Last term, the pair of us (that’s Ben and Emma, you lovely people) attempted the infamous Synrgy 360 programme at The Russell Seal Fitness Centre. Missed it? You can find it right here, silly video and all.
Image Credit: Ben Gilbert and Emma Brisdion
But what could we possibly do next? Well, we decided to try our hand at more gruelling challenges available to us in Exeter. This week, we take part in (you guessed it) Zumba®! Thanks to BodySoc, we took part in one of their sessions in the Lemmy, with hilarious results. What’s that? You don’t know about BodySoc? Well, click here to find out more.
BodySoc instructor Charlotte Griffin had this to say about Zumba®: “Zumba® is a high impact, dance-fitness party, with a Latin flair. It’s fun for everyone; whether that be people looking to shed a few pounds or people just trying to have an hour of fun with their friends. If you haven’t been along yet then you’re missing out!”
Image Credit: Ben Gilbert and Emma Brisdion
I think we can officially agree.
Irrespective of talent, previous experience (and even total lack of coordination in Emma’s case…) we both agreed it was a very funny way to spend a Wednesday afternoon. Especially as one of us may or may not have a background of musical theatre… What? It’s not hard to figure out which one!
Sweaty, a whole lot of fun, and definitely worth it. That seems to be what Zumba® is! The class was certainly “high impact,” as Charlotte claims! It was also insanely popular, as the video shows.
The question is, what will we be attempting next? You’ll just have to wait and find out…
Image Credit: Ben Gilbert and Emma Brisdion
Reckon you’ll be trying out Zumba anytime soon? Let us know on Facebook, twitter or in the comments below…
Ben Gilbert and Emma Brisdion, Online Lifestyle Editors
With the dawn of a new year returns the seemingly futile act of compiling a list of activities you shall undertake to transform your body from that of a hibernating bear into a Victoria’s Secret model.
Just from speaking to friends I noticed that keeping (or more often than not – getting) fit is one of the most common resolutions to make. So the inevitable question is; how do we ensure that we complete this resolution?
If not just for the physical improvement we will see, but also for the psychological satisfaction we will get from having successfully completed a goal. While words like shredding, skinny bitch, abs, or calories slowly creep into your everyday vocabulary, you gradually try to convince yourself that this year you shall finally see your abs or that you will feel comfortable in a bikini.
But is it really realistic? Will you trek all the way up Forum hill and that extra bit to The Sports Park to make that 7am spinning class? Sticking to resolutions can be daunting, especially when you’re trying to go it alone.
Here is where BodySoc comes into the picture. Not heard of us? Oh well there is much for you to learn and an unlimited amount of calories to burn! Rather than obsessing over fad diets and killing ourselves at the gym, our ethos is based on working hard whilst having fun and looking a little bit ridiculous with your mates at the same time – you’ll be surprised by how much fitter you feel in just a few weeks!
Zumba anyone? Image Credit: Cimm
Classes run 7 days a week and range from Zumba®, a chance to feel like Shakira and shake your booty like J-LO, to Hybrid Flowga, something which I personally tried this weekend and has left my body tingling for days. We also offer the classical Pilates and Yoga classes to strengthen the core and improve your toning. Then there are the committee favourites; LBT (Legs, Bums and Tums) and Intervals. While the former aims to perk every bit of your body the latter is a high intensity cardio workout that will leave you panting and wishing the clock ticked faster.
Do not be fooled by the illusion that we’re a society that aimlessly squat and wear a lot of pink – these are some of the hardest classes you will ever do and will certainly leave you giving the sports members a run for their money at the gym! We’re certainly not just for the fairer sex either, but welcome guys at all of our classes. Real men wear pink and all that!
The prices per class will give you another reason to come, for a quid you can burn off all the guilt – alas not the shame – of your Wednesday TP burger at our cardio classes, Pilates and Yoga being £2, and if you want a quick blast at your Abs on a Monday evening it’ll only cost you 50p at Ab Attack Lite.
