On Friday 13th February 2026, me and my boyfriend Aaron travelled to Hull to celebrate Valentine’s weekend; a lovely romantic get-away for us both 😊

Unfortunately, our train to Hull was cancelled so my Dad kindly drove us to our city central Gilson Hotel, which was standard but satisfactory. In the afternoon we had a leisurely wander around the city centre, including shopping centres; Prospect, Princes Quay and St Stephen’s, where we grabbed a veggie whopper Burger King meal

That evening, we hopped in an uber to Big Fun – a soft play area which accommodates for a Friday night 2 hour slot ‘adult night’ serving alcohol 🍸 It was amazing! We had vodka slushies in ‘happy hour’ and cider and felt like right big kids skirting around tunnels ball pools and slides 🤪🤪

Saturday morning, I had a vegan breakfast at the nearest Wetherspoons. Afterwards, we explored free cultural exhibitions / museums. First of all, Ferens Art 🎨 Gallery in Queen Victoria Square “From late Medieval painting to modern art… a journey through painting, sculpture and new media”. It was aesthetically pleasing, intriguing and inspiring, with all it’s different collections and galleries. Then it was to the Streetlife Museum to “journey through 200 years of transport history… from world-changing inventions to historic local icons”. I particularly liked the steam-powered cars, they were giving Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang vibes 😁 Next was the Museum of Archeology “From majestic mammoths to marvellous Roman mosaics”. History expanding 235 million years. In the Museum Quarter gardens I also liked the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and the mosaic toad. We then visited Hull Minster; England’s largest parish church ⛪️ The architecture was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking 😍

As we made our way back to the hotel, we took a detour and climbed the steps of Murdoch’s Connection footbridge to capture spectacular views and photographs of the waterfront marina and docks…

Back at the hotel, I got dressed into my gladrags and we grabbed an uber again, this time to the very much looking forward to Olympus Greek restaurant 😋😋 Me and Aaron shared a feta dip starter, smooth creamy whipped feta cheese 🧀 with accompanying pita bread and for mains we both had halloumi and veg platters; grilled halloumi skewers, chips, side salad, pita bread and mixed vegetables. The food was absolutely delicious 😋😋 Though I do wish we were able to dance to Greek live music 🎶 and smash plates! 😆

What then commenced was a great night out round Hull! At the Dram Shop we drank cheap Dark Fruit cider, vaped and danced merrily to classic rock. There were drag queen performances at Cherry’s Bar and cheeky sex position games 😲 – well it was Valentine’s Day! 😄 It was absolutely hilarious at the karaoke 🎤 bar across the road. I sang my deep female voice renditions of ‘What’s Up?’ (4NonBlondes), ‘Because the Night’ (Patti Smith) and ‘I love rock ‘n roll’ (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts), but the star of the show… there was a guy who sang The Little Mermaid 🧜‍♀️ song ‘Part of Your World’, he really knew how to work the crowd, singing directly to others and getting them to participate, then following that, and in keeping with the release of the new Wuthering Heights film adaptation he sang Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’! 😆 It was so incredibly funny, singing in her high pitch, and me, being completely trolleyed at this point, swaying along in all Kate’s quirky mannerisms 😁. It was absolutely packed in the next bar, and I was pretty intoxicated at this point, so Aaron persuaded us to head back to the hotel as the drinks 🍸 were extortionate too!

The next morning, the plan was to store our luggage and go see the new Wuthering Heights film at the vue cinema 🎥 in Princes Quay, however, as we were both hangin’ and feeling rough we decided to travel home early instead. We had some trouble with our tickets at the train station 🚉 but I’m not going to get into that ( I’ve written a complaint letter to Transpennine Express).. On returning home, I spent the remainder of the day napping 😴 lol

It was a truly enjoyable weekend 😄 As a city, I really like Hull, it has a lot to offer.. especially with the Hull fair once a year and it’s popular theatres etc. It is no surprise to me it was awarded City of Culture 2017…

For my blog posts over the next few months, I have three diamond 💎 arts 🎨 to complete, two pub paintings booked, a cross-stitch to have a go at, and a mandala colouring collection. Furthermore, in April, me and my wonderful Grandma, who soon turns 89 bless her, are travelling to Llandudno, Wales with Buckleys travel holidays. I am so excited!  I have never been to Scotland, Ireland or Wales so I can’t wait! There is a mystery tour and a tour of the Isle of Anglesey and Llanberis Pass 😍 So watch this space!

Thank you as ever for reading/viewing. Much love, Lauren xx

Information gained from following sources:

http://www.hullmuseums.co.uk (Accessed 21st February 2026)

http://www.hullminster.org (Accessed 21st February 2026)

http://www.matterarchitecture.uk (Accessed 21st February 2026)

http://www.olympusgreekrestaurant.co.uk (Accessed 21st February 2026)

© 2026 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com