I’m embarrassed to say that I’m a terrible resident of Hull. I’ve lived here for a little over a year now, and still have not visited the museums. Visiting museums something I really love doing, especially when I’m traveling to a new place. That’s why I’m a bit ashamed I haven’t done so yet in my own city. On Saturday, I decided it was time to change this! Most of the museums in Hull are free, so I decided to pop in to the Maritime museum and see what it was all about. I’ve seen this building many times before. It’s right next to my favorite cafe, and the exterior has always appealed to me. It was time to actually go inside!

The Maritime museum really focuses on the relationship between Hull and the port. Kingston-upon-Hull used to be a very busy city, with a huge fishing, trading and whaling industry. Some of the ships that left the port made it all around the Arctic ocean. Some sailors from Hull encounter the Inuit people, and created relationships with them. They brought back many Inuit tools, toys, clothing and other cultural items. The photo above was just an exhibit of some of those things. One of the sad parts of the history of this city is the whaling industry. I didn’t include any photos of the whales or the whalers, but it was a bit hard to read. I’m glad that this industry is now outlawed. Whales are such elegant and intelligent creatures. It pains me to think of how killing them was such a massive part of the economy.

I liked the parts where they talked about the sailor’s lives and the battles that they faced. I also found the description of mermaids to be quite amusing. They were not as pretty as the fairytales have us believe!

I had arrived at the museum around 2 pm and had not had lunch at this point. Needless to say, after 40 minutes or so, I was famished. I decided to walk around and see where I could sit down for some lunch. Cuckoo’s Cafe & Restaurant, near Princes Quay, seemed nice. Since I was eating at a later time, it was quite empty, but I loved the ambiance.

I had ordered a water, Salmon ‘Dillight’ bagel, and a coffee for afterwards. When the food came, I wolfed it down pretty quick. I thought the food was quite nice, but who can trust the opinion of a very hungry person?

After coffee, I packed up to leave. I did stop to take a peak at the cafe’s gelato selection. You will be proud to note that I did not have any dessert/ice cream. I am, after all, trying to diet… But a little look never hurt anyone!

{Yum. Salivating…}

With my new found strength from eating, I started wandering around again. I found a few cute buildings and archways to take photos of, and just took in my surroundings. I was definitely playing the part of a good tourist. I don’t sound like a local, due to my American accent, but today, with me stopping every 5 minutes to take a photo of random buildings, I’m certain I didn’t look like a local either.

{Next stop: Lush Cosmetics!}

{I always love entering this store, if not for anything but to just smell it!}

How cute are these pumpkins? Not only do they smell great, but they left a trail of glitter on me! I’m not going to lie… I definitely did not mind!

Final stop: Holy Trinity Church. Today, there was a beer festival actually held inside the church. I was so surprised because I’ve never heard of churches having beer festivals in the actual church itself, and also, this was the first time I had heard about this festival. I managed to wander in for a little bit and appreciate the stained-glass windows.

{Holy Trinity Church, Hull, England}

{Beautiful stained-glass}

That’s a wrap for the weekend review! How was your weekend? Did you manage to do anything fun or different? When was the last time you played tourist in your own city?

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