Aside from all of this we have an active membership which currently stands at 1100+ members, making us the largest society on campus, so there is also the chance to make new friends and get involved in the biggest and best socials. Last term our members enjoyed a cocktail master class, a £2 day trip to the Bath Christmas Market, discounted Itchy Feet tickets and much more and we’re following suit this term with a chance to reward your efforts and spend a whole day at a luxury Spa in Exeter. We shall be culminating the term with our very exciting and lavish Easter Ball which will indeed be a night to remember.
Not just a workout society… Image Credit Stewart Black
So to sum up, if you’ve made a resolution to get fit, feel comfortable in a bodycon dress or just simply to get more involved in societies on campus, come to our classes, like us on Facebook and find us via the Guild Website – but beware! Prices say £20 but they are actually £12 to join for the remainder of the academic year!
Bethany Stuart and Charlie Abrines
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I’m sure you’ve seen all of those predictable Facebook statuses. They’re boring and we’ve all had enough. Diets are the main thing you’ll want to adapt for the new year, but before you do don’t fall for the trap. Here’s a breakdown of some of the top diets and whether or not it’s worth your time and money.
1.
Image Credit: Weightwatchers
Possibly the biggest there is. But not quite as big as its customers. Not a diet but a lifestyle. Diet plans with weekly meetings, think Little Britain.
With a worth of a whopping £5 billion it makes you wonder why a successful diet is still in business…
Channel 4s Dispatches outlined that 3% of people actually kept off their weight. With an estimated £100 spent per pound lost.
You work out your allowances based on points, they’re labelled on all their products, and trying to work out something that’s not branded is a nightmare. You won’t bother; they know that, more money for them. Not only that what you are allowed is pathetic, I personally would waste away. But then again I suppose I’d have lost the weight. Better make that a 4% success rate.
Not only will they take your money but you’ll be no lighter for it. The proof is in the pudding and they just keep on serving.
Score: 0/10 Expensive, time consuming and pathetic portions.
2. Paleo Diet – EAT LIKE A CAVEMAN!
Paleo, referring to Palaeolithic, takes you back the caveman era. Think hunter gatherer, me chase down antelope kind of thing. What you found is what you ate. No processed foods, no pesticides and no genetic modification. No bread, no pasta, no cheap meats. This low carb diet might sound great, but unless your minted it’s pretty damn difficult.
Food should be organic and ‘natural’, wild game and non-processed foods will be the stacking up your shopping trolley and your food bill. A fridge full of pheasant, venison, nuts and fresh veg.
Breakfast:
Delicious…eat up, it’s just about all the carbs you’re allowed. Image Credit: Scott Redington
Delicious…eat up, it’s just about all the carbs you’re allowed.
If you’ve ever cut carbs you’ll know just how insanely difficult it is. Mood swings, cravings and the loss of will to live are the main side effects with this up and coming diet.
Despite this, if you’ve got the will power and the pocket to match, then I do actually recommend this diet. Cutting out processed foods and sticking to quality protein is a good general way to eat.
Score: 8/10 Expensive, but can show great results.
3. 5:2 Diet – Live Longer For Less?
5:2 referring to days of the week, means that 5 days you eat relatively normally and 2 you’re fasting, which is 25% of normal calorie intake (males 600kcal, females 500kcal). 5 days of relaxed eating for 2 days of fasting. PERFECT. Easier said than done. This miracle diet claims to boost weight loss and increase life span. What’s not to love?
It works by promoting your body to repair old cells and not create new ones. Some even claim it reduces the chances of cancer by stopping the mutation and excessive production of new cells.
Diet and a cancer prevention?! That’s buy one get one free. Bargain.
Following this diet you’ll cut around 3,000 calories a week, which is basically not eating for 1 day a week. Before you know it those love handles will be melting away. IF, and it’s a big IF, you can do this without eating your own arm then I commend thee. But I bet you won’t.
I love fasting. Image Credit: Scott Redington
Score: 4/10 impractical, difficult, potential loss of limb
At the heart of Australia lies perhaps its most famous landmark. Magestic and sacred, Uluru, or Ayers Rock as it was named by the first white visitors, is a reason in itself to visit Australia.
