Saturday 5 November 2011

The week of the to do list. Part two.


You feel a bit of a spare part those days before leaving, your sorting stuff so you feel like you can't get involved with anything new. You end up window shopping and buying things you don't really need - like Superdrug's 3 for 2 on cosmetics [as if America doesn't do make up] buying Glamour merely for the Nails Inc [picture 3], walked my way around the walls of York [picture 1] and poked the National Railway museum [picture 2].

On Friday I went to Hull for a change of scene. Hull a bit of a weird city and it's one few people go out of their way to visit. It always felt a city that's lacking that extra vibe to push itself [probably merely lacking government funding]. What Hull is good for is lots of free museums of which there are eight. Mostly they are based around the Old Town in the Museum Quarter where you'll find the slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce's house, the Street life Museum [picture 4] and the Hull and East Yorkshire museum. If you ever need to pass an afternoon in Hull i'd really recommend them.

When I try to picture Detroit I always imagine it to be something similar to Hull - both were previous industrial hubs that have seemed to have lost their spark when their manufacturing lifeblood drained away. Nevertheless I don't know what to expect, I tend to ignore the looks and misunderstanding about why you'd want to move to Detroit but I tend to try and see over people's generalisations, people often become too believing of them without experiencing the place themselves. Here's to giving it a go.

14 comments:

  1. Aww am so glad you visited Hull, it's where I grew up, and although I don't live there, I'm currently at my parents'; so it's where I'm sat typing. Hull is an odd place, it gets a bad press, but there is a really strong creative undercurrent which I've not felt so strongly in any other city I've lived in. The museums are just fantastic and have all been revamped in recent years. My dad used to take my brother and me to them on wet Sunday afternoons... I have such vivid memories of the Roman mosaic floors in the streetlife museum, and the whale skeleton in the Fishing museum.... happy times, thank you for making me think of these times again xx

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  2. Love the old architecture in Hull, there are some fantastic buildings, you probably went right past my front door if you took the x46.

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  3. I loved those floors Kathryn it's weird knowing they are so old and yet still so detailed, it was lovely to see loads of load artefacts that had been found around and about in places you know of too.

    The x46 is the bus i've lived on for the past two years getting to York and back [I could rant for a while about that service but I won't!!] lol

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  4. I went to Hull by boat (I live in Belgium) two years ago to visit and I liked it!

    Lovely pictures!

    http://sweetharvestmoon.blogspot.com

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  5. starbucks, glamour mag and superdrug 3 for 2. what more could you want? Xx

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  6. I've never been to Hull but my grandparents came from around that area (Grimsby) and always said the same thing, so many tend to pass it by like it's almost forgotten. Those museums sound so fascinating though!

    You're right to ignore others misunderstandings - It's far better to go and do, rather than sit waiting around wishing that you had :)

    xo Samantha Grace

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  7. I don't mind Hull too much :-) I used to have family there so occasionally popped over to visit and shop! The free museums are brilliant, I'd like to do them all again as it's been years now.

    With you on giving things a go! If you don't try you'll never know!

    Jem xXx

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  8. I'm rooting for you Rachael! It's a tough and scary thing you're doing but as long as you're fully committed I'm sure it will work out for the best no matter what. Good luck and great way to spend your final days in the UK.

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  9. Yeah Hull does get a bit forgotten, it's a shame because it could be a really good city and it does have some really good shops especially within the new shopping complex, think people forget that every city has a rough past or a rough part but they seem to over generalise on that when it comes to Hull. Maybe it suffers from the limelight that York always seems to get.

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  10. Hull does seem really under-rated. The railway museum looks gorgeous, I love old transport.
    I'm so excited for you. x

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  11. I went to the National Railway Museum the other week! For some reason I always get super excited to find another Yorkshire blogger, haha. I love York, never been to Hull though.

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  12. I have a total geek love for trains [well old ones that have stream]. could spend hours in the railway museum, love all the old signs and the old posters.

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  13. that last picture is REALLY REALLY cool. you should look into getting it published or something. seriously it's talent. i'm excited to see more!

    http://inspiredbyawish.blogspot.com/

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