.CO.UK
INDEPENDENT
CULT U R A L
J O U R N A L I S M
STUDENT HANDBOOK 2018 - 2019
MUSIC | FILM | CLUBS | THEATRE | ART | BOOKS | COMEDY | TRAVEL | FOOD & DRINK | INTERSECTIONS | LISTINGS
2
3
Contents
4
06
A guide to the cultural highlights of the academic year ahead.
14
First things first, a reminder to take some time for yourself in among the maelstrom of uni life.
18
Confused by food? We guide you through the metaphorical and literal word salad of foodie slang, and fill you in on some kitchen basics.
22
Money, money, money – it’s a rich man’s world; here’s how to live in it.
23
Stop shooting video at gigs, and some other advice on how not to annoy your fellow music lovers.
24
Sexual harassment at universities is bad and wrong; here’s how we can all tackle it.
26
International students tell us how they stay connected with home via their stomachs.
29
Student societies that can help you travel; some cities to consider when your time at uni is up; a look at some student budget-friendly holiday spots.
38
Get out and/or about with our guide to the adventure antics to be had across Scotland.
40
Some of our favourite apps and streaming services to both waste and make more use of your time.
43
Career development and getting-your-ideas-going advice from Jonnie Common, 404 Ink, Matchbox Cineclub and some of our fave photographers; tips on getting the most out of your internship.
52
An extensive guide to our favourite student haunts across Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee.
STUDENT HANDBOOK
THE SKINNY
Credit: Susie Purvis
Self Care P.14
CREDITS Editor: Peter Simpson Designer: Fiona Hunter Production Manager: Sarah Donley Contributors: Tallah Brash, Brian Cloughley, Caroline Cloughley, Rhiannon J Davies, Ross Devlin, Sarah Donley, Katie Goh, Katie Hennessy, Dayna McAlpine, Heather McDaid, Kate Morling, Ian Paterson, Roxanne Sancto, Nadia Younes Sales & Marketing: Sandy Park, Keith Allan, David Hammond, George Sully Illustrator: Susie Purvis RADGE MEDIA Editor-in-Chief: Rosamund West Publisher: Sophie Kyle theskinny.co.uk @theskinnymag /theskinnymag @theskinnymag Get in touch: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk T: 0131 467 4630 P: The Skinny, 1.9 1st Floor Tower, Techcube, Summerhall, Edinburgh, EH9 1PL The Skinny is Scotland’s largest independent entertainment & listings magazine, and offers a wide range of advertising packages and affordable ways to promote your business. Get in touch to find out more.
E: sales@theskinny.co.uk All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the explicit permission of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within this publication do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the printer or the publisher.
2018 – 2019
STUDENT HANDBOOK
5
Heads Up The university year can be pretty jam-packed, so start planning your social calendar in advance with our guide to the best cultural events across Scotland throughout the year
The Black Madonna
October 2018 October = Halloween, and there’ll surely be halls parties aplenty for you to attend (or at least claim you’re attending on Facebook but not actually turn up to). If you fancy a night away from those undoubtedly grim scenes, take a trip out to the Royal Highland Centre by Edinburgh Airport for Terminal V’s all-day techno bonanza on 27 October. The Black Madonna, Len Faki, Moodymann, Or:la and Optimo are just a few of the names on the line-up, so it’s looking pretty good already isn’t it?
V&A Dundee
6
THE SKINNY
Photo: Ross Fraser Mclean
September 2018 Once you’ve made it through freshers week and you’ve managed to find at least one form of alcohol that’s bound to give you the boke for the rest of your life, it’s time to start behaving like a real adult, and that means getting all cultured and shit. Probably the biggest cultural event in Scotland to happen this year, let alone just this month is the official opening of the V&A in Dundee. Over four years since the development was announced, the £80.1m museum will finally open on 15 September with the two-day 3D Festival, celebrating design, music and performance. Legendary Scottish outfit Primal Scream will headline the free two-day event, with the band also unveiling a new work with contemporary visual artist and Turner Prize nominee Jim Lambie. For the film buffs, there’s many a festival this month. Take One Action’s programme this year offers over 40 films from six continents screened in 12 venues across Edinburgh and Glasgow, from two-seater police boxes to full-sized cinemas (12-23 Sep). Glasgow Youth Film Festival also returns from 14-16 September celebrating the young’ns, while Scalarama runs throughout the whole month in participating venues across Scotland (1-30 Sep).
Christmas Market, Princes St
November 2018 There’s obviously one very famous night in November (hint: it features fireworks) but we’re going to put that to one side for now – we’ll fill you in on all the fifth of November shenanigans nearer the time. As 2018 is Scotland’s Year of Young People, NEoN Digital Arts Festival in Dundee will this year take on the theme of ‘digital natives’, highlighting the work of artists who challenge and celebrate ideas of time, its advantages and its implications. 6-11 November for that one, at venues across the city. The film festivals run right through to November too, as Africa in Motion continue to bring hundreds of cliché-slaying films to our shores in a bid to engage with the African diaspora community living in Scotland (26 Oct-4 Nov 2018 – 2019
in Glasgow and Edinburgh), while the French Film Festival bring us all things le cinéma Françaisrelated (dates tbc). Très bien. December 2018 No doubt you’ll have been dodging the Christmas section in shops for about three months now and suddenly you’re starting to panic about what you’re actually going to get everyone. Do some more Christmas shopping procrastinating by having a wander around Edinburgh and Glasgow’s Christmas markets, stopping for some raclette, mulled wine and a crêpe (or two) along the way. Then, panic buy a few presents on Christmas eve and leave yourself penniless just in time for New Year in true festive spirit. 7
Photo: Fiona Shields (Flickr- f_shields)
Compiled by: Nadia Younes
January 2019 January is hard; we get it. You’ve probably developed a close bond with your parents’ sofa over the past few weeks and are struggling to get back to reality, continually questioning whether you will ever be able to process any information that doesn’t revolve around eating or drinking again. So why not keep eating and drinking?! In moderation, of course. Results of The Skinny’s annual Food and Drink Survey are announced this month, so get ready to blow all that Christmas cash on tacos, pizza and beer all over town. Oh, and if you don’t at least try to eat haggis on Burns Night, you’re pretty much failing at being in Scotland (25 Jan).
Credit: Luis Pinto
Julie’s Kopitiam
February 2019 If you’re neither loved up nor a fan of clichéd, overhyped, corporate-fuelled, made-up romantic holidays (much like us) then February probably won’t mean that much to you. However, you can look forward to Aberdeen’s annual Festival of Light, SPECTRA (dates tbc), which last year featured an exciting new music programme – more of the same again this year please. Meanwhile, the Glasgow Film Festival comes around towards the end of the month to take you into March in a hail of great cinema (20 Feb-3 Mar).
Glasgow Film Theatre
8
THE SKINNY
2018 – 2019
9
10
THE SKINNY
April 2019 The always-educational and super fun Edinburgh International Science Festival will surely keep you occupied for most of April, with this year’s theme announced as Frontiers (6-21 Apr). Music fans will get the chance to see some of the best up-and-coming Scottish acts for free at music industry convention and showcase festival, Wide Days (12-13 Apr). And why not end the month with an evening of fire, drumming, and acrobatics up a hill at Beltane Fire Festival. Brought to you by the same team behind Samhuinn Fire Festival, those fire-loving pyromaniacs at Beltane Fire Society just can’t seem to get enough of those sweet, sweet flames (30 Apr).
Beltane Fire Festival
2018 – 2019
11
Photo: Ove Hansen
March 2019 There’s plenty to keep you distracted from your impending exams and coursework deadlines in March, and there’s really something for everyone, no matter where your interests lie. Art fans are treated to the opening of RSA New Contemporaries, an exhibition consisting of a selection of the previous year’s graduates across five of Scotland’s art schools (dates tbc); in film, there’s Glasgow Short Film Festival (13-17 Mar) and the Hippodrome Silent Film Festival (20-24 Mar); for the wordsmiths, there’s St Andrews-based poetry festival StAnza (6-10 Mar); and there’s more than two weeks of laughs at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival (14-31 Mar).
Photo: Chris Park
RSA New Contemporaries
May 2019 Art school degree show season begins here with DJCAD in Dundee, before Glasgow School of Art and Edinburgh College of Art take the reins next month. Keep an eye on their social media channels for dates and times. If you fancy travelling a bit further to support those lovely art grads, journey up to Aberdeen (the land of dreams) and pay a visit to the Gray’s School of Art degree show too. Watch out for the seagulls though, they’re beasts.
Grays School of Art Degree Show 2018, Jake Shepherd
Dream Wife, Hidden Door 2018
12
THE SKINNY
Photo: Roosa Päivänsalo
June 2019 Uni’s out for the week, month or however long global warming will permit this year of Scottish summer. If you can’t afford or simply don’t have the time for a holiday abroad, stick around for the start of Scotland’s festival season instead. Edinburgh-based multi-arts festival Hidden Door will hopefully be returning for another year, funding permitting, with Eden Festival near Moffat (6-9 Jun), Solas Festival in Perthshire (21-23 Jun), and XpoNorth in Inverness all taking place across Scotland in June as well. All eyes to theskinny. co.uk/music – when we know who’s playing, you’ll know (because we’ll tell you).
Credit: Susie Purvis
Edinburgh Pride
LUCIA, TRNSMT 2018
2018 – 2019
Photo: Paul Storr
July 2019 The festivals continue with Skinny fave Kelburn Garden Party near Largs (5-8 Jul), followed by annual ladfest TRNSMT in Glasgow (12-14 Jul) – line-ups for the first two TRNSMT weekends have featured the likes of Radiohead and The Killers, but with some gems found further down the bill. Also this month are the more low-key Doune the Rabbit Hole near Stirling (19-21 Jul) and the more highbrow Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival (12-21 Jul). With glitter and rainbows as far as the eye can see, it could only be Glasgow Pride which returns in July. It’s the most joy-filled day you’ll experience all year – besides the Edinburgh Pride (15 Jun) celebrations the month prior, that is. August 2019 Do we really need to tell you about all of Scotland’s cultural happs in August? Okay, fine, if we must. Well, you’ve got the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Art Festival and the Edinburgh International Book Festival taking over the capital for the majority of the month. Round that off with a trip to Electric Fields at Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway after the madness has just about subsided, then it’s back to uni you go, ready to do it all over again for another year. Keep up-to-date on the latest happenings across Scotland with our Zap! newsletter – sign up at theskinny.co.uk/zap
13
Take Care Grades, parties and personal growth are all key to the university experience, but you still have to look after number one. Here’s how to approach self-care at uni, and a guide to the services that can help you out
D
rinking your fourth Red Bull of the day while falling asleep over a laptop in the library as you enter your 18th hour of being there, wondering if you should just start a residency. Rolling about the Hive ‘til 5am with your new mates armed with a litre pitcher of something green. Kissing that person in the class that you probably shouldn’t but why bloody not? You’re at university. However, a cocktail of too many late nights, too many early mornings and too many pints in the union all add up to one big dose of student burnout. University isn’t a 100-metre dash, it’s a triathlon followed by a sponsored swim, with an additional hike up Machu Picchu for good measure. It’s a whole lot of fun and excitement as you go off into the world, but the taking on of such a new environment can take its toll. There’s a huge expectation that the first year of university is your life-changing moment and it’s easy to find yourself overanalysing whether you’re having the time of your life. There’s a strange pressure to exceed expectations; in my case I was the first person in my family to ever go to university, which was like
14
constantly carrying a sumo wrestler on my back. And what if it’s more than burnout? How do you identify if you, or your friend, is going through something more than just burning the candle at both ends – and what do you do next? Self-care for the stressed-out student ‘Self-care’ sounds like one of those overused buzzwords of the moment but it couldn’t be more the opposite. Even in the throes of excitement you can still have bad mental health days – if you’d twisted your ankle you’d take a few days off to let it heal, why not practice the same with your mind? First, identify what works for you – is it being on your own or being with people? Do you need to completely unwind or burn some energy? I’m the ultimate stereotypical need-to-be-alone kind of gal and you’ll find me with my phone firmly switched off, submerged in a bath containing 400+ different essential oils, probably followed by a good book and a duvet as I live my Bridget Jones fantasy. A friend that I studied with? He’s an all-or-nothing social self-care advocate, meet-
THE SKINNY
Words: Dayna McAlpine Illustration: Susie Purvis ing up with friends, going to the gym and taking all-day cycling trips. Bowling anyone?
no guilt in taking it. Screw anyone who tells you that this time isn’t valid.