Uluru (the name ‘Ayers Rock’ was imposed by white settlers and is considered offensive by some Aborigines) sits slap-bang in the middle of Australia. To get there from Sydney it takes a three and a half hour flight to Alice Springs, a small – and rather strange – outback town, followed by a four hour drive through the semi-arid landscape of shrubs and red sand that makes up much of Australia’s inland area.
Photo Credit – Flightcentre.com
There’s a reason why around 90 percent of Australia’s 22 million people live within 120kms of the coast. The interior of the country is barren, hot, and harsh. Northern Territory, an area six times the size of the UK, and where Uluru is situated, has a population of only 233,000. Besides a few small towns that were founded when explorers found minerals to mine, there are only the farmhouses that pop up every few hundred kilometres to break up the endless expanse of dirt and shrubbery.
Yet, every year around 400,000 people visit the iconic rock. Around two-thirds of them are from overseas. It is a huge attraction. Perhaps only Sydney’s Opera House rivals Uluru as the monument that most defines Australia to its visitors. And the Opera House sits in the middle of Australia’s largest city, a mere walk away from the comfortable hotels where most tourists will stay. That so many make the long journey to Uluru (and often sleep out in the open air in the bush, as I did) is a testament to its draw as an attraction.
Visitors are not disappointed. Seeing the large, red monolith for the first time is a breath-taking experience. In the featureless desert there is suddenly this vast, rounded red square rising up out of the ground. It is a surreal experience. Having seen so many images of Uluru, it is hard to believe that one is actually at its feet, near enough to touch it.
Photo Credit – Ryanphotographic.com
On our trip, we were lucky enough to see Uluru against a range of backdrops. We walked around its base in heat and blue skies. We watched as the sun began to set around it. And then rain arrived, the first for eight months our guide informed us, and with it thunder and lightning which forked around the rock.
You can climb it if you wish, but the Aborigines to whom Uluru is sacred would rather you didn’t, and it is they who are responsible for the protection of this land. Climb or not, visiting Uluru is a wonderful experience.
The first white men to see it were right, Ayers Rock is just that, a rock. But its majesty, scale, and beauty rival any man-made monument that I have ever seen. Uluru is sacred to the Anangu Aboriginal people, but it is also certainly more than just a rock to those who visit.
As the old Exeter student adage goes, “one does not simply walk past John Lewis and up Sidwell Street” (except for the occasional Monkey Suit cocktail or two). But now, thanks to the opening of Exeter’s latest gastronomical offering, you’ll find the flavours of gourmet burgers, hot dogs and special craft beers luring you right up that road and into stylish new eatery “Hub Box”.
Image Credit: Fiona Potigny
First impressions of the pop-up restaurant definitely betray its penchant for high Americana style: its name is displayed in luminous letters arranged like a 50’s cinema listings board while the interior is smattered with glowing signs nodding to that bygone era, only to be mirrored by the equally diner-esque menu.
But there is a twist.
Image Credit: Fiona Potigny
Take a closer look, and you’ll notice a few irregularities: the exposed red brick, the obvious pipes, the hard floor, the tables like carpenters’ work benches. There is a kind of raw and unfinished edge to the place, affording it an altogether unique and enjoyable ambience in which to enjoy our (thankfully) not raw and unfinished meals.
After a few minutes of debate with my co-eaters, we designate the quirky urban interior “industrial chic”, which seems to please founder Richard Boon as we chat to him later – It seems that’s what he was going for.
Once seated, that familiar tinge of stress sets in, not dissimilar to a mid-exam panic over a multiple choice question: what to choose? In the end, we opt for:
The resto’s namesake The Hub Burger: 7oz burger, Swiss cheese, crispy smoked bacon and “hub sauce” – manage your mastication, it gets better;
(In the interests of fair and equal representation) vegetarian burger Betsy: falafel, sweet chilli jam, charred corn and avocado salsa;
The Double Double: 100% free range pork hot dog, BBQ pulled pork and sauerkraut.
