A tale of two cities: London, Hull

"Elementary my dear Watson", Sherlock Holmes would say. During my visit to London in September I decided to stop by Baker Street Underground Station, and visited the shop of the Sherlock Holmes museum. At the exit of the station you see the detective standing there, trying to tell his story about London.

Well, he did not help me much to guess what I could also be doing in London during my visit. Or perhaps for him the fun is only playing violin, smoking dope and solving difficult crimes. So I decided to go where my 'gut' feelings too me. And guess what...


Mu 'gut' (or rather stomach) feelings took me to Tito's, a Peruvian restaurant located near London Bridge station. Cecilia had suggested trying "seco de cordero" (something like roasted lamb shanks). It was fantastic. The combination with Cusqueña beer (only one, it was mid day!) proved excellent. The 'frijoles' (beans) were mashed, something that you do not see often. Simply delicious!

But, was Sherlock Holmes right? Are we doomed to only have certain kind of fun in one place? Was there any fun left in this story?


Well, the fun was not over yet, but he second part of this story is the story of Hull and what you can do here (again it is me willing to tell you that Hull is not as bad as people think). Cecilia and I went to Chiquito's (Tex Mex restaurant) - Hull Branch. I had discovered Mexican Paella (Pi-ella), a rare combination of the Spanish paella but this time with chili, more chili and salad. It was nice, the only thing was that Calamari was not there. I was a bit upset.


So what did I do to get this upsetting off my chest?

The Kingston Communications Stadium provides a nice background, and this time it was Hull against Chelsea. The blues had decided to pay us a visit at a match of the Carling Cup. It was a time to remember mostly for the Chelsea fans (4-0 Chelsea). However, Hull still rocks as a football team and new transfers (the former Nigerian international J.J.Okocha) have contributed to keep this team in the Coca Cola Championship (better known as the second division of English football).

The story was not over. More fun? On my way home, a nice encounter with my former systems thinking students...

Gloria and Darlan are still in the city, looking for further career prospects. In the mean time they are gaining experience in customer service and they are indeed very friendly as the picture testifies. They were taken by surprise when I decided to take this picture though. Poor Darlan (almost invisible in the picture); she wanted to hide but we managed to keep her in!

The story concludes with a question and a possible answer. Which city would you enjoy most? My answer is, it depends on you, make the best of where you and I live.

And if you are looking for other answers, I leave you with my good friend John Hopper who enjoys riding his bike around and training. He can answer any question you have on cyclism and financial management. He really enjoys this stuff!