“ If you’d twisted your ankle you’d take a few days off to let it heal, why not practice the same with your mind?”
What does your university offer? As mental health continues to be taken more and more seriously, most universities now have services in place to help you. Visit your uni’s website to find out what specific support there is on campus; this could be counselling, student advice services and support groups. Or, in the case of The University of Edinburgh, expect llama therapy sessions and ‘Paws Against Stress’ events. Yep, you get to play with puppies. Social interaction (with both the two-legged and four-legged) can help to reduce depression, anxiety and feelings of isolation, so it’s important to engage with the services that your university offers if you’re needing help.
There’s no right answer, only you know what works for you. The most important part of selfcare? Learn to take this time for yourself and feel
2018 – 2019
University Counselling A solid first port of call for any student feeling like they need support are your university’s counselling services. These sessions are normally around
15
an hour long and they give you the chance to explore and analyse your situation in confidence, in a non-judgemental environment with someone who is qualified to help you. I went for almost a year at university, one session every fortnight, and it helped me understand and deal with so many of the issues I was facing at the time. Top tip: write down what sort of emotions you’ve been feeling, when you’ve felt them and a few reasons why you might’ve been feeling this way – this’ll come in handy for your session. If there’s a waiting list for counselling DON’T HESITATE to seek other help via other university services or your doctor if you feel you need something sooner.
“ The most important part of self-care? Learn to take this time for yourself and feel no guilt in taking it” Student Minds Student Services Student Minds is the UK’s mental health charity specifically for students and they run clinics across different universities in Scotland and England. ‘Look After Your Mate’ is one of their groundbreaking workshops that can teach you how to support someone you care about if they’re struggling with mental health issues. Extenuating Circumstances Panicking that your mental health is holding you back? Universities are prepared for this and have measures in place for you if your mental (or physical) health begins to affect your ability to meet deadlines. Applying for Extenuating Circumstances (you’ll find details on your university’s website) can result in your exam or deadline being deferred or you may get to resit. You’ll normally need to provide some sort of evidence alongside your form – this will usually be in the form of a letter from your GP or counsellor. DON’T FEEL GUILTY for asking for this help – 16
if you need an extension you’re helping yourself out of an even more stressful situation. I’ve had to hit up extenuating circumstances twice in my time at university and honestly, you’ll be surprised at the support and understanding you’ll find from your lecturers – mental health problems affect one in four of us. Time to see the doctor Let’s get real with one another – sometimes it’s more than just a bad mental health day or spell and things need to get a little bit more serious. The idea of going to your GP can seem really daunting but it’s a crucial step in helping yourself. They’ll discuss with you what external-to-university services there are to support you (such as therapy and counselling) and potentially medication options. Feeling nervous? Bring someone with you. Hotlines and useful phone numbers Nightline: Run by students, for students. Normally open 8pm to 7am every single night of university term. You can meet face-to-face, instant message or call – hit up their website to find out which services you can use where you are. nightline.ac.uk Samaritans: Offers a safe space to talk 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, call 116 123. Saneline: A national out-of-hours mental health helpline, they’re open 4.30-10.30pm. Call 0300 304 7000 Mind: Lines are open 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (except for bank holidays), call 0300 123 3393 If you need medical advice you can book an emergency GP appointment with your GP surgery. I f you need urgent medical advice call NHS 111. If you or someone else needs immediate medical help or attention call 999 or visit Accident & Emergency (A&E).
THE SKINNY
2018 – 2019
17
Eat Your Words In case you’re new to the world of dining (fine or otherwise) and need a hand working out what’s what, here’s our not-at-all-sarcastic guide to some common food phraseology
No Reservations Code for ‘We hope you like queuing in the street and eating while people try to stare you down and make you leave.’ Many of The Skinny’s favourite spots don’t take bookings, so we’re used to hanging around for a while; look out for the good guys who’ll take your phone number and send you for a pint down the road while you wait for a seat. If you’re going somewhere like this, bring a hat and possibly some reading material – maybe a monthly magazine packed with exciting cultural happenings, interviews, reviews and more.
Dry hopping Beer is a bit like art, music or fashion; nobody has a comprehensive grasp on everything that’s going on, and anyone who tells you they do is a liar who should not be trusted. The trick is to learn a few lines of dialogue and return back to those time and time again; dry hopping, for example, is a technique that essentially involves adding a load of hops at the end of the beer-making process. The results tend to have a great floral and citrusy aroma, and a fresh hoppy flavour (obvz). Now just memorise all that, prepare your secondary bluff of ‘really liking sour beers right now’, and you’re good to go.
Gratuitous use of commas ‘Crayfish, olives, parmesan, 12.’ Fancy restaurant menus quite often read a bit like that, which is to say a non-sequitur list of ingredients which will appear together in some configuration or other, along with a price that you should probably assume will be in pounds. Assume that the ingredients run in descending order of importance, and that they’ll probably all be delightfully sat together with at least one of them coming in the form of a smear of gel or foam. Sounds rank, tastes better.
“ Fermentation adds a funky, musty tang to whatever it bumps into. You’ll get used to it, trust us”
Stewarts Brewing
18
Photo: Sarah Donley
Artisanal A largely meaningless phrase that is shorthand for ‘quite nice but a bit on the pricey side.’ Should really mean, ‘made with care by an individual or small group of people with specialised skills’ – often seen on the sides of beer cans in supermarkets. We’ll let you draw your own conclusions. Street Food 1) Super-casual handheld food served from takeaways, holes-in-walls and food vans; 2) A standard plate of restaurant food, but served in a cardboard box.
THE SKINNY
Words: Peter Simpson
Food and Drink Festival A pre-packaged, off-the-shelf, ready-to-rock night out. Sometimes this involves turning up at a venue to find it’s basically just a street food market but it costs more to get in; other times, it’s an all-inclusive excuse to get stuck into as many amazing beers as possible. Oh, and you’ll almost certainly end up with a commemorative glass at the end of it. We don’t know why either. Fermentation Essentially, it’s a controlled form of funky, musty tang. Fermentation takes place when the sugars in a food are broken down by yeasts and bacteria, and that breakdown adds flavour and smell to whatever it bumps into. It’s why you can smell kimchi from 20 yards away, it’s the thing that puts the ‘sour’ in sourdough bread (you’ll see a lot of that on your travels), and it’s what’s behind everything from kefir to kombucha. You’ll get used to it, trust us.
Kimchi Cult
KeepCup Want to make friends with coffee hipsters? And let’s face it, who doesn’t? Get yourself a reusable coffee cup; you’ll mark yourself out as liking the environment (nice), help cut down on wasted disposable coffee cups (excellent), and get discounts on your coffee when you use it (bonus). Like the Hoover, Biro or the George Foreman, KeepCup is the Australian brand that has become synonymous with the wider concept of the reusable cup – is it odd that we’re trying to save the environment with plastic items made in Australia? Kind of! But it’s probably fine! Sharing Plates Not a plate that’s big enough to be shared, no no no. A sharing plate is designed to be part of a vast array of things to be plonked on a table and fought over. Normally between a half and two-thirds the size of a standard plate of food; get two for yourself, or three for every two of you. The maths will get complicated, so bring a pen and paper.
Street Food
Small Plates Basically the same as sharing plates, but more honest about it. theskinny.co.uk/food
2018 – 2019
19
20
THE SKINNY
Photo: Creative Commons
Know Your Onions Cooking is fun, exciting, cheap, interesting and a bona fide life skill. Here are some quick tips on getting started, delivered via everyone’s favourite vegetable Words: Peter Simpson
I
f you want to relieve some stress after a long day in lectures or the studio, you have some options. You could go to the gym (if you can be bothered), hit the student union (but losing at pool again would be bad for your self-esteem) or stick your face in a sink full of bubbles (because your purposebuilt student apartment doesn’t have a bath). You could do those things, but you shouldn’t – instead, you should do some cooking. Specifically, you should grab yourself some onions. You see, onions are cheap. A big ol’ bag of red or white onions – oh, the variety! – can be had for about 50p, and if treated properly they’ll last in your cupboard for a good wee while. The same goes for plenty of other fresh vegetables, especially your earthier root numbers, and even herbs and fruit can last a good few days after coming home from the shop. Keeping your food habits and accidental tendencies under control is one of those skills that you just have to pick up as you go, but planning your week’s meals for both budget and space reasons is a good place to start. You’ll find yourself eating better, spending less and having more free time cos you won’t be in and out of Tesco every two minutes. The other thing about onions is their versa2018 – 2019
tility. Dice them up for cooking into sauces and soups, or popping raw into things like salsa or pico de gallo. Slice them for salads and quick pickles (the other ingredients for that pickle, by the way, are vinegar, sugar and a tupperware box). Chop them for use in curries and casseroles (anything where you need a bit of bite), and cook them right down to caramel for a tasty garnish or pie filling. Each of these preparations is a little bit different from the last, but these knife skills come up time and again across all manner of recipes. They apply equally to fruits, vegetables, meats and herbs, so learn them and practice them – your dining buddies (and precious fingers) will thank you. Plus, as a bonus, onions will make you cry. Everyone’s got a trick for stopping it – wearing sunglasses, rubbing the chopped side of the onion with water, avoiding cutting through the root – but none of them work. Need some cover for post break-up tears, or want to practice your cry-acting because you are apparently a drama student in this scenario? Just get chopping and you’re in teary business, particularly with the amount of onion-based homework we’ve just set you... theskinny.co.uk/food
21
Money Matters Your finances won’t look after themselves; here’s what you need to do to keep them in a decent state Keep yourself informed Money Dashboard, Monzo, just actually reading your bank statements for a change – the easiest way to stop yourself from getting into financial difficulty is to pay attention to your finances. Keep track of what you’re spending, and when; if you can’t engineer a situation where all your main bills come out on the same day, set regular email and calendar reminders for a few days ahead of rent day to give future you a bit of a heads-up. Shop around Once you move out of halls and into a ‘real’ flat, if you’re directly paying for utilities like gas and electricity then you’re legally entitled to pick whichever suppliers you want. Use comparison sites like uSwitch and MoneySuperMarket to find a cheap deal, and combine that with a cashback site like Quidco to get cash in you and your flatmates’ pockets as a thanks for saving yourselves some scratch.