Image Credit: Fiona Potigny
With nothing separating us but a few feet and some dangling steel chains, we can see right into the kitchen area. There is a both quite literal and figurative openness about this, attesting to the team’s pride in the fact that their food is totally “manmade by humans” and uses both locally-sourced and fair trade ingredients, as indicated on the rustic brown paper menu – seeing is believing, after all.
Yet more impressive, however, is the massive shipping container inside which the kitchen is situated, an idea drawn from the Shoreditch “Boxpark”, which helps maintain coherence between the Exeter and St Ives branches, Richard tells us as we await our food. We also learn of the newly-installed barbeque smoker, allowing for 12 hour smoking sessions to ensure maximum meaty tenderness, and that each platter was carefully amalgamates head chef Alex’s travelling experience – a lot to look forward to then.
The food arrives within 15 minutes – a short wait even for a not-so busy day – and my, is it beautiful.
Image Credit: Fiona Potigny
The Hub Burger is soft and succulent owing to its ever-so-slight rareness, oozing with flavour with every bite. The Swiss cheese and “Hub sauce” – God, I wish I knew what it was – perfectly blend to compliment both the burger and the bacon, which is cooked to absolute perfection: thin streaks, crisp at the edges, and a little bite in the middle. Stunning.
Betsy is an equal babe of a burger. Though its main constituent is “falafel”, a name bringing connotations of the dry and unexciting Greek mezze dish, this version flaunts and wholly owns the homemade vibe, with its crumbly chickpea texture nicely held by the reasonably heated sweet chilli jam. The charred sweet corn pieces seemingly sheared straight from the cob add an unexpected textural juxtaposition, while the avocado salsa, though not contributing flavourfully to the dish, carries welcome moisture.
My favourite, though, is the Double Double. Here, the oak smoked nature of the hot dog shines through, giving it a gourmet feel, which perfectly intermingles with the tender strips of BBQ pulled pork.
Image Credit: Fiona Potigny
Upon the recommendation of our friendly waiter, each is served with an aside of hand cut fries, onion rings, pickles and coleslaw. Despite our scepticism with regards to the onion rings and pickles, we are pleasantly surprised: the onion rings are crunchy, not greasy, with properly cooked onions on the inside (something none of us have ever experienced!), and the pickles taste fresh and juicy – nothing like the floppy grim gherkins to which we’ve become accustomed through years of festival dining.
Honestly, I have no idea why the coleslaw is so good; it just is (at this point we’re enjoying the food so much that we begin to think that we have been slipped something). And finally, the hand-cut chips: wow. Even as a team of self-confessed fussy chip selectors, we are swayed: the outer crunch and inner softness of a thick chip, but in thin fry format.
Utterly romanced by the food, we’re tempted to award a solid 5 stars for everything. But no, we must find something – constructive criticism is always good, right?
To the “Hub Box”, I award 4.75/5 stars. Why the 0.25 off, you ask? The wooden cutlery. Unable to get our small female hands around the vast burgers, we had to resort to ineffective wooden cutlery, which left our plates looking like a natural disaster had hit them; fine with mates, not great for dates.
Nonetheless, that’s obviously not enough to dissuade us from a second, third, fourth (you get the idea) trip – especially for some of that epic bacon after a Cheesey’s hangover.
Thank God, then, that this “pop-up” restaurant is actually sticking around for 3 years; long enough to see us until the end of our degrees.
Carmen Paddock describes her picture perfect Christmas in Texas…
ASK most people how they imagine the season and their answers tend to include roast turkey, mince pies, chilly evenings curled under blankets or around a fire, beautiful piles of snow everywhere, and other ‘traditional’ seasonal delights propagated in mass culture. To me, however, nothing could be further from this picture. I hail from the United States, and my family almost always returns to my grandparents’ Texas Hill Country ranch as soon as the holidays arrive. Texas: the arid land of cacti, coyotes, and cowboys and in no way a winter wonderland. Nevertheless, I can’t imagine a place I’d rather be at Christmas time.
