We recently teamed up with Visit Hull for the first BlogOn Visits event. Joining us on this weekend trip was ten bloggers from across the country keen to discover everything UK’s City of Culture has to offer.
Visit Hull had kindly organised a series of activities for the weekend with the first being a walking tour around the town centre. The tour took us around historic sites such as the remains of Beverly Gate which barred Charles I from entering Hull and led to the English Civil War. We learnt some great facts including the reason why Hull has white telephone boxes (the telephone system was never nationalised); that Hull is home to the smallest window; and that Hull has the only L shaped arcade which is home to lovely independent shops including the oldest joke shop in the UK.
Our next stop was Trinity Market. Located in Hull’s Old Town district next to Hull Minster, this refurbished Market Hall is home to lovely stalls selling everything from vinyl to handmade soap and vintage clothes and an array of independent street food.
Having worked up an appetite on our walking tour lunch in Trinity Market was more than welcome and with 14 different food stalls with delights such as Indian, pizza, pasties and more to chose from it was not an easy choice.
After having a walk around we and most of the bloggers gravitated towards Greko serving Greek gyros costing between £5 to £8 and Cheng & Chen with oriental dishes such Thai Green Curry and Chicken Katsu all costing around £5 to £6. Everyone was over the moon with their choices and impressed with the portion sizes for the price.
With full bellies, we next popped next door to Hull Minster which is home to the Michelangelo: A Different View, a free exhibition which gives visitors the chance to get close up to representations of Michelangelo’s famous Sistine Chapel masterpiece. The exhibition will be showing until 18th November 2019 and although it is free booking is required.
The next activity on our itinerary was a visit to Hotham’s Gin School & Distillery for a four-hour gin making class. In pairs, We learnt how to choose and balance flavours, how to use the still and remove the methane (which is what causes a hangover) and how to test the alcohol percentage using a refractometer.
Throughout the experience, our hosts and owners of the gin school Emma and Simon also gave us a lesson on the history of gin, shared the knowledge of the area and made sure that the gin and tonics (or other mixers if requested) were flowing.
It was a great experience which everyone on the trip thoroughly enjoyed and best of all once distilled we got to take the gin we distilled home.
Our day ended at Ambiente Tapas located in the Fruit Market area of Hull, where Visit Hull had pre-ordering the Lujo Chef’s selection. This included a deli board, paella, roast sea bream, steak, pork and salad, all of which was delicious and very filling.
The next day after enjoying their lovely buffet breakfast at our hotel the DoubleTree Hilton, we made our way to our next destination, Hull’s award-winning aquarium The Deep. The Deep is home to over 5000 animals and sea creatures and has lots of interactive features.
We saw huge fossils and learnt about the history of the seas, discovered hundreds of colourful tropical fish in a beautiful lagoon, watched penguins as they played and swam in their Kingdom of Ice, and stared in awe as large sharks and giant stingray came to say hello in the Underwater Viewing Tunnel.
The whole place was amazing and great for family members of all ages. Plus with tickets costing just £12.60 for adults and £9.90 for children and are valid for 12 months its great value for money.
For our final destination on our Hull trip, we headed for lunch at the very cosy Lion and Key pub which was originally opened in 1817. They offered a great extensive menu from traditional fish and chips and salt and pepper prawns to Chilli con Carne and the traditional Hull dish ‘the pattie’ (deep-fried mash potato and sage). Yet again everyone reported their choices as delicious and we all went away completely satisfied.
We had an amazing time and we can’t wait for our next BlogOn Visits getaway.
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