Wave your student card about Seriously, in any and every circumstance, just mention that you’re a student and see what happens. Sometimes it’s a few pence off a coffee, but in others you can save healthy chunks of cash. Never hurts to ask... Ask for help And speaking of asking, if you’re struggling – either with not feeling up to looking after your money or simply not having enough of it – your university has facilities that can help you out. Hardship funds and discretionary payments are available from each of Scotland’s universities, but you’ll need to take the initiative to get in touch. Here’s where the ‘keeping track’ from earlier comes in handy, as in most cases you will need to offer proof of your finances to be eligible. We’ve distilled this advice down from the recommendations of EUSA, DUSA and the University of Glasgow’s SRC; contact your student union for in-depth advice and assistance
Save your spare change One easy way to do this is to physically put it away; one of our staff has a giant ornamental boot for all their small change and regularly saves enough to pay for actual things. You can also use an app like Chip, which regularly checks your spending habits, calculates how much you can afford to save, then stashes it away on your behalf.
22
Photo: Creative Commons
Get your money back Got a part-time job? There’s a fairly high chance that, particularly during the holidays and times you work more than usual, you’ll pay a little bit more tax than you really should. Keep hold of your payslips, and get your request for a tax refund in with HMRC as soon as you can, particularly if we’re talking about big sums. If you’re consistently paying too much tax, your employer is probably doing a bad job of filing your paperwork – stay on their case until it’s fixed.
THE SKINNY
How Not To Be a Dick At Gigs Follow our six-step guide to avoid becoming the victim of tuts/eye rolls/internal hatred from your fellow gig-goers Words: Nadia Younes
W
e all know what it’s like, you’ve got tickets to see your favourite band – sometimes sitting at your laptop refreshing the page for a seemingly endless amount of time and breaking the bank just to do so – and you’ve been waiting for this moment to come round for months. OK, maybe that’s a bit over dramatic, but you get the point; anticipation is high, so don’t fuck it up. Students get a bad enough rep as it is and not being a dick at gigs is pretty easy, so just follow our simple six-step guide to save yourself the embarrassment of being ‘that *insert expletive* at the gig’.
in the middle of doing their job is not going to result in a long and fruitful relationship with that person. Trust us, it’s not gonna happen. If you can find an example of it, we’ll hang our heads in shame, but we’re pretty confident you won’t.
1. First and most importantly, a rather general one here, just RESPECT EACH OTHER. Chances are you are all there to see a band you like, so don’t ruin anyone’s experience of that by acting up or behaving inappropriately. Everyone has a right to personal space, so respect that and don’t invade it. Absolutely no groping or harassing anyone, as is the case anywhere and everywhere in life.
“ Shouting “I love you!” at the lead singer while they are doing their job is not going to result in a long and fruitful relationship”
2. DON’T TALK the whole way through the gig, especially while a band is playing. Nobody has paid money or given up their time to hear you tell your pal about the date you went on last night, the holiday you’ve just returned from or the totally awesome pair of shoes you’ve just bought. Not cool; don’t do it; go to a bar instead. 3. For the love of God, PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY. Do you really need to film yourself singing along to every song and put it up on Instagram so your story is #lit *fire emoji*? You definitely don’t and it’s annoying as fuck. Let’s all live in the moment please, it’s nicer and better there. 4. NO HECKLING. Shouting “I love you!” at the lead singer of a band while they are quite literally 2018 – 2019
5. SAVE THE MOSHING FOR THE PIT. There’s a reason the mosh pit often has a two or three-row gap around it – not all of us want to be in it. If moshing is your thing, save it for the pit; that’s what it’s there for. Nobody stood in the back few rows has come there to mosh, so don’t do it there, please and thank you.
6. Last but not least, NO THROWING DRINKS. You’re not at T in the Park, and even there it’s not acceptable. Some of us have just showered and would like to avoid having to wash our hair again for at least three days (busy lives and all that). Beer is sticky and gross and should only be consumed via your mouth, not seeping through your pores. Want to find gigs at which to test out these tips? Look out for our weekly gig guide on theskinny.co.uk/music
23
Report Assault University is supposed to be some of your greatest years, yet 62% of students will experience sexual assault at some point. Here’s how to report it Words: Katie Goh Illustration: Susie Purvis
W
hether it’s wandering hands under skirts, drinks being spiked, physically having to put myself between a gang of agitated men and disinterested friends or rescuing a drunk girl from being taken away by a group of men – I have enough anecdotes of experiencing or witnessing sexual harassment as a student to fill a book. Ask any woman and LGBTQ+ person and they’ll agree: incidences of sexual violence without consent aren’t shocking or rare – they’re an expected everyday reality of going to clubs and parties as a student.
“ No matter how silly or serious an incident, if somebody does something to make you feel uncomfortable, you have every right to report it” Earlier this year, a survey found that three in five students have been sexually assaulted and harassed at university and 8% of female students have been raped. The report was carried out by Revolt Sexual Assault, a nationwide campaign founded by Hannah Price after she herself was raped by another student. While the statistics are shocking and proof that campus sexual assault is at an epidemic level in the UK, perhaps the most terrifying aspect of the report is that only 2% of people who have been harassed or assaulted at 24
Who To Talk To If you have been affected by rape or sexual abuse, you can contact Rape Crisis Scotland on 0808 801 0302. Rape Crisis Glasgow operate a dedicated hotline on 0808 800 0014 (11am-2pm Mon-Sun, 5.30-7.30pm Mon-Thu), an instant messaging chat via their website at the same times and a drop-in centre at 30 Bell St every Wednesday. glasgowclyderapecrisis.org.uk Archway clinic in Glasgow offers support and assistance for people who have been raped or seriously sexually assaulted. 6 Sandyford Pl, 0141 211 8175 Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre offer free and confidential emotional and practical support, information and advocacy; contact them on 0131 556 9437. Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre in Dundee and Angus offers advice and support, and can be contacted on 0300 365 2001. SurvivorsUK offer support to survivors of male rape or sexual abuse; contact them via SMS on 020 3322 1860 or via online chat at survivorsuk.org If you feel scared of or around your partner, or if you are worried about someone you know, you can contact the National Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage helpline on 0800 027 1234 or via email on helpline@sdafmh.org.uk
THE SKINNY
university reported their experience. Whether it’s dismissing being groped in a club or feeling unsure of how to go about reporting an assault, we live in a culture where sexual harassment is seen as the norm. Looking back, I didn’t report witnessing or experiencing assault because, frankly, I didn’t know how to go about doing it or whether it could even be reported. This seems to be a universal experience for students. When Revolt Sexual Assault asked students who have been assaulted why they didn’t report it, 29% didn’t know how to make a report to their university, 35% felt too ashamed and 56% didn’t think it was serious enough to report. Sexual assault at university is so rampant because students don’t feel supported enough to report incidences. Revolt Sexual Assault’s report describes groping, rape, harassment and coercion (by both other students and staff) as commonplace in universities. Yet despite the level of sexual violence endemic in UK universities, there is no legislation for how colleges or universities are meant to handle complaints about sexual violence. The lack of a universal procedure makes it difficult for sexual assault charities and organis2018 – 2019
ations to give recommendations for students. Sexual assault exists on a spectrum, from rape jokes and catcalling to being groped and assaulted, and all levels of violence inform each other. It includes physical assaults as well as verbal aggression, such as inappropriate comments and jokes, unsolicited dick pics and being harassed or followed in the street. If you’re in a club or bar and experience harassment, you’re within your legal rights to report it to a member of staff and inform the police as sexual harassment was made an illegal offence in 2010. If you experience harassment on campus or are affected by sexual violence while you’re a student, your university has a responsibilty to offer counselling and support. Most universities now have specially trained welfare officers to handle sexual violence reports. University is supposed to be one of the greatest experiences of your life. You’re newly independent and figuring your shit out – reporting sexual harassment should be the last thing on your mind. No matter how silly or serious an incident, if somebody does something to make you feel uncomfortable, you have every right to report it and your university has a duty of care to listen and act. 25
No Taste Like Home Words: Katie Goh
Soderberg Peter’s Yard
H
omesickness manifests in many forms but none so powerful as food. Whether it’s a regional cuisine, an entire style of cooking, alien brands in the supermarket, or even the water tasting slightly off, for international students missing people and food go hand-in-hand. Marianne, a Norwegian currently working towards a PhD at the University of Edinburgh, finds herself making infrequent trips to IKEA. “Sometimes I go for the meatballs. They’re almost Norwegian and almost the real deal. But for the most part, the cuisine and culinary cultures between my two countries are so similar that Norwegian food is mostly just a special perk of going home. However, we do have a culture of pålegg – basically any food stuffs you can put on a single slice of bread – and I always ask my family to pack my favourite ones (caviar paste, liver pate, mackerel in tomato sauce) when they come to visit!” Marianne notes that she’s lucky that Scan-
26
Photo: Dario Rodrigues
We speak to international students about how food is the connection to their home countries
dinavian food is having a “moment” in Edinburgh; “I enjoy going to Peter’s Yard for a cinnamon bun!” Similarly, Anthi from Cyprus, who is halfway through an MFA in Contemporary Art Practice, visits local restaurants serving her native food to stay connected to her home country. “I always seek a Greek restaurant to go to because this is where I can find food made by Cypriot or Greek people and it’s a chance to speak in my native language.” For students from countries with a significant population in the UK, it can be a little easier to find a taste of home. Huan, from China and studying for a Masters in Interpretation at Heriot Watt, says that “the UK is an amazing place in terms of Chinese food. I am able to buy any snacks produced in mainland China, Taiwan and Malaysia here at Chinese supermarkets.” Similarly, James, who is from Singapore and studying Medicine in Aberdeen, has “few complaints” about the many Chinese restaurants in the UK but it’s the little
THE SKINNY
2018 – 2019
27
things like fresh fruit – “durian, rambutans and mangosteens” – that he really misses.
“ I have spent a year to figure out the variety of cheeses, wines, beers, spirits, liqueurs, and the dazzlingly various ways of cooking potatoes” Huan
Photo: Creative Commons
However, it’s not just food that differs – the culture around food in the UK is significantly different to other countries. Anthi says that “in Cyprus, cafes stay open as late as midnight. In contrast, in the UK, cafes that offer soft drinks and food as well as kitchens in pubs and restau-
rants usually close early in the evening. In the UK there are very few places where one can just chill and not have the pressure of having alcohol.” James agrees – one of the things he misses most about Singapore is “being able to find a place to eat no matter how late it is.” While your taste palate is adapting to the UK, so is your social life. The very British knack for binge drinking is a culture shock for many international students. In Huan’s experience, this is one of the most alienating aspects of university. “Chinese students are clueless about drinking culture in the UK. We have no idea how we are supposed to drink in the pub,” he says. As well as social drinking, Huan found British food a baffling but enjoyable challenge. “I have spent a year to figure out the variety of cheeses, wines, beers, spirits, liqueurs and the dazzlingly various ways of cooking potatoes.” When you’re integrating into a new country, you’re also integrating with the food. While unfamiliar tastes can be alienating, it can also be a way of bringing people together. Potluck dinners in which each person brings a dish representing their native land or treating your new flatmates to a spread of your favourite foods from home can be the start of a beautiful friendship. After all, what university friendship isn’t built on a foundation of hangover scran, starchy pasta and coming together over a rare home-cooked meal.