The holiday season has its own aesthetic in the Lone Star State. We do not even try to mimic the traditional; we embrace the land’s special character. Santas wear cowboy hats and boots, cut-outs of Saguaro cacti and coyotes are decked in lights (Texans are generally smart enough not to mess with the real things), and spindly cedars replace the voluptuous evergreens. Add in my appropriately-dressed relatives – cowboy boots, massive belt buckles, and flannel shirts – and classic country singers twanging Christmas carols over the radio, and there is no mistaking our location.
Image Credit: LibAmanda
Although snowballs and snowmen are sadly not part of Texas Christmases, we keep ourselves entertained in our own unique ways. The weather – typically around 12 degrees – makes it pleasant to explore the outside. Over my years of holiday visits my cousins and I have hiked all around my grandparents’ extensive property (almost one hundred acres), collected Native American arrowheads from dry stream beds, played game upon game of baseball, and shot prickly pear cacti with AirSoft rifles. I am not kidding. It is every bit as stereotypically Texan as it sounds.
‘Everything’s bigger in Texas’ is certainly true during the holidays. The ranch house, barns, and other outbuildings – all with white stucco walls and red tin roofs – are trimmed in gigantic coloured lights. And big does not begin to describe dinner on Christmas Eve, breakfast on Christmas morning, and Christmas Day’s huge meal. In the Texas Hill Country, the three major culinary influences are Mexican, American Southern, and German. Christmas Eve is a gargantuan Mexican feast prepared by my grandmother, mum, aunts, and (in recent years) me. Black beans, homemade salsa and guacamole, chicken enchiladas with homemade salsa verde, queso fresco, posole, at least two varieties of tamales (meat wrapped in cornmeal and boiled in corn husks), and sopapillas (puffy fried dough slathered in honey). Christmas morning brings the Dixie version of Pigs-In-A-Blanket, which consists of fat sausages wrapped in buttermilk biscuit dough. Finally, a massive German spread completes Christmas lunch: sausages, sauerkraut, and mustards dominate the main course, and German Christmas breads and spiced cookies complete the culinary experience. I am sure I am not the only one whose blue jeans are a bit tighter by the end of the holiday!
And no holiday in Texas is complete without fireworks. Unless there is a burn ban in effect (a not uncommon occurrence in the semi-desert conditions), there are no restrictions on what pyrotechnics you can launch. None. And when my slightly pyromanical uncle is in charge of supplying them, it’s always an impressive display. We’ll have a bonfire every night we’re out at the ranch, but on Christmas Eve and Christmas Night we’ll ensure it is at least two metres high. Then our ready supply of fuel will set off firework after firework of the size that would be most likely illegal elsewhere in the world. During my nineteen years we have avoided all injuries besides minor burns and scares. However this is not an endorsement. I would highly recommend NOT trying this at home. What happens in Texas should stay in Texas, but thankfully the memories of family, food, fireworks, and cowboy cheer will always remain.
Hannah Butler shares her quintessentially English Christmas Day…
IN my household, Christmas Day traditionally starts early. The current record for me and my sister trooping into our parents’ room with manic grins and stockings in hands is currently 5am – completely oblivious, of course, to the fact that said parents had been forced to stay awake until well into the early hours, due to the overexcited “can’t sleep” routines we inevitably made them endure.
The early mornings are still a prominent feature of Christmas Day though, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Those first few waking minutes, in which I lie in bed, heart pounding like that giddy 8-year-old who can already see the shadow of a filled stocking in the gap of light issuing from the bedroom door… that’s Christmas for me. That feeling continues as the family crams onto our parents’ bed, bleary eyed and giggly, exchanging Merry Christmases between yawns.
Image Credit: paparutzi
Over the years, this scene has evolved: a couple of years ago, my sister and I surprised our parents by buying and filling stockings for them, an act which has stuck. Last year’s stocking routine undoubtedly beat the previous year’s hands-down though: reaching the end of the presents, as my sister pulled out the obligatory orange that was to go straight back into the fruit bowl, I shook out my stocking and complained to my parents that they’d forgotten mine. Exchanging puzzled glances, they admitted that actually, they hadn’t put oranges in either of our stockings this year. This was when, taking a closer look, we realised that what was in my sister’s hand was last year’s orange, completely fossilised after twelve months in the bottom of her wardrobe. Disgusting, of course, but it left us crying with laughter. That moment made my Christmas last year. Not just the fossilised fruit – although that was pretty impressive – but the four of us sharing a moment of utter hilarity and closeness we don’t get to experience too often any more.
