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Month: September 2012

Experience… Berlin

Written by Becky Leddy on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Berlin: the city where 10ft barriers become galleries and train stations, warehouse raves. Where the past is very much present and graffiti is uniformly a strewn as a finger up to the suppressive political trauma it has suffered. With an abundance of dirt cheap hostels to stop at, it’s genuinely worth popping over if just to sample an infamous currywurst and partake in Europe’s most hyped after hours scene. So get on a plane, grab a City Spy map (www.cityspy.info) and start jam packing your trip with this recommended itinerary.

Day 1 the alternative walking tour (www.alternativeberlin.com)

Head to Starbucks in Alexanderplatz  the one stop for traffic jams and commercial crap at 11.00 or 13.00 to transform your views on Berlins exhibitionist graffiti gallery. A guide will take you to the central street art hotspots, educating you on its subliminal messages as well as enlightening you to the political food fights and historical affluence of Berlin’s neighbourhoods, whilst showing you places the guide books have neglected.  You’ll be endeared by the carefree attitude for illegal graffiti and perhaps be inspired to join one of Alternative Tours street art workshops.

Start your evening with a stroll along the East Side Gallery which will lead you to beach bar Strandgut (open April to Sept) selling cocktails a tad pricier than the 3 euro daquiris of the gritty getaways of Kreuzberg, but worth it to admire the fake beach set up complete with deckchairs and impressive views of Berlin’s own sunset boulevard. After a few cocktails, you may wonder why you’re stumbling in the sand under a tacky 70s disco ball- remind yourself why you’re there by heading to the nearby Berghain or Fredrichshain’s Cassiopeia night club for a taste of real Berlin.

Day 2

Retrace the neighbourhood routes you followed on the tour yesterday. You can almost guarantee it wasn’t long enough to satisfy your curiosity and you will have drooled over 101 cool bars on the way. Stop off at Burgermeirster (U-bahn: Schlesisches Tor) for Berlin’s best burgers located in an old public toilet testament and its ability to flip burgers over bidets and taste way better than the enemy McDonalds. Or spend the afternoon in beer garden Prater, the oldest and prettiest in Berlin to join the engraved pastime of beer drinking whilst stopping off in the north east neighbourhood of Prenzlauer Berg, commended for its vintage flea markets, youthful vibrance and up and coming bar scene. When the sun goes down head to Kaffe Burger for an upmarket 5th Ave ambience, or biker haunt Mokum for lethal cocktails, prog rock and pinball.  Berlin is the kind of place you can slot into far too easily, with its kookiness and individuality never failing to impress.

Of course, it’s recommended to book a Reichstag dome tour and admire the Brandenburg gate. But primarily, Berlin should be explored off the beaten track to acquire a true appreciation of this buzzing capital. Your Berlin experience depends on what time of year you go – check out December flights and trade your cocktails for gluhwein, showstopping Christmas markets and all things merry and bright. All in all you may have gathered that Berlin perfects the art of drinking; so get drunk on its heady ambience, and do what the Germans do.

Stay at the Eastern Comfort anchored ashore the river Spree from 16 Euros per person per night.

Fly from Manchester with Easyjet for £56 in October

Welcome to Manchester

Written by Ciaran Milner on . Posted in Sport.

Whether you are a returning student or a fresher, the coming year promises to be an exciting one in sport.  Being one of Britain’s largest cities, Manchester boasts an eclectic mix to satisfy all tastes, and the University has some top class facilities for those looking to get involved.

University of Manchester has one of the largest Athletic Unions in the country, and there are a huge number of clubs and teams available to join. Whether it’s the classic football or rugby, the outlandish ultimate frisbee or the little-known korfball, there is something to cater for all preferences. All forty three clubs will have a stall at the Sports Fair which takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Freshers’ week (18th and 19th September). It is located in the Students Union building on Oxford Road and is where to go to sign up for anything that piques your interest.

Many of these teams will compete in the prestigious Christie Cup in April. After the Oxford-Cambridge rivalry, this ‘Battle of the North’ is the oldest inter-university sporting event in the country, and sees teams from the Universities of Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool compete. The cup was originally an athletics competition, but now sees over 40 sports compete in a single day of dramatic competition. Manchester had previously dominated the event, winning the title consecutively for eight years until Leeds broke tradition in 2011. The title returned to Manchester again in 2012 after a victorious campaign in Liverpool, and this year expectations of retaining the trophy will be high as the competition is to be held on home soil for the first time since 2010.

For those looking for something a little more casual to get involved in, there are the Campus Sport leagues, in which teams from within the University compete with each other. Teams can represent either university halls or academic departments, or indeed students can create their own teams with a group of friends. There are leagues for football, rugby union, basketball, netball and hockey. For more information on both Campus Sport and Athletic Union sport, go to http://www.sport.manchester.ac.uk/sport.

Manchester has plenty to offer for spectators too. Football here has taken an interesting turn with Man City ending a 44 year wait for a league title in the most dramatic style. Man United will be hoping to silence their noisy neighbours, and you can watch this saga unfold for yourself with tickets for both clubs available from our Students Union, with prices starting at £17. For those craving a weekly football fix on the cheap, a student season ticket at non-league Macclesfield starts at a mere £50, and the club is only a 30-minute train ride away. For something a little closer to home, FC United of Manchester have season tickets starting at £90, and if you’re totally penniless, the National Football Museum has just opened its doors in the city centre and is totally free to enter.

Rugby League is well represented in the region, with many of the biggest clubs calling Lancashire home. St. Helens, Warrington and 19-time champions Wigan Warriors are all close, as are newcomers Salford City Reds. The season is currently building to a dramatic close with the playoffs taking place throughout late September and early October. The most important event in the Rugby League calendar, the Grand Final, is set to take place at Old Trafford on 6th October, and tickets are available for as little as £21.

Cricket also maintains a presence in the city, with Lancashire County Cricket Club plying their trade at (the other) Old Trafford. The season begins again in early April, with tickets costing £13 for a day of action. The club have just been relegated to the second tier of County Cricket, so expect an exciting season ahead as they push for promotion. In August, the ground will play host to the third test of the 2013 Ashes Series. This is certainly one to look forward to, as a young Australian team will seek to re-assert their dominance over England in what promises to be an intriguing contest. The third test, as ever, will be key.

On the University side of things, look out for the fabled Varisty matches between the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University.  These highly anticipated games often create an electric atmosphere, with bragging rights for one set of Manchester students up for grabs. The first of these clashes will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday 26th September, when both the men’s and women’s Rugby Union sides collide at Sale FC’s Heywood Road ground. Tickets will be available from the Students Union, and we plan to live blog this event for those who can’t make it in person.

New name for John Rylands University Library to prevent “confusion”

Written by News Editor on . Posted in News.

The University of Manchester has been forced to change the name of John Rylands University Library because the current name “often causes confusion for staff, students and visitors.”

From July, the building will be called ‘The University of Manchester Library’. It is hoped that this will make it easier for students to “identify” the gothic John Rylands Library on Deansgate.

Designed by Enriqueta Rylands in memory of her multi-millionaire husband, the John Rylands Library was built in 1899 and in its collections boasts numerous medieval manuscripts as well as the “St John Fragment”, believe to be the oldest New Testament document still in existence.

The “Unlocking the Rylands project” took place in the last decade in a bid to conserve the Grade I listed building. The project cost £17 million and led to the Library receiving numerous awards; including the prestigious RIBA award in 2008.

The decision to rename the library on Oxford Road was taken as part of The Library’s New Directions Strategy; which looked at branding issues related the University’s libraries.