground. One unique feature is the Splash Boat, which is a water chute ride designed by the engineer Charles Wicksteed that was constructed in 1929. It was Grade II listed in 2003 and underwent a £35,000 restoration in 2012. I would have loved to have a go, but it is only open during the summer holidays and on weekends.
We took our time taking a slow wander around the park. We came across a curiosity, the Victorian Khyber Pass. The structure is the largest artificial rock work in a public park in the country. Its design is said to have been inspired by the British Army’s capture of the famous mountainous pass in 1878. According to a plaque in the area, it is likely that this structure was built by local unemployed people. We also spent some time sitting by the boating lake.
We had thoroughly enjoyed our wander, but the main pull for me was the animal education centre. This is a mini zoo with all kinds of birds, guinea pigs, monkeys, marmosets, goats, wallabies, emus and alpacas. The alpacas decided to hide from us, but we saw all the other animals. We had a lovely surprise. When Graham checked out opening hours, he noticed that the walkthrough enclosure was temporarily closed. The only thing that he could think of that this could refer to is the walkthrough aviary. This was a shame, but it was not a dealbreaker. However, when we got there, we found the aviary to be open and we spent a fair while in there.
Once we had thoroughly explored East Park, we headed back to the main road to catch a bus back into town. We did not have long to wait for a bus. We got off near the Princess Quay shopping centre. We figured it was time for something to drink and a snack and this was as good a place as any. Unfortunately, Princess Quay has not weathered well. There were a lot of empty shops. There used to be a food court in the basement, but that had gone. It does however look like they are trying to revive this. Instead, we headed over the Trinity Market. Sahrah had recommended a cake shop there and we decided to check this out. This did not disappoint. Graham had some lavender shortbread and an Americano. I had a mini chocolate and peanut butter loaf and a flat white. Graham also had a bottle of water. I went to a different stall and got some cherry flavoured sparkling water.
We had a look around Trinity Market and then headed over to the adjacent Hepworth Arcade. This Grade II Listed Arcade has some rather quirky shops including a joke shop. It is also where Mr Marks and Mr Spencer opened one of their first penny bazaars. It is a shame that the local Marks and Spencer shop what used to be only a stone throw away has closed down since my last visit to Hull.
Our next stop was Hull Minster. I don’t think I will ever get used to the new name. For me it always will remain Holy Trinity Church, which it was called up to May 2017. Whatever its name is, it is a beautiful church with a lot of unique features. One thing that drew me there are the church mice. There are seven carved mice hidden around Hull Minster that were the signature of renowned furniture maker Robert “ Mousey” Thompson. I was hoping to find all seven of them. However, there is a lot of internal refurbishment going on at the moment and the mice seem to be in hiding. I did however find at least one of them.
We had a bit of a wander around the old town, and I took some photos of some of some of the beautiful buildings. At that stage, I started to run out of steam. There was however one last thing that I had to tick off my list. When I first visited Hull 30 years ago, I fell in love with a shop called Kathmandu that sells ethnic clothing and jewellery. I was actually surprised that this was still there. I ended up buying a beautiful top that was on sale.
With the shopping out of the way, we headed over to the transport interchange. The next bus heading in the right direction was the park and ride service. Graham said that this used to be an express service. Nowadays it takes a very scenic route. Still, it was not that we were in any rush.
Eventually we did make it back to the park and ride. We walked over to the hotel. When we got back to our room, there was some really unusual light over the Humber Bridge. I took a photo. Then we grabbed our swim stuff and headed for the pool. I put my toe in the water and decided that the pool was too cold for my liking. The hot tub however was very nice, and I chilled out for a while. Graham swam for a while and then came and joined me in the hot tub. Once we started to look like prunes, we got showered and changed. We took our wet stuff up to the room. Then we went back down to get some dinner at the hotel restaurant.
Graham had the fish and chips special with mushy peas and tartare sauce. He had a glass of white wine. I had a gourmet Wagyu brie and bacon burger with coleslaw and chips. I had a Coke with this. After dinner we headed back upstairs. We were both pretty tired. I have some medication that I need to take at 22:00. I was not sure if I would be awake that long. I set and alarm just in case. That was a good job. I read for a bit, but my eyes grew rather heavy. I fell asleep. When the alarm went off, I got up to take my medication and then I went to sleep again. Graham had slept through all of this.
Dolphingirl’s Travels 
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