Christmas is full of special moments. I know that this year, like always, I’ll go to bed exhausted but unspeakably thankful that on this special day I can surround myself with those I love and cherish
This year though, I’ll also be donating to Crisis at Christmas, reserving a place for someone less fortunate than myself to enjoy warmth, company, support and advice on 25 December. For my family, Christmas is a day to over-indulge, and enjoy each other’s company. However, projects like this offer hope and support, changing lives and proving Christmas can be special in more ways than one.
The holiday season is the time of Christmas dinners, seasonal treats (hello mince pies, mulled wine, and marzipan!), copious amounts of home cooking, and weather that doesn’t seem conducive to those morning runs or trips to the gym. With these unfavourable conditions, it certainly seems that all fitness and healthy eating goals are doomed to failure. A few small habits and choices, however, can minimise guilt whilst still allowing indulgence in the season’s delights – after all, Christmas only comes once a year.
1. Eat a small, healthy snack before parties
It’s tempting to ‘save up’ calories if you know you’re going to a party with going to be lots of tasty treats. This plan usually backfires, however, because by the time you see the buffet table, you’re absolutely starving and promptly devour everything. Oftentimes before you know it you’ve consumed much more than you intended to and now feel neither proud nor trim. Thus it’s a good strategy to have a small, healthy snack about an hour or so beforehand so that you’re not ravenous. Fruits, vegetables, and/or protein are recommended options: for example an apple or pear, some carrots and/or celery with hummus, a boiled egg, or a slice or two of turkey.
2. Pick and choose indulgences
Image Credit: Simon Cocks
If you’re like me, it’s super hard to pass a mince pie without wanting to buy one (or in my case, actually giving in and buying one…). But how many do you actually need to feel festive? Try prioritising your treats, making sure that each delicious serving is truly the best you can get. Why buy a large yet lacklustre pack of waxy fudge when one fantastic, high-quality piece yields greater satisfaction? Additionally, it might be worth making a list of which holiday indulgences you’d like to partake in and then ‘checking them off’. This way, you can make sure you get each and every seasonal delight whilst neither depriving yourself nor missing a favourite.
3. Get plenty of sleep
With all the exciting events at this time of year, it’s easy to skimp on sleep. Since lack of sleep decreases your ability to cope with stress, increases unhealthy food cravings, and reduces energy for exercising, this is not a good thing for your waistline. Try to aim for 7-9 hours every night (failing that, an additional afternoon nap) to keep you sane, fit, and away from mindless snacking.
4. Keep up exercising
Yes, this is an obvious one. The weather, the crazy social schedule, and the all-too-common bloating makes fitness extra hard at this time of year, but even a few minutes of movement each day can improve quality of sleep, boost concentration, and stave off cravings. So even if it’s just a quick twenty-minute routine in your room, a bit of exercising goes a long way to increasing wellbeing during the Christmas season.
Image Credit: Akuppa
5. Relax and enjoy!
You can follow the first four tips to the letter and have a horrible holiday if you’ve stressed over every guilty pleasure. Part of health is happiness, and it’s far better to gain half a stone and enjoy every second of the festivities than to maintain your figure amidst stress and deprivation. So enjoy those seasonal Costa lattes, massive Christmas roasts, and glasses of mulled wine – it’s only once a year!
Do you have a plans for Christmas? Why not let us know on Facebook and Twitter?
Whilst most people are welcoming the Christmas holidays as an opportunity for topping up that uni weight with mince pies, settling down with the relatives and dosing up on eggnog, there’s a whole world of opportunities out there that don’t involve mindless present purchasing and family arguments over a burnt turkey.
Europe is famous for its Christmas markets and if you’re going to head anywhere this holidays, Krakow, Poland, is the place to go!
