Aimee Howarth brings you an interview with The Yorker directors on the final day of the advent articles
Aimee Howarth speaks to YUSU's sabbatical officers about their Christmas Day routine for day 17 of the advent calendar
For the final time this term, Vicky Morris updates you on this weeks film news
50 years after the publication of 'James and the Giant Peach', the works of Roald Dahl continue to celebrate success.
We had a culturally fruitful experience of Amsterdam; hours admiring Van Gogh’s work; deciphering Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch‘ and visiting the museum of Anne Frank. However, The Bull Dog café centred as our favourite site for many soulful discussions about life and about love, how we could bring about world peace and tolerance: chocolate space cake is the answer!
On the trek from our campsite to the train station I was somewhat relieved to have left our crumbling wooden cabin. It would be the last time I’d pay for a 6 minute shower which would leave me less clean than when I entered!
The stale smell of smoke and array of sweet wrappers greeted us as we took our seats on the train. It was a full eight hours of relentless poker and people watching. The train journeys allowed us to catch up on sleep, and plan our next activities for the next city.
Myself and five friends arrived in Berlin with high hopes for a interesting three days. Our hostel exceeded expectations with a bar area, pool table and a free drink on arrival!
Postdamer Platz was our first destination where we visited the Topographie of Terror exhibition: the Gestapo headquarters turned outdoor museum display the torturous WW2 concentration camps which were planned and operated from the ground we stood on.
Next we passed ‘Checkpoint Charlie’, strolled through Brandenburg gate into the Reichstag, from which we could view the industrial and contemporary sites of Berlin. it was on the top of the Reichstag that we formed our short lived friendship with Jacob, who wore a tampon as an earring and a vinyl records as a hat!
It was on the top of the Reichstag that we formed our friendship with Jacob, who wore a tampon as an earring and a vinyl records as a hat!
Clubbing in Berlin is a necessity. Famous for its nightlife, we subjected ourselves to a twelve hour underground techno club by the name of ‘NLW temple’. We rolled into our beds as the clocks struck 7am, fully appreciative of German beer and the European party spirit.
Berlin was our cheapest stay: the A&O Hostel costing us 15 euros a night, whilst dining out every night for 3 euros or less.We were sad to leave.
Next stop: Prague. The cobbled streets and gothic architecture combined with the gathering storm clouds created an ominous first impression.
We were welcomed into our hostel by a charming Czech lady who talked to us continuously with the preconception that we had mastered the language. Wrong. Yet, she continued her jovial ramble throughout our stay.
We dumped our bags and sprinted to the nearest, cheapest pub where we met Lucien Zell, our dread-locked one-armed Californian musician friend. Later that evening we attended his musical poetry reading entitled ‘Smoke, Ash and Decadence’. Very romantic. Unfortunately, we did not find out what happened to his arm.
We spent our days strolling through the magical city. Charles Bridge, a famous busking venue, continually buzzed with a variety of artists from around the world.
We watched the astronomical clock strike 12’o’clock in Towns Square, whilst eating toasted cinnamon bread. We attended a very chic Salvador Dali exhibition and partied in the biggest and apparently sleaziest club in middle Europe (girls get free entry for a reason). For me, Prague was a mysterious city sitting on a lull of artistic energy.
In terms of what you can see out of the window, a journey into Switzerland is definitely going to top any other you can mention. We travelled from Munich to Interlaken, a small town built between two lakes in the middle of the Swiss Alps. The trip took about three hours, with one change at the German station Karlruhe.
After a month travelling from city to city to city through Europe, to watch the scenery gradually change from urban to rural was a bit of a shock. The hills get higher and slowly turn into snow-capped mountains (even in August) and the houses look more and more like alpine huts.
Although very touristy – you certainly won’t be the only backpacker there – the resort itself is slightly off the usual beaten track for inter-railers. Dominated by the famous Eiger, the scenery is stunning and the walking, cycling, and even skydiving are worth every second of the journey.
The trains were punctual and comfortable, but take my advice and reserve your train out as soon as you arrive, even if you have an Inter-rail ticket. We went to the station to plan and book our journey back to Paris four days in advance and were told we had left it much too late and would have to fly home!
Lasting twelve hours and crossing four countries, the journey from Krakow to Budapest was, needless to say, a bit of a mission. It’s a backpacker standard route, on the way from Prague and towards Vienna, and we met quite a few people going the same way, or doing the same journey but in the opposite direction.
Most of them sensibly break the journey with a night in Bratislava, the Slovakian capital, but we’ve never been sensible, so we contented ourselves with gazing at it through tired eyes, and a dirty rail carriage window.
We were tired, probably because we had stupidly spent the last three nights in Poland enjoying long, lazy all-nighters drinking beer with two wild Irishmen and a Norwegian porn-magnate (but that’s another story). Dirty, because Eastern European trains generally are. And slow. And cramped.
Luckily, it was a pretty interesting journey, travelling through the bottom of Poland, a corner of the Czech Republic, most of Slovakia and then into Hungary. We did get a two-hour break at Breclau, a Czech town that I’m still not sure actually exists!
Having none of the local money and no energy to walk anywhere to explore it, we collapsed in a big heap in a park across from the station and slept (six hours sleep in four days, remember?).
From then on, everything is a bit of a dreamy blur. I do know that we made it to Hungary in the end, and it was a mammoth journey, but one that I would recommend. If you end up in the region, do it, but don’t be tempted to take the night train. The day one is safer, and anyway, think of all the countries you’d be missing out on.
Inter-railing advice?
Inter-railing is a laugh. It is easy to organise, not too expensive and allows a taster of many different cities. Travel with friends who have a good sense of humour and are not afraid to miss a shower here and there.
The inter-rail experience left me filled with excitement at the prospect of returning to one of these magical cities.
The best thing EVER! Take night trains because you'd be sleeping over night anyway, join the YHA and buy the hostel guide - it will be your bible. I would recommend this to anyone it's the best holiday I've ever been on.
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