28
THE SKINNY
Photo: Creative Commons
Advanced Societies Your student union features hundreds of societies and they can help you see the world, sometimes from the air or on horseback Words: Peter Simpson Dundee University Cycling Society We’ll start things off at the lower end of the travel spectrum, with DUCS’ regular Sunday bike rides out of the city to spots like Tentsmuir Forest and St Andrews. See some lovely Fife countryside, stop off for a coffee, come out the other side with thighs burning – a good day out all round. Email cyclingsociety@dundee.ac.uk Edinburgh University Exmoor Pony Trekking Section EUEPTS came here to do two things: chew gum and frolic in the Pentland Hills around Edinburgh on ponyback, and they’re all out of gum. The Section offer regular treks throughout the year, with membership open to students and non-students alike and beginner treks starting from £20 for two hours of riding. Get some fresh air while trying not to fall off and break every bone in your body. exmoorponytrekking.co.uk Project Mongolia A student-run charity based at Edinburgh Uni, PM works with a Mongolian NGO to run summer camps and First Aid training courses in various locations in and around Ulaanbaatar. Whether you just want to be the member of an active society with a noble aim, or fancy heading eastwards on one of their camps, Project Mongolia is ideal for those of you eyeing up some time in the charity sector. projmongolia.wixsite.com/projectmongolia
Language4Water Want to learn a new language to help with all that travel business? Language4Water is a student-run volunteer project, at the University of Glasgow, which teaches classes in a host of European languages, designed “for students to obtain a conversational level of the given language in the shortest time possible.” Sounds good to us, and the best part is that all the course fees go towards WaterAid projects around the world. 4water.org/glasgow/language Edinburgh University Gliding Club Woo! Flying! Open to Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art students, the Club offers the chance to take to the skies in engineless gliders from their base at Portmoak around an hour from Edinburgh. Thankfully, EUGC will give you thorough instruction and safety advice, as well as helping train you up to be a fully-fledged aviator, like Leonardo DiCaprio in that film The Great Gatsby. gliding.tardis.ed.ac.uk DRIVE Travel very quickly in circles with DRIVE, the University of Dundee society dedicated to motorsport. Ostensibly a society devoted to building their own race car, we’ll let DRIVE take it away: “We spend most of our time messing around in our workshop but occasionally we actually do some building work.” Thumbs up. facebook.com/drivedundeeracing theskinny.co.uk/travel
2018 – 2019
29
Working Away Eventually your student days will come to an end – so why not go somewhere far away? From our Living Abroad guides to life in some of the world’s greatest cities, the things you need to know before making the jump
Mexico City, Mexico If the ‘world language’ is your native tongue and you have an IQ that allows you to function as an independent adult, well-paid work as an English teacher abounds. Options include everything from teaching in pre-schools to teaching English for business to CEOs and big-timers. Those with TEFL certification or a university degree will be in higher demand; however these credentials aren’t obligatory. The widely admired British or
Australian accents will take you places an American or Canadian accent can’t [but] unless you speak a reasonable level of Spanish or have been transferred by an international company, finding work as virtually anything else is like trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat. [Kate Morling] Tokyo, Japan Tokyo is expensive. Renting here, like anywhere, means handing over a deposit, which is about one month’s rent. Key money is basically just a gift to your landlord and that’s a month’s rent, insurance fees are half a month and agency fees are usually 8%. Doesn’t sound like fun? Of course it is! If you don’t have that kind of yen to throw down then a sharehouse has you covered. What we’re talking about is pretty much the same as an Airbnb situation, but you’re sharing it with a whole host of other people, and for months not days. They will still be expensive but the fee usually includes bills. For that money you’ll never eat a meal alone again, there’ll always be someone to offer you an Asahi after a long day at work, and you’ll be proficient in cheers-ing not just in Japanese (kampai!), but probably six other languages too. [Katie Hennessy]
Mexico City Old Town
30
THE SKINNY
Photo: Creative Commons
Pune, India Most foreigners, like myself, arrive with employment lined up. In order to qualify for a visa, you have to have a place to stay at the very minimum, and a job helps if you want to stay for more than three months. A hotel can suffice, and a hundred pounds can go a long way if you arrive with slim funds. Koregaon Park, Kalyani and Viman Nagar, the newest of Pune’s developments, are on the north and south banks of the Mutha river, and if you work in tech you’ll spend most of your time here. You’ll need a phone SIM, so get to a photocopier and scan your visa acceptance document, “host” document, and passport. Get used to bureaucracy. Don’t skimp on a data plan, as 3G is often more reliable than wifi. [Ross Devlin]
2018 – 2019
Tokyo Subway
Photo: Creative Commons
Copenhagen Pride
Photo: Creative Commons
Mexico City
Photo: Thomas Høyrup Christensen / Copenhagen Media Center
Photo: Meghavbafana (Wikimedia Commons)
Laxmi Road, Pune
31
Istanbul, Turkey Teaching English is really the only option available to foreigners here legally – strict rules mean it’s nearly impossible to get a work permit to do anything else. That being said, most language schools won’t bother to get you a work permit because of the high turnover of staff and the costs involved. This doesn’t put off most newcomers though... no teaching experience required, although an online TEFL won’t hurt. If you have a recognised teaching degree, this gains you access to much better paid jobs in international schools and such like, where they are more likely to also invest in your work permit. [Rhiannon J Davies]
Istanbul Tea Stall
32
Photo: Creative Commons
Cycling in Copenhagen
Málaga, Spain When I came out here I spent the first two years job-hopping and was surprised to see that, in many cases, qualifications and CVs weren’t even skimmed over. Many employers are far more interested in you, and how you sell and present yourself, than they are in reading about your past experiences. I blagged my way into various jobs and now have quite the colourful résumé – I’ve worked as a dental assistant, a real estate agent and a decorator for a popular radio station, with no prior experience whatsoever. The first thing you need to realise is that you’re going to have to wing it 60% of the time. [Roxanne Sancto]
THE SKINNY
Photo: Ty Stange / Copenhagen Media Center
Copenhagen, Denmark You won’t be able to open a bank account without a Danish ID-number (CPR), but you need an address to obtain a CPR. The punchline is it’s impossible to get a flat without a bank account. If you manage to sort out a job before you get here, then you’ll be able to get a CPR and things will fall into place a bit more easily. Finding a place to stay is tough too. If you manage to find a reasonably priced place with a bath, then you’re either extremely lucky or a blatant liar. [Brian Cloughley and Caroline Cloughley]
Find full guides to living in these and dozens of other cities at theskinny.co.uk/travel/living-abroad
Melbourne Graffiti
Santiago Skyline
2018 – 2019
Photo: Creative Commons
Melbourne, Australia Think carefully about employment before you go. A steadier, established job will likely provide more of
the work/life balance that Australia is famous for – one of the core reasons people migrate here. If your skills and experience do relate to the cafe or bar industry then do not fear. Many businesses in this sector treat skilled employees well but having a specialism is important. If you’re going to work in a coffee shop, being a skilled barista is key; if you’re going to work in a bar, being trained in cocktailmaking will serve you well. Whatever kind of work experience you have in the UK, find a couple of specialist recruitment consultancies in Melbourne and use them to help you find work in a field that you already have skills and experience in. It’s also worth checking the Australian Skilled Occupations List to see if you are qualified for jobs that will make your visa applications process much easier. Otherwise, you’ll need to be under 30 years old and willing to endure back-breaking labour such as fruit picking, if you want to stay longer than one year. [Ian Paterson]
Photo: Creative Commons
Santiago, Chile With loads of slang, fast-talk and word merging, Chilean is the type of Spanish that even Spanish speakers can’t understand. It’ll be OK, though – as soon as you learn you can replace any word you don’t know with the term ‘weon’ or ‘wea’ and add a ‘po’ at the end of each sentence, you’re almost already there. Most English-speaking natives who live in Santiago are English teachers. There are hundreds of language schools that will employ you even if you don’t have prior teaching experience – all you need is to speak English. If you do have teaching experience or a teaching qualification, you can apply for better-paid jobs with prestigious institutes like The Instituto Británico or the British Council. These places will set you up with a visa and, in some cases, even help out with flights. [CM]
33
34
THE SKINNY
2018 – 2019
35
36
THE SKINNY
Watch (and Listen) and Learn Need foodie inspiration, an audio hug, an intellectual jolt or some lowkey language tuition? Here are four places to find just those things... Words: Sarah Donley and Peter Simpson
It’s Alive with Brad Leone Ever feel a bit like you don’t really know what you’re doing? That even though you have the knowledge, you’re just bumbling along as best you can? Well, this YouTube series is for you. Brad Leone is the test kitchen manager at food magazine Bon Appétit, and It’s Alive charts his experiments with fermentation and ‘live’ food. Sometimes experiments just straight-up don’t work, and Leone regularly ends up staring into the middle distance looking confused. And yet he’s always pushing forward, trying new things, cracking jokes and readily admitting that the thing that should have happened… hasn’t. There’s a lesson in there, lads. youtube.com/bonappetit Homo Sapiens An essential app for all you LGBTQIA+ students looking for a warm audio hug from none other than filmmaker Chris Sweeney and Pop Idol’s Will Young (some of you may not have been born when Young won Pop Idol, which now makes us feel a bit sad). They describe themselves as BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour for an LGBTQ+ audience. Each themed episode features an interview with an influential guest (including the likes of Marika Hackman, John Grant and Alan Cumming) over tea and biscuits and keeps you up to date with queer current affairs across the UK and beyond. homosapienspodcast.com 2018 – 2019
Imaginary Advice This podcast from writer and spoken word performer Ross Sutherland isn’t going to give you any nifty solutions to your problems. Nope, Imaginary Advice is a place to expand your horizons and start to think about things a bit differently. One episode, Sutherland’s teaching a neural network how to do stand-up comedy, the next he’s building an infinitely-looping poem to help you break up with someone, then he’s remixing Jay-Z’s The Black Album to talk about art galleries. Lay back, pop your thinking cap on and prepare to become extremely interested. imaginaryadvice.com Notes in Spanish Need to learn on the move but don’t want to carry a grammar book heavy enough to be classed as a weapon? Well, how about you download something on to your phone that actually weighs nada? Created back in the early noughties by husband and wife dream team Ben y Marina, Notes in Spanish is your perfect side pal when you actually want to learn some real Spanish. They’ve got pods for all levels, and teach you the useful stuff that you can’t find in textbooks. With themed episodes, detailed explanations for why the hell there are about 50 Spanish words for mushroom and downloadable worksheets you’ll be ordering una cerveza in no time… notesinspanish.com
37
Adventure Time Indoors, outdoors, winter, summer – your student days can be filled with as much adrenaline-pumping adventure action as you choose. Here’s a brief guide to what’s out there Words: Rosamund West and Peter Simpson
Climbing Up Alien Rock was Scotland’s first dedicated indoor climbing centre, and it offers training from beginners up and the space to learn skills safely, indoors and away from the harsh realities of the Scottish weather. Alien One (8 Pier Place, Edinburgh) holds a large selection of roped climbing for all levels, while Alien Bloc (23 Dunedin Street, Edinburgh) nearby provides a bouldering centre with low walls and no ropes. Glasgow Climbing Academy (124 Portman St) offers state of the art indoor bouldering facilities on Glasgow’s Southside, equipment, coaching for all ages and abilities, and even a lovely cafe. Membership is only £10 for life, and their Movement and Technique beginners bouldering course promises to be ‘probably the best 180 minutes you will ever invest in your climbing.’ Avertical World (97-11 Blinshall St) is your Dundee equivalent, running regular taster sessions and tutored timeslots as well as letting the more proficient of you loose on the rock. If you want to do all this but outdoors, Glasgow University Mountaineering Club have just the thing – Clashgour Hut, half an hour from Glencoe, is available to hire if you and your new
Coast to Coast Surf School
38
climbing pals want to get well wild and don’t mind carrying lots of kit with you on the way. The Club meets for climbing on Mondays and pints on Tuesdays. Not to be outdone, the University of Edinburgh have their own climbing walls – two, count ‘em – at the Pleasance, and they’ll hire you all the kit you’ll need from the right shoes to the chalk you’ll need to stop your hands from slipping every five seconds. If you want to take a step up, the Edinburgh University Mountaineering Club will provide you with a steady supply of climbing (and drinking) buddies, and Napier University’s Rock Climbing Club meet up for regular sessions to help you get moving in the right direction (up the way). The Dundee University Rucksack Club are your go-to in Dundee, and they’ll help you out with safety advice, encouragement and equipment. Skidding Down Snowsports and student debauchery go hand- in-hand – there’s something about a squad of excitable twenty-somethings dressed entirely in thermal sportswear that strikes fear into those of us who spend our campus days ‘writing’ and ‘listening to music’. Still, Scotland is a prime location to take up snowsports given that there’s regularly snow down which to fall, although there are a number of spots that will help you get around even that most fundamental of problems. The Midlothian Snowsports Centre at Hillend stars Europe’s longest dry ski slope – if you look down Morningside Road, it’s that incogruous pair of white squiggles several miles away – and offers the chance to practice your shredding no matter how much snow’s lying around. Naturally, Glasgow has one-upped this with Snow Factor at Braehead, the UK’s longest indoor ski slope that, oh by the way, is covered in real snow all year round. Bad for the environment? Almost certainly. Good for practicing your snowboarding when it’s unseasonably warm outside? You betcha.