Are you looking for culture? Unlike the British model of a consumerist Christmas, the Christmas calendar in Poland is full of customs and traditions that reveal a truly different attitude to the holidays. In Poland, Christmas Day is reserved for family and celebrations of Christ, instead everyone exchanges gifts on 6th December and the rest of advent is spent spiritually preparing for Christmas, rather than dashing into town to buy a last minute gift of socks for that cousin you haven’t seen in years.
The Christmas market boasts a huge range of foods, drinks, gifts and souvenirs and is open until the 8th of January, and if you’re after food then the traditional Christmas Eve feast tends to comprise of 12 courses! Then there’s Christmas itself, Three Kings Day on January 6th and the Christmas season doesn’t officially end until February 2nd, which leaves a lot of time for Christmas cheer.
What if you’re looking for the party? Krakow allegedly has the highest density of bars in the world, and if you’ve ever tried polish vodka you’ll know the hype is worthy. Top up your glasses with Żubrówka (Bison Grass) and Wódka Żołądkowa Gorzka (spiced with bitter orange and cloves) and sample Polish vodka as it’s meant to be.
Or if beer’s more your thing, then a large one won’t set you back more than £1.50. Krakow also boasts some of the best cocktail bars in Europe, every cellar seems to comprise a bar serving up Szarlotka. All this and no kick out time, if you’re still drinking they’re still pouring. I couldn’t think of a better place to be for New Years Eve.
Maybe you’re looking for history? Krakow is bursting at the seams with history. Wawel Castle and Cathedral are truly magnificent and date back to the 1300s, but it is Krakow’s recent history that is most compelling. You can visit the site of Płaszów Concentration Camp and take in the haunting memorial to its victims, stop by at Schindler’s factory, visit the former Jewish quarter or take a tour and visit the sites where the film Schindler’s List was filmed.
For a truly sobering experience Auschwitz is nearby and somewhere everyone should visit for a reminder of humanities true capacity for cruelty, nothing can prepare you for the reality of it; Auschwitz-Birkenau is so vast you can’t see from one end to the other. The thing about Krakow is that no matter how major or minor your interest in history you need only walk around the town to learn something, you’re surrounded by history from the cities conception to its development under communist rule, and even graffiti serves as a chilling reminder of the cities past.
Basically, go to Krakow. Krakow’s brilliance as a city lies in the fact that you can go there and do none of the above and still have an amazing time; there’s so much to see and explore and even if you go there and do nothing at all it’s such an engaging city to visit!
It’s beautiful year round, but go over Christmas and you can embrace the culture and immerse yourself in the traditions. The Amber Market, Lover’s Bridge and the Wawel Dragon all get better with the holiday atmosphere, the crispness of winter and draped in Christmas lights. All this and you can fly there for around £40. (Oh, and the Poles themselves are pretty friendly too!)
Genevieve Kotarska
Do you have any travel adventures planned over christmas, or want to write for Lifestyle? Let us know on Facebook or on Twitter!
Operating systems. They’re fairly integral now to our everyday lifestyles! Fiona brings us her opinions of the recent iOS7 from Apple…
Simple, suave, sophisticated. If you’ve got those three s’s right, you’ve got me sold. Anything too showy, too bold, or too colourful and I begin to feel that familiar tinge of “happiness nausea” I get when I spy the not-so-dulcet sounds of Glee on the box (no offence, fans).
It is for this reason that when I saw the first leaked images of Apple’s iOS7 upgrade that my heart instantly sank. Gone was the familiar business-style look I had coveted so dearly when making the decision to make the Android-Apple conversion, only to be replaced by something that wouldn’t look out of place aimed at the children’s toy market.
Perhaps I was being a tad cynical. Besides, I can always change the background, I reasoned. And so, with a more open mind, I made the jump and clicked “Install Now”, wondering why Apple had capitalised the “Now” – but hey ho.
