We’ve been knocked out of the race, with the four cities still in the running for the UK’s first City of Culture 2013 being Birmingham, Derry/Londonderry, Norwich and Sheffield.

The sense of disappointment is still there, but we have been faithfully reassured by the team behind the bid that Hull is going from strength to strength.

According to Hull City Council, we just have to remember the ‘feel good’ factor resulting from events like Hull’s Freedom Festival and Beverley’s literature festival, and that “whether we win or not, this process will give us a focus for culture for the area for the next five years and will help us to attract more funding for cultural activity.”

Plus there’s always the 2017 bid…

As the Yorkshire Post questions, what exactly does the Humber have in common with the Caribbean? Hmm… Errm… Tropical fish?

Still, the article does list why Hull could be a pretty effective port of call – it has the capacity, Hull is central on the east coast with “a catchment area of 40 million people within four hour’s drive”, and it’s a ‘gateway’ to the very beautiful Yorkshire.

Plus, cruise passengers also apparently spend an average of £120 at each place they visit.

That’s an awful lot of fish and chips

Brilliant opportunity for us however to hop on a boat and explore the world. I’m all for it.