THE SKINNY
If you’re looking for a mode of snowy fun where you’re marginally less likely to fall over, the Huntly Nordic and Outdoor Centre offers activites like tubing, cross-country skiing (the one that’s a bit like very awkward walking) and mountain biking. When you want to get out onto the real slopes, there are four main spots to pick from – Glenshee in Perthshire, Glencoe in the Highlands, the Nevis Range near Fort William and the Lecht up in the Cairngorms. Each offers their own challenges and opportunities, and this is where your uni’s snowsports society will prove to be an invaluable resource – there you’ll find excellent people who a) can wrangle enough of you together to make it a feasible trip up north and b) help manage logistics and making sure everyone is getting on alright. Suffice it to say, if you’re going to head up for a day out on the slopes, CHECK THE WEATHER BEFORE YOU LEAVE. Contact the centres, check the forecasts and generally do your due diligence lest you waste your Saturday lugging a snowboard halfway across the country. Getting Out and About Of course, your university will have many societies catering to all manner of outdoor and adventure interests, but the great thing about Scotland is there are a whole load of locations nearby that you can head to off your own back and put those skills into practice. Essentially, if you’re a fan of marauding about the place in a semi-controlled environment, there are places you can do that. Situated in the heart of the Cairngorm National Park, Glenmore Lodge is billed as Scotland’s 2018 – 2019
Photo: Ed Smith
Glenmore Lodge
national outdoor centre and offers a variety of courses and facilities geared towards training across a wide range of outdoor disciplines. Covering kayaking, canoeing, mountaineering, rock climbing, ski touring and mountain biking (and much more besides), this is a good place to head to find out how to explore Scotland’s great outdoors safely and responsibly. Nearer the cities, Foxlake just east of Edinburgh is home to Scotland’s first cable wakeboarding park. It’s also got rope trails, zip lines and segways for your friends who can’t swim or prefer to get aerial. Playsport Scotland is a purpose-built 90 acre park in East Kilbride that offers a wide range of indoor and outdoor sporting pursuits from Zone 54 – Scotland’s newest indoor skate park – to Air Space, a ‘spring-loaded urban playground’ of over 100 interconnected trampolines. They’ve also got a climbing centre, pool and some golf if that floats your boat. Down at Belhaven beach near Dunbar, Coast to Coast Surf School are well respected for their team of experienced instructors offering a range of lessons and courses in the sports of surfing, bodyboarding, standup paddling (SUP) and coasteering. They also run tours and trips to the most remote edges of Scotland’s beautiful and varied coastline. Want to ride a bike very fast down a hill? We’ve got loads of the fellas! The 7stanes are a string of mountain bike spots throughout southern Scotland with bike trails of varying difficulties and intensities, with chances to hire kit, brush up on your skills and find out more about the noble art of riding very fast down hills. theskinny.co.uk/travel
39
Phone Friends Find inspiration, keep your health in check and save yourself from fumbling with a handful of pennies with our selection of excellent apps for your smartphone Adobe Capture For all you art and design students out there, this app turns your phone or iPad into a ‘creation machine’. It uses your phone’s camera to recognise everything from colour palettes and vectors, to fonts that might catch your eye on your daily stroll to a lecture. Really like that movie poster at the cinema, or the typeface on that shampoo bottle? Just take a pic of it and this app will roll out similar fonts, an array of colour swatches and recognise patterns and styles that you can save for later when you want to create something in your next project. [Sarah Donley] M-Tickets Been on a night out and want to get home without having to pay the earth for an Uber? Nowhere near your flat, it’s just started pissing it down, you don’t have any change and you just want to get home? Or perhaps you’re leaving the city to visit the ‘rents but you’re worried about losing your return ticket at some point along the way? Download the m-ticket app for all your Edinburgh transport (trams and buses) and Glasgow First Bus needs and never worry about coin again! [Tallah Brash] VSCO/Snapseed If you take a pic on your phone and you actually want to give it a proper edit before sharing with the masses on Instagram, these apps will keep you right. From creating double exposures to dodging and burning, spot healing and so much more, these apps are basically easy-to-use mini-Photoshops in the palm of your hand. VSCO also has the added feature of its own sharing platform so you can share your work with other budding photographers. [SD] 40
Headspace Uni life all getting a bit much? Feel like you’re anxious AF with all the STUFF you’ve got to do and you’ve only got a tenner in your bank til your next SAAS payment? You need some headspace. This is a really nice meditation app which helps you take a couple of minutes out of your day to relax, regulate your breathing and allow yourself a moment of calm. Beautifully designed with cool characters and different levels you can pass through to bring calmness and serenity into your everyday life. [SD] Clue This one goes out to only 51% of the population… basically, this is a period tracker – not for your classes, but for your monthly menstrual cycle. While it may sound super dull, it’s actually an essential app to help you keep track of your body and what it’s up to: log how heavy your flow is, how frequent it is, when you have sex, doctor’s appointments, PMS etc. What’s more, it’s free and predicts your next 3 cycles, helping you worry less about your memory. [TB] IFTTT If This Then That is a very special app, in that it ties all your other apps together to create genuinely useful solutions to your problems. Save all your Instagram photos straight to your Dropbox account, create automated archives of your Spotify recommendations, set up extremely selective email forwarding so only your very best pals can bother you when you’re on holiday – the possibilities are endless. [Peter Simpson] Download all these apps for free from the App Store or Google Play
THE SKINNY
2018 – 2019
41
Moonlight, available on BFI player
Cross the Streams For the days when you’re too hungover to leave the house but still want to feel cultured, here are the niche streaming services to fire up Words: Peter Simpson NextUp While Netflix are steadily hoovering up mainstream comedians for one-off specials, NextUp have a library of hour-long shows from some of the UK comedy circuit’s more interesting performers – the ones who hide away in the cracks and down the back of the proverbial sofa. You’ll find full-length sets from more than 50 comedians including Lou Sanders, Jordan Brookes and Rachel Parris, as well as mood-inspired playlists to help you through a whole afternoon. Your new flatmate thinks they’re a bit ‘random’? The comics on NextUp’s Random playlist will blow their tiny shiny mind. £3.50 per month, £35.99 per year; nextupcomedy.com
MUBI Big algorithm-based services always suffer from the same problem – getting confused and offering you the same things over and over again. No such problems for MUBI, who stick to a slate of 30 handpicked films at a time, with a new movie on the service every day. Arthouse classics, exclusive new releases and cinema from around the world are all on the menu. Top tip – the Glasgow Film Theatre’s Cinecard comes with a year’s subscription to MUBI as well as four free tickets for the GFT, allowing you to save cash and distribute culture around the place like a benevolent arthouse royal. £7.99 per month, GFT Cinecard £44 per year mubi.com
BFI Player If you want a bit of flexibility, the British Film Institute have you covered. Rent brand new releases for a few quid at a time; their subscription arm offers a wild selection of everything from arthouse greats to seminal horror films; and if you don’t want to spend a penny, get some inspiration from their huge archive of free-to-watch short films from across the UK. Rentals from £2.50, subscription £4.99 per month; player.bfi.org.uk
Digital Theatre Some of the UK’s best productions end up here, shot in HD and uploaded for you to watch in your pyjamas at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon. Productions from the Old Vic, Royal Exchange Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company are all available for rent – enjoy serious acting with the bonus of being able to tell the actors to wait a minute while you make a cup of tea. Rentals from £7.99, subscription £9.99 per month; digitaltheatre.com
42
THE SKINNY
Steps to Success You have a great idea, and some buddies to help you get it off the ground. Now what?! The Skinny’s Books Editor – and one half of indie publishing success story 404 Ink – shares her tips on getting your big plans moving in the right direction Words: Heather McDaid 1. Take the leap In the case of 404 Ink, my co-founder Laura and I were talking about what we’d do if we set up a publisher, and got to the point of questioning: “What’s the worst that can happen? Let’s do it and see how it goes.” It’s easy to talk yourself around in circles, but ultimately, it might be worse to wonder what would have happened.
ended up raising over £20,000 on Kickstarter, gaining support from the likes of Margaret Atwood and Ali Smith, it went on to be the bestselling book at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, rights sold to Audible and more. Stick to your gut!
Laura Jones and Heather McDaid of 404 Ink
2018 – 2019
Photo: Sinead Grainger
4. Stuff goes wrong, and that’s alright It’s easy for something to go wrong and it can feel like the end of the world. It’s not, and the sooner you realise that the easier it will be to deal with. 2. Ask for help Is there someone working in the area you’d like to? Everyone deals with stress, you just don’t see it. We touched on this in our blog ‘We are tired AF’ at Ask them for advice. Some will be happy to meet the end of 2017 (404ink.com/blog). up for a coffee, others will answer questions via email. Find organisations who support your area; 5. Enjoy it! there’s plenty out there – Publishing Scotland It’s said a lot, but self-care is important. It’s your (books), PPA Scotland (magazines), for example project, you’re working for yourself, and while – and they’re there to help! there will be stress, if you’re not enjoying it then it’s okay to step back and reassess. Being your 3. Do what you want! own boss and doing something you love is amazing It’s your chance to be your own boss, so don’t limit yourself. If you think you can do something or – make sure you’re not working yourself into the ground, and that you’re enjoying it along the way. should, then go for it. Take advice where you can, but if you really believe in your idea then it’s no 404 Ink is the award-winning alternative independent book bad thing to stick to it. publisher run by two freelancers in Edinburgh. In two years We were repeatedly told publishing our debut they’ve published titles including Nasty Women and Hings, and were the first publishers to win a Scottish EDGE award for Nasty Women within four months of the idea was business growth. Find more at 404ink.com and @404ink too quick, but we felt we could do it well. We
43
Work It Out Here’s our guide to making your part-time job or internship work for you, and to avoiding getting ripped off in the process
I
Working 9-5 You may think your part-time job in a bar/ restaurant/supermarket/clothes shop is just a means to an end, helping to fund your newfound penchant for about six-too-many double vodka Red Bulls in da club followed by some late night chips and cheese on the way home. But student jobs can often afford you lots of transferable skills, which come in handy when looking for graduate jobs. Simple things like time management, teamwork, prioritising tasks and using your initiative are just a few examples of the kind of skills all em-
Photo: Creative Commons
t can be pretty hard to think about the future while you’re still at uni. When most of your time is spent stressing over exams and coursework or lying in bed hungover trying to decide if it’s OK to order a takeaway for the third day in a row, your career options post-uni aren’t always at the front of your mind. But planning for the future isn’t as daunting as it may initially seem and, in the long run, you’ll be glad you got your shit together when you did. There are lots of things you can do to build up your CV or portfolio at uni, and you’re probably already doing some of them without even realising it.