Image Credit: Janitors
First impressions
Despite Apple’s claim that iOS7 constitutes a complete “overhaul” and brings a “fresh perspective”, it has to be said that aside from the loss of a few gradients and drop shadows, the familiar iOS experience remains intact. Grid menu – check, swipe left and right – check, but what’s this? Swipe up for “Control Centre”? Yes, Apple has finally corrected the minor bane of having to enter “settings” for WiFi, Bluetooth (if anyone still uses that), and Airplane Mode. This is most definitely a welcome addition, and it’s good to see that Apple’s software developers have finally cottoned on to the utility of this standard Android feature. Yet more useful, however, is the addition of a Flashlight button – finally we don’t have to rely on an app! – and the new additions of Airplay and Airdrop.
Airdrop
Technological dinosaurs will be reminded of the feature on the ultimate flop known as the Microsoft Zune. In short, Airdrop allows users to share content via WiFi. This is indeed helpful as it removes the faff of using email attachments or Bluetooth, though hardly seems worthy of acclaim by way of innovation. More disappointing however, is the fact that this feature is only available on the iPhone 5 and upwards. Though these iPhones do include a better WiFi card, it is hard to reason why this feature cannot be included on the 4 and 4S given that access to WiFi is the only real pre-requisite for its enabling.
Camera & Photos
It has to be said: the new camera is incredibly slick. Fiddly setting toggles are no longer an issue, as it takes but a swipe to change mode from video, to photo, to panorama, and to square – the square option being Apple’s answer to Instagram. Predictably, this also means filters. Though lacking the choice that Instagram provides, the option to place a filter on the photo before it is taken is a handy one.
After having taken the photo, you will be able to relocate it in the new album system of Collections (a trip abroad, for example), Moments (photos organised by location or time), and Years (you can probably work that one out). This is a breath of fresh air in terms of photo retrieval. No longer is it necessary to spend hours tracing that photo of a housemate disgracing themselves at Cheesey’s last year from the chaotic archives of the old Camera Roll. Just simply find “Arena” under the Moments tab, and there it will be, ready for diffusion into the Facebook world.
Siri
Our ever faithful friend, always there with a poem, joke, or consolatory comment when we’re lonely, bored, or – most probably – drunk, Siri has also seen a change. Luckily, this has been for the better. The audio waves are an elegant touch, and it is a relief not to be taken to an external Safari page only to be told that there are no search results.
Safari
Most web browsers had already adopted Chrome’s multifunctional address and search bar, so it is a wonder that Apple took so long to create its own. Nevertheless, this, the new self-hiding buttons and bars, and the aesthetically revamped tabs section serve to make the browsing experience all the more pleasant.
Image Credit: Janitors
Design
I am sure that I am not the only one who is glad to see the back of the previous “skeuomorphic” design (i.e. apps resembling what they represent). Though I had a certain sentimental attachment to the look of “Notes”, which has luckily maintained a slight grainy feel, Calendar and worst offender “Games” with its casino-esque vibe were frankly cringe-inducing. Nonetheless, cringe-inducing has been replaced with nausea-inducing thanks to the parallax backgrounds, which move as you do. In fact, many users have reported a feeling similar to sea sickness after continual usage. Not ideal.
It’s the little things
Whilst I may be cynical of Apple’s attempted branding of essentially banal features as innovative or technologically ground-breaking, there are various little things that do raise a small smile. The preview of open apps is a dream. Actually seeing that half-written email you had open is a reminder to finish it, rather than to unthinkingly close the app in an attempt to conserve battery. The way in which it is now possible to physically bounce up the camera from the lock screen instils within me a childlike excitement, whilst the transparency of the layered apps is, in my opinion, quite beautiful.
Overall, the predominant theme of the new iOS is echoes: echoes of Zune, of Instagram, of and of course, Android. It’s kind of like that one friend who goes through a teenage identity crisis and wants to be everything and everyone at once. It’s just not being true to itself. It just doesn’t feel “Apple”.
So whilst I can safely say that I am appreciative of the helpful yet subtle new additions to iOS7, I would be lying to say that I am genuinely impressed by the new features over which Apple has made such fanfare. Android users will probably express a certain smugness when confronted with Apple aficionados applauding new features with which they had already been long-time acquainted. As a result, they will likely remain firmly Team Android, while Apple users will be happy enough with the new innovations to remain loyal to Steve Jobs’ creation.
exeposedev 