24th August Have a look at the size of those tentacles!!!

In an amazing revelation it appears it doesn't seem to matter how loudly you shout at a sat nav, if it thinks you should turn left into the GPO sorting office then thats what it wants you to do. Even if thats not really where you have set your heart on going. Welcome to day 1 of our little jolly to the East Riding of Yorkshire'

Under a lovely blue sky we wandered along the bank of the Humber to admire the bridge whilst questioning everyone we encountered on route as to how long it actually was.(the actual answer is 2,220 metres or 1.4miles for any oldies reading) Then after a beef and ale pie that contained all the bits that had been rejected for a similar meal in Earby (the hoofs, beaks and claws) we located our more than adequate AirB&B at the top of lots and lots and lots of stairs. And as we were conveniently right in the middle of the old part of the city we set off to explore.

Following in the footsteps in recent years of open air art trails that have featured a variety of vividly decorated animal based art works dotted around our major cities, Hull's idea has utilsed the idea of a mythical sea creature, the Kracken, that had lain dormant for two centuries in the basement of the Maritime museum, but which has now been awoken during the current renovations. As a result various giant inflatable tentacles could be seen emerging from civic buildings and entangled around other points of interest in the city. It sounds mad but looked very effective.

I don't think either of us had come with high expectations of what we might discover here but it was lovely just to walk in the sunshine round gardens, the old renovated docks, the marina and out towards the city's latest aquatic attraction, The Deep. And even if the pints of cider that we sat supping on the quayside made us think we had mysteriously been transported to London (the prices!) our first day here was one Hull of a nice surprise.