44
THE SKINNY
Words: Nadia Younes
ployers across the board look for in a suitable candidate, and all of which you learn in your parttime job. Make sure you stick these into the ‘skills’ section of your CV – they do actually mean something to employers, even if it may not seem like it. “We don’t want the interns to start fainting again” Yup, an actual quote from an actual person there. You’ve probably heard plenty of internship horror stories, and they’re probably all true. Interns sitting sweating in windowless offices with no fans or air conditioning during the annual twoweek UK heatwave; being sent off on a whole day of returns from 9am-7pm without a break; transcribing, transcribing and more transcribing – all likely stories about the realities of interning. Internships can often feel like a bank-breaking, time-consuming, soul-destroying necessity when it comes to gaining work experience in your chosen field, but there are things you can do to make them more bearable and to make sure you’re not getting rinsed. Claim back your travel expenses: This is something most companies should offer, especially if you’re working for them for free, and if they don’t then quite frankly they’re taking the piss. It doesn’t hurt to ask, so make sure you do – every little helps. Make your interests known: If your line manager asks you where your main interests lie, tell them. This often means you will get tasks assigned to you that are in line with your interests, rather than just being handed random things. Be thorough: Always put a bit more effort into your work than you think you probably should. It will generally go appreciated and mean you will be able to progress on to more advanced tasks. It 2018 – 2019
will also mean you’ll get a good review at the end. Voice your opinions: If you have an idea or a suggestion, pitch it. It may result in you being able to carry out that pitch, so it’s well worth speaking up. Again, this also plays well into your end review and can result in continuing to work with/for the company again in the future. DIY S.O.S. If you don’t have the time, money or patience to slave away in an internship though, don’t tell anyone we told you but you probably don’t really have to. You can often gain just as much valuable experience from things like blogging, freelancing or starting your own projects as you can from interning, and the plus side is you can do it all in your spare time from the comfort of your own home or sitting in a hipster cafe, if you’re that way inclined. Start your own blog: Wherever your interests lie, blogs are a really good way of exploring and expanding your knowledge on your passions, and they’re generally free and simple to set up – unless you really want to show off your web design skills, in which case you can jazz up a Squarespace or Wix site to your heart’s content for comparatively little. Look for freelance opportunities: Keep an eye on websites like Creative Scotland, Creative Edinburgh, Creative Dundee and Mediargh, who often post call-outs or adverts looking for paid interns, short-term roles and volunteering opportunities. Start your own projects: Get a group of friends together, assess your different skills and areas of expertise, brainstorm some ideas and get going; you never know, you could be the next big thing, or at the very least you’ll gain some hands-on work experience. 45
Strike a Match Sean Walsh of Glasgow’s underground cult cinema night Matchbox Cineclub on the challenges and rewards of putting the films you love onto the big screen
T
here’s really no substitute for watching a film with your pals on a big screen. Matchbox Cineclub is a regular night in Glasgow that screens all kinds of weird and little-known cult movies, screening everything from a restored version of Turkish Star Wars (Google it and prepare to be confused) to all-day celebrations of Nicolas Cage and Keanu Reeves and the two-day Weird Weekend festival. Intrigued? Sean Walsh talks us through how it’s done. The Skinny: How did Matchbox Cineclub get started? The idea has always been to show things no-one else is showing, that often you can’t see anywhere else. Personally, it was the only way to get programming experience, and a great way to express a love for all kinds of weird and incredible films (we call them orphans, outcasts and outliers). What were the key resources/facilities/people who helped get things moving? The Old Hairdressers offered us free hire because we were a regular night and they liked what we were doing. CCA has open-source programming, where they don’t charge for hire (only technicians) and you get the full benefit of their box office and marketing too. All the pals who’ve helped us out, spreading the word, helping us set up, designing posters at mate’s rates have been really important too. What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your time running MC? We made it difficult for ourselves by programming films that no-one has heard of (because we usually go beyond the familiar cult films that most people know), and by being inconsistent with subject matter/genre. Even if we stuck with “weirdest horror films” or something, that would have been a lot easier. But we know we could fill rooms with cult hits, and our approach is deliberate. Generating and sustaining an audience has been tricky because by definition people don’t know what they’re getting.
46
Your events have grown to include all-dayers like Cage-a-Rama and Weird Weekend – how have you guys managed the step-up to that next level? I gained some experience with larger-scale events from coordinating Scalarama in Scotland and producing the Document Film Festival, and Matchbox has benefited a little from that. But otherwise, it’s just been a natural process and a huge amount of work. I realised a monthly residency isn’t necessarily ideal for our kind of programming and the micro-festival format is actually great. It means everyone gets the most out of all the extra effort we put into screenings, and we can focus on making them even more special.
“ We made it difficult for ourselves by programming films that no-one has heard of” Sean Walsh
What’s the one bit of advice you’d give to someone looking to put on their first film/gig/club night? Do your research. See what everyone else is doing that might be similar and, better yet, talk to them and ask questions. Maybe you can team up with them instead, or at the very least be friendly with them. And seek out the organisations that can give you the right advice and support – for film, that’d be Scalarama, Cinema For All, the Independent Cinema Office or Film Hub Scotland. [Peter Simpson] Cage-a-Rama, 5-6 Jan 2019, venue TBC; KeanuCon, 27-28 Apr 2019, CCA;matchboxcineclub.com
THE SKINNY
2018 – 2019
47
Sound Advice
Photo: Mario Cruzado
Want to make use of your student freedom to craft an amazing album, but worried you don’t have the kit you need? Jonnie Common is here to tell you not to worry, and also to pick up your phone
W
hen it comes to Jonnie Common, best thing to do is expect the unexpected. The Save As Collective and Song, by Toad musician has been responsible for some eye-opening musical ideas over the years – his Kitchen Sync record was made entirely from sounds recorded from old kitchen equipment and for the 150th anniversary of the McManus Galleries in Dundee, he was tasked with composing a new piece from the sounds of the building and its exhibits. Naturally, when tracking down advice on making music on a low student budget but with a high degree of student enthusiasm, he was the man to email. The Skinny: I am a student and I want to make some music or record an album with my band; what equipment do I have access to that I’m almost certainly overlooking? Most likely your phone, your tablet or your laptop, no matter how crummy it is. I used to carry
48
around a mini-cassette dictaphone and, while some of the recordings had their own charm, most of them were migraine-inducing. The mic on an iPhone sounds positively hifi by comparison and you could do a lot worse. There are many multi-tracking apps that will enable you to layer and arrange sounds you are creating IRL – GarageBand (free), FL Studio Mobile (£14) – and even more that will let you create or sequence sounds generated inside the apps themselves [like] Figure (free), Akai iMPC (£3), iMini Synthesizer by Arturia (£10). Animoog is a belter if fate blesses thee with a £30 iTunes gift card at any point. There are also apps like Audiobus that let you route audio from your iMPCs and your Animoogs back into your GarageBands and your FL Studios. Which opens up a world of possibilities. And there are inexpensive interfaces like IK iRig (£30) that enable you to plug any physical instruments you
THE SKINNY
already have into a smartphone or tablet. Another, more outsource-y approach would be to seek out audio engineering students in need of musicians they can practise recording and get yourself some free studio time. That is a thing. Which cheap or free pieces of music-making software are particularly useful for beginners and novices? If you’ve got access to an iPhone / iPad / Mac, GarageBand is free. I’ve never used it myself, but I know loads of people who started out with that or even still use it (often as part of their songwriting process, to experiment with things that will end up being recording in a studio later, but still). I pretty much live inside a piece of software called Ableton Live so that’d be my top recommendation. I think it does a great job of making its tools very accessible which keeps the learning curve gentle.
“ The best way to learn some things is to attempt them – this is very much one of those things” Jonnie Common
Live Intro costs €79 BUT there are a lot of wee things out there, like USB midi controllers, keyboards and drum pads that cost less but come with a serial number for a marginally more limited version (Live Lite). So that’s a potentially more affordable route that gives you some butt2018 – 2019
ons to bash. REAPER is also an extremely powerful piece of multi-tracking software and a steal at around £50.
Kitchen Sync was made entirely on kitchen appliances and gadgets; how did that work in practice, and what tools did you need to record all of the sound? Besides, obviously, the kitchen appliances... I initially started that album so long ago that, for the first couple of tracks, I was still using Cubase (my copy of which fell off the back of a lorry) but the rest was done in Ableton. It features a great instrument called Simpler, into which you can drag a recording of anything you like and make it very “playable”. For two of the tracks, I was living on an island with no access to my interface or microphones, so I actually recorded some kitchen sounds with the standard voice memo app on my iPhone and emailed them to myself. I thought I might replace the samples with better recordings later, but there was no need. They sounded cool. If you could give one piece of advice to someone looking to record some tracks for the first time, what would it be? Generally: get stuck in and just address uncertainties as they arise. Ask a pal or post on a forum. Best way to learn some things is to attempt them and this is very much one of those things. But do make time for both angles. Try not to pitch your problem-solving brain and creative brain against each other by making them work too hard at the same time. I do this way too much cos I’m an idiot. More specifically: review stuff on speakers or headphones that you are familiar with. I mixed my first few things through the no-frills stereo I got for Christmas when I was 15. There was no substitute for the fact that I knew when something didn’t sound right on those speakers. [Peter Simpson] jonniecommon.com
49
Snap Chat We talk to two of our favourite photographers about technology, the importance of being nice, and moving from someone who takes photographs to being a photographer
M
What are the key mistakes that people make in their photography (especially when they’re starting out)? MB: Buying the fanciest gear and expecting it’ll take good images immediately. A camera does not make a photographer (but it helps). Buy a shitty camera. Buy it second-hand. You’ll make lots of mistakes but it’s OK, that’s the learning curve. Push yourself out of the full ‘auto’ mode, play with the settings, and shoot shoot shoot until you’re raging at the limits of your equipment. The Skinny: What equipment do I probably KG: 1) Not asking enough questions. Photography already have access to that I haven’t really can be intimidating with all the equipment and thought about? technical knowledge that you need. And people Mihaela Bodlovic: Well, your phone, for one. endlessly seem to want to talk about equipment There is so much you can learn about composition and try and outdo each other. Don’t get bogged and basics of photography simply by activating down or intimidated by that. 2) They stop taking the ‘pro’ mode on your new-ish smartphone. TIME photos for themselves. Always always find time to magazine covers have been shot on iPhone, so shoot things you want to photograph and keep there’s really no excuse! doing personal projects however frivolous they Kat Gollock: If you have access to an equipment may seem. store on your campus, I definitely recommend using it as much as you can. You might be restric- What cheap/free resources are there to help ted to a particular brand of camera but get to me get better in my snapping, and make my know the lenses and what they do, get to grips photos look as nice as possible? with flash and portable lighting, and if there’s a MB: There are amazing tutorial websites like studio get in about it as much as you can so you Phlearn, SLR Lounge, Fstoppers and just plain old can start to feel comfortable. YouTube. Connect with other photographers in ihaela Bodlovic and Kat Gollock are, as you lot might say, ‘bae’. The two photographers have teamed up with your pals at The Skinny on countless projects over the years, as well as working alongside some of the country’s most exciting and important arts festivals, groups and venues. So when we wanted to find out about what it takes to get a budding photography career off the ground, we thought we’d give them a shout. And they shouted back.
50
THE SKINNY
Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic
Young Fathers
Facebook groups, there is so much support! There are workshops available in the city, from the Edinburgh University Photography Society to various Introduction to Photography courses offered by the University’s Short Courses department. I do firmly believe you can teach yourself, though! KG: For shooting, I would recommend strobist.com as it’s easy to follow and gives really comprehensive advice on how to create lighting effects and often how to do it cheaply. I would also recommend reading about photography in general so you can build up an understanding of the craft as a whole. I’m signed up to blogs like American Suburb X, Firecracker and Photomonitor which all go beyond just the aesthetic of the image and delves a bit deeper into the art and the politics of it all.
you can be truly satisfied and confident in your own photos is not to compete with that and trust your own view of the world and how you choose to show it through your photos. [Interviews by Peter Simpson and Sarah Donley] mihaelabodlovic.co.uk katgollock.com
“ If your area of interest is anywhere near people, you have to be good with people before you’re good with cameras” What is the one piece of advice you’d give to someone who’s looking to get into a career in photography? MB: Don’t be a dick. Seriously. You don’t have to be the best but you do have to be decent to work with, and if your area of interest is anywhere near people, you have to be good with people before you’re good with cameras. And never feel apprehensive about reaching out to people to make your own opportunities – literally, the worst thing that can happen is they say no. KG: Trust your own eyes. Photography is the vernacular nowadays and everyone in the world is taking thousands of images every day. What they see is not the same as what you see. The only way 2018 – 2019
Law Holt
Photo: Kat Gollock
Mihaela Bodlovic
51
Venues Guide Get ready to explore your city with our guide to some of Scotland’s best student venues...
Words: Nadia Younes and Peter Simpson
t’s no use living in a vast, exciting city full of cultural possibilities if you never bother to leave the student union. That’s why we’ve compiled these lists of some of our favourite student haunts – brilliant cinemas to spend the afternoon, gig venues in which to have your ears blown off, clubs where you can party all night, and cafes where you can fight through the inevitable hangover. We’re sure you’ll manage to find them all – you’re smart people, and you all know how a mobile phone works – but if you need a bit of a hand, head over to theskinny.co.uk/students to find our interactive maps. They’ll help you get your bearings and find not only a place to check out, but another place to go after that which isn’t a half-an-hour walk away. You are welcome.
Sneaky Pete’s P.63
Dundee Contemporary Arts P.67
Drygate P.55
52
THE SKINNY
Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic
I
Cafe Culture The cafes and coffee shops in which to chill out or get extremely caffeinated, take your pick
Artisan Roast 15-17 Gibson St, Glasgow; 100A Raeburn Pl, 57 Broughton St & 138 Bruntsfield Pl, Edinburgh
Stop right there, sleepy student. Stop going to all those boring chain coffee churners. Artisan Roast’s beans are roasted in-house, it’s comfy, the resident bakers’ treats are truly scrumptious, plus their cafes happen to keep popping up in student hotbeds in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Ooh, and there’s tea, too.
wood, exposed brickwork and old school desks. Head down for delicious cakes and pastries, coffee from Steampunk roastery, and chill-ass vibes.
Filament Coffee 38 Clerk St, Edinburgh
Filament’s a brilliant modern coffee bar halfway between Summerhall and The Pleasance, just off the Meadows but not far from Pollock Halls either. Grab a flat white, get your bearings, and get moving.
Baba Budan
Laboratorio Espresso
Arch 12, 17 East Market St, Edinburgh
93 West Nile St, Glasgow
Baba Budan specialises in artisan coffee and freshly baked doughnuts from its wee cove in the New Waverley Arches by the train station. Also nestled into these renovated arches you’ll find the likes of meaty haven Chop House, its herbivorous neighbour Juice Warrior and various places in which to get your hair cut.
With only a few tables and chairs, in true Italian style, it’s very much a grab and go kind of place in a good spot for those of you dashing to Glasgow Caledonian or Strathclyde in the morning.
The Bach 31 Meadowside, Dundee
A slice of New Zealand cafe culture in the heart of Dundee, The Bach is inspired by the Kiwi holiday homes of the same name. Once you make your way in, you’ll find a cracking flat white, great allday food, and a selection of imported Antipodean goodies.
Brew Lab 6-8 South College St, Edinburgh
Great coffee, outrageous sandwiches and soups, and cakes and teas from some of Edinburgh’s best producers all find a home at Brew Lab.
Cult Espresso 104 Buccleuch St, Edinburgh
Interested in speciality coffee but don’t want to have to pretend you understand what a pour-over is? That’s okay – the charming fellows at Cult will whip you up something, sans smugness. Top lads.
Fieldwork 105 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh
Dinky little cafe just off Lothian Road, all dark 2018 – 2019
Machina Espresso 80 Nicolson St & 2 Brougham Pl, Edinburgh
Slick design and extensive caffeine-making expertise are the name of the game at Machina, with cafes at the Tollcross and Newington ends of the Meadows. No excuse for feeling sleepy on your walk in the park.
Pacamara 302 Perth Rd, Dundee
Prime Perth Road location, interesting menu, nice chairs, charming name – Pacamara’s where to go when you’ve had enough of sitting in the library.
Papercup 603 Great Western Rd, Glasgow
Papercup Coffee is the bean to your craving, if you will. A cut above the other coffee shops claiming to to have highly trained baristas and excellent coffee, it’s a must if you’ve got caffeine on the brain.
POTLUCK 38 Nithsdale Rd, Glasgow
Brimming with culinary invention, Pot Luck on Nithsdale Road is the place to go for brunch in Glasgow’s southside with a dash of something different. Also, it’s a must for the Instagram. theskinny.co.uk/food-and-drink
53
No Money, No Problems Scotland’s student cities are hotbeds for incredible food at absurdly low prices; here are some of our favourites
Africano Wrap Place
Kimchi Cult!
6 Chapel St, Edinburgh
14 Chancellor St, Glasgow
Clue’s in the title. Our fave is the falafel wrap: homemade falafel, paired with a smooth houmous and a delightful spicy peanut sauce. All their wraps are great and come with sides of ‘feeling incredibly full’ and ‘change from a fiver’.
You don’t bring a spoon to a knife fight, and you don’t beat a hangover with a bag of crisps. Kimchi Cult!’s £6.50 lunch deal will hook you up with a Bibimbap rice bowl or a steamed bun and fries, plus a drink.
Big Mouth Coffee Co
Falafel to Go
167 Dumbarton Rd, Glasgow
116 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow
If you like breakfasts and/or toasties, this is the place for you. Grab a full veggie breakfast for under £5, get yourself a nice warm sandwich and a soup for the same, or alternatively just get a humungous slice of cake and hang out.
This tiny, literal hole in the wall off Sauchiehall Street charges just £2.50 for excellent, freshly prepared falafel wraps! Two-fifty! Why are you still reading this?
Bloc+ 117 Bath St, Glasgow
Delicious deals all over the place – macaroni cheese for £3 every Monday, burgers for the same price every Tuesday... the list goes on.
Dough 172 Rose St & 47 South Clerk St, Edinburgh
Stop! Buying! Domino’s! Pizza! Look, Dough have an extensive array of by-the-slice pies, all delicious sea water crusts and fresh ingredients. They’ll see you right with a humungous slice and a salad for less than £5.
Dr Noodles 89 Nethergate, Dundee
Want some variety in your life, but in a way that means you can maintain complete control over the situation? Visit the doctor for some highly reasonable and extremely customisable noodle dishes.
Mosque Kitchen 31 Nicolson Sq, Edinburgh; 50 Potterrow, Edinburgh
There are two cafes called Mosque Kitchen just yards from each other, and the differences between the two are too difficult to get into here. All you need to know is they both serve up huge plates of spicy goodness starting at just a few quid. 54
Mozza 39 Renfield St, Glasgow; 13 Whitehall St, Dundee
If you want a filling evening that won’t break the bank, hit up Mozza for their authentic Neapolitan pizzas, all of which clock in at under a tenner.
Piemaker 38 South Bridge, Edinburgh
As you lug fourteen new social anthropology textbooks home from Blackwell’s, Piemaker will make you feel like the world is okay again – not least because they still make macaroni pies.
Snax 118 Buccleuch St & 15 W Register St, Edinburgh
Fry-ups! Snax is a much-loved Edinburgh staple where you can hide from economics lectures while filling your face with tattie scones and bits of bacon.
Taquito 32 Home St, Edinburgh
Mexican eatery Taquito can help you load up on spicy treats at astonishingly reasonable prices. A burrito and a drink for a fiver? Count us in.
Wee Mexico 134 Nethergate, Dundee
Get your burrito fix on Tayside with these guys, serving up tasty handheld Mexican greatness for not much money at all. Thumbs up from us.
THE SKINNY
Drink It In Obviously, there are many, many bars and pubs out there for you to enjoy – here are just a few to get you started
Art Bar Dundee 140B Perth Rd, Dundee
Practically on top of Duncan of Jordanstone, this one’s a bar especially for the art folk of Dundee. Clue’s in the title, we suppose. You can look forward to open mics and regular live music, and drinks are beautifully affordable too.
Bird & Bear 2 Whitehall Crescent, Dundee
A lovely copper bar, hip-hop brunch parties every weekend, and a brilliant location in the middle of town; Bird & Bear has a lot going for it. To be honest, they had us at ‘hip-hop brunch’.
The Blue Blazer 2 Spittal St, Edinburgh
Boasting one of the finest selections of drinks in Edinburgh, The Blue Blazer’s a proper pub in the heart of town. You’ll find 75 different rums, 50 malt whiskies and loads of tasty beers.
Brass Monkey 14 Drummond St, Edinburgh
A perfect location between Pleasance and the Bridges, with pub quizzes and cheap bevvies, what more could you possibly require? A cinema room in the back? Aye go on, there’s one of those two.
Drygate 85 Drygate, Glasgow
Ever cracked open a little hoppy number and wanted to brew a beer of your own? Well, Drygate’s got you covered. Try your hand in the studio, or sample one they made earlier.
Flat 0/1 162 Bath St, Glasgow
The thinking behind Flat 0/1 is that everyone knows ‘that flat’. The party flat. Imagine said flat, but run by real staff instead of your wasted friends.
Hillhead Bookclub 17 Vinicombe St, Glasgow
Face it, you’re not going to spend much of your life in an actual library this year, so why not make up 2018 – 2019
for lost time in a pretendy one with a vinyl soundtrack, comfort food and strawberry mojitos?
Inn Deep 445 Great Western Rd, Glasgow
The clever people at Williams Bros. brewery are responsible for the thing of glory that is Inn Deep. Historically victors in our Food & Drink survey, this riverside haunt has got its beer and burgers down to a tee.
Joseph Pearce’s 23 Elm Row, Edinburgh
A relaxed and cosy Swedish cafe, by night JP’s is a bohemian bar with a cool crowd powered by aquavit-based cocktails and Swedish cider.
Lebowskis 1008 Argyle St & 69 Nithsdale Rd, Glasgow; 18 Morrison St, Edinburgh
Do you like milk? Are you prepared to have your sober brain drenched in dairy-based bliss? Would you consider drinking a White Russian which contains Buckfast?
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy 421 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow
Upstairs, it’s a lair of super-cheap White Russians and eavesdropping on notable Glasgow musicians; downstairs it’s home to some of the city’s most open-minded gig bookers.
Rum Shack 657-659 Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow
Bringing a Caribbean flavour to Strathbungo, The Rum Shack is more of a rum cornucopia. Food is served from ‘The Caribbean Kitchen’, meaning you can look forward to the flavours from the region.
The Ventoux / The Tourmalet 2 Brougham St / 25 Buchanan St, Edinburgh
Both these venues are named after stages in the Tour de France, and are effectively mirror images of one another. Expect tasty German beers, good vibes and fish tanks. theskinny.co.uk/food
55
Veg Out The places across Scotland to grab some veggie comfort food
Flying Duck 142 Renfield St, Glasgow
A pub and multi-platform arts and culture gathering space is the closest anyone’s got to categorising this place. It’s brimming with regular events from life drawing to film and club nights, and their animal-free menu is full of subs, hot dogs and two different kinds of vegan burger.
Harmonium 60 Henderson St, Edinburgh
For years Edinburgh’s veggies and vegans have gazed jealously at Glasgow’s venerable veggie spots. Now, that deliciously animal-free awesomeness is in Leith, with an all-vegan menu of dishes inspired by cuisines from around the world. Try the mushroom scallops and prepare to have your mind blown.
Mono 12 Kings Court, Glasgow
A vegan fortress which wears its meatlessness firmly on its sleeve. Where other vegan menus can suffer from a heartbreakingly dull reliance on avocados and the adjective ‘smashed,’ Mono triumphs. It also microbrews its own ginger beer and lemonade, and even features its own fiercely independent record store with a particular devotion to vinyl.
bit like the result of an explosion in a party supplies shop.
Ranjit’s Kitchen 607 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow
With a small menu which continually shapeshifts to match the vegetables that are locally available, it offers a vibrant range of paneers, sabjis and samosas, all bursting with flavour. Even though the home in question is on the other side of the planet, the comforting feel of real home cooking is unmistakable.
Union of Genius 8 Forrest Rd, Edinburgh
Six different soups on offer every day, pulling out the stops to suit vegans, veggies and gluten-free eaters. Seasonal, locally sourced, and blummin’ delicious. Honorable mentions: We can also recommend the veggie fare at Glasgow gig venues Stereo (22-28 Renfield Ln) and The Hug and Pint (171 Great Western Rd), and want to give shout-outs to the plant-based curries of Kalpna in the heart of Edinburgh Uni territory, (2-3 St Patrick Sq) and all-vegan cafe Marwick’s in Dundee (12 Union St). theskinny.co.uk/food
Leith Market Dock Place, Edinburgh
Paradise Palms 41 Lothian St, Edinburgh
Charismatic staff, cheap cocktails for students, veggie soul food for dinner and live entertainment, all in a comfy and exciting bar that feels a 56
Harmonium
THE SKINNY
Photo: Harrison Reid
Part of the Stockbridge Market family, the first Saturday of the month at Leith Market plays host to the Vegan Quarter, as well as hosting the usual traders. Kuku burgers, kombucha, cupcakes and brownies are just a few of the things you can find there.
Sign up for the ZAP! Get a hand-picked selection of the top events for Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee delivered direct to your inbox, every Thursday morning. PLUS exclusive access to special offers and competitions. And the best part? It’s FREE! Sign up today! theskinny.co.uk/ zap Illustration: Nick Booton
/theskinnymag @theskinnymag @theskinnymag
2018 – 2019
57
Date Nights Trying to impress someone? Take them to one of these places – even if it’s a total bust, you’ll have a nice time
Bodega 62 Elm Row & 36 Leven St, Edinburgh
Choose from their tiny BYOB spot on Elm Row or the slightly larger one in Tollcross; either way, Bodega’s tacos are amazing. Plus, it’s ideal sharing food and thus excellent for provoking chat around who has the ‘wrong’ opinion about which was best.
The Hanoi Bike Shop 8 Ruthven Ln, Glasgow
Expect quality in presentation, ingredients and execution.
Mary’s Milk Bar 19 Grassmarket, Edinburgh
Want to go on a date from a 90s romantic comedy? Get down to Mary’s for Italian gelato, (created by someone who trained in Bologna at the prestigious Carpigiani Gelato University), in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle.
It’s a lovely room with cool stuff on the walls, the Paesano food is great, and Beyoncé’s been in for dinner. Get a table at this brilliant Vietnamese street food 94 Miller St & 471 Great Western Rd, Glasgow The dough, cooked up in 500-degree Italian-built joint if you can; if your date doesn’t like this, be ovens, is fluffy and remarkably light. The toppings sure to find out what their game is. are expertly-chosen. You can get a pizza and a Maki and Ramen Omakase beer for under £10, and you and your date can get 97-101 Fountainbridge, Edinburgh to know each other in the inevitable queue A lovingly decorated spot on Fountainbridge, the because there are NO RESERVATIONS. menu is, as suggested, half sushi and half noodle.
Big Nights Parents in town? These are the places to hit up...
Aizle
Chop House
107-109 St Leonard’s St, Edinburgh
102 Constitution St, Arch 15 East Market St & 88 Bruntsfield
In reality, Aizle is less a restaurant and more a dining experience – one which certainly will stand out in the crowd. It doesn’t actually have a menu; instead, you’ll be provided with a list of locallysourced ingredients which change every day and form the basis of the meal that follows.
Pl, Edinburgh
Alchemilla
Ox and Finch
1126 Argyle St, Glasgow
920 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow
One of the hottest spots in Finnieston – inventive dishes, great ingredients and expert composition. Employing the sharing plates style of a tapas bar, everything is bent towards a communal, casual atmosphere as you hoover up some of the finest dining in the city.
Big Fancy Occasion dining can be difficult – the fam are picky eaters, and won’t share, etc etc – so Ox and Finch’s small plates style and cool vibe is ideal for cutting through. Their Edinburgh spot BABA (130 George St) offers a similar vibe, with a Middle Eastern twist to the menu.
58
While there are other tasty treats to consider on the menu (half lobster, anyone?), there’s no point shying away from what these guys do best. Their ‘off the coals’ steaks are made from the very best of British beef, butchered and dry-aged in house.
THE SKINNY
Midnight Food Fight Our pick of the places from which to grab something on the go, or while away the day’s final hours
Baked Pizza Al Taglio 120 Duke St, Glasgow
Non-circular pizza? Wild scenes, we hear you cry, but it’s true. Al taglio is a traditional by-the-slice style with enormous rectangular pizzas sold in handy slabs; the form factor makes this ideal for ‘one for now, one for later’ snacking.
Blue Lagoon 69 Gordon St, Glasgow
The infamous chippy in central Glasgow that is open late into the night; its bright lights shining like a beacon of hope for drunken revellers in search of their post-club munchies.
Chunky Chicken 532 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow
Fried chicken, middle of town, open til late in the day – not much more to say, really. Enjoy.
from three course dinners to deep fried Mars Bars, a gig venue and a nightclub – it has it all.
NY Slice 309a Sauchiehall St, Glasgow
Slices, calzones and massive sandwiches are in store at this spot in the centre of the action on Sauchiehall Street. A slice of ‘za at 3.25am? Yaas!
OX 184 184-186 Cowgate, Edinburgh
A mile-long bar stocked with a legion of beers, ciders and spirits. The nightly DJs. The clincher? OX 184 has its own wood-fired grill and serves a handsome BBQ menu until 2.30am.
Palmyra 22 Nicolson St, Edinburgh
Superfoods and quinoa come and go, but falafel wraps and shwarma are here to stay. Flash your Civerinos Slice student card and a bounty of reasonably priced, 49 Forrest Rd, Edinburgh delicious Middle Eastern food (or, alternatively, The location’s great, the vibe is great, and the sour- pizza) will fall into your hands. dough pizza at Civerinos is great. Slice will hook you up with a quick, delicious and comically-over- Steak and Cherry 516 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow sized slice of great pizza at the drop of a hat. If you like to party but feel a night isn’t complete Clark’s Bakery until you’ve had a full steak dinner, we have just 3 Annfield Rd, Dundee the place for you. Open til 4am at the weekends, Rescuing hungry people in Dundee since 1950, Steak and Cherry is the final stop on a Sauchiehall Clark’s Bakery stays open all day and all night too. Street itinerary. Heard of the helicopter burger yet? Won’t be long Taco Bell til you do.
Kebab Mahal 7 Nicolson Sq, Edinburgh
This restaurant has been going since 1979, with its longevity based on extremely good prices and a laid-back approach to dining. A great place for a sit-down or takeaway meal at any time of day or night.
Maggie May’s 60 Trongate, Glasgow
A rock’n’roll bar, a restaurant serving anything 2018 – 2019
245 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow
Taco Bell essentially make an art form out of finding ways to combine spice and cheese. Whatever you order, it’s pretty much guaranteed to come dripping in lactose and full of firepower.
Taco Mazama 6 Renfield St, Glasgow
These guys are all about the burrito. Filling-wise, it’s the usual suspects, with pulled pork a particular favourite. If you fancy your Mexican fare in a different configuration, fill your boots. 59
Little and Live Some of the best gigs take place in the smallest rooms. Here are some of our favourite venues – shuffle forward so we can all get in...
Broadcast 427 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow
Juggling both established acts and underground local talent like only a Glasgow music venue could, Broadcast usually has a pretty eclectic line-up. Shows take place downstairs, and the charm of Broadcast’s upper floor lies a lovely bar with food from Fatboys Street Kitchen.
Conroy’s Basement 51-53 Meadowside, Dundee
One of Dundee’s most important DIY venues, Conroy’s plays host to a wide range of up-andcomers from across the UK punk and metal scenes and beyond. It’s also the main place to catch shows from Dundee grassroots promoters and record label Make-That-A-Take.
The Hug and Pint 171 Great Western Rd, Glasgow
In June 2015, The Hug and Pint began its mission of bringing tremendous music to Glasgow, one beery hug at a time. A top notch spot for chilling, collaborating and performing, it’s a great place to catch brilliant bands on their way up to some of the city’s bigger venues. The vegan menu in the above bar is also bloody bangin’!
Leith Depot 140 Leith Walk, Edinburgh
At time of writing, the Depot is still fighting the good fight against some property developer bullshit – get down there and support it while you can. The gig room upstairs is small but wellformed, and the programming is an always-exciting and everchanging blend of underground sounds from all over.
Henry’s Cellar Bar 16A Morrison St, Edinburgh
One of the city’s few low-cost hire venues, Henry’s 60
attracts a diverse bunch of musicians that you wouldn’t see in conventional haunts. It’s got an awesome community vibe where you can talk to strangers without feeling creepy, the fairy light-festooned stage is just lovely, and it’s directly below Lebowskis – perfect for post-gig White Russians with your new pals.
King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut 272A St Vincent St, Glasgow
Another niche-defying institution, King Tut’s has its fingers in lots of pies: a cosy basement bar with comfort food from Funny Bird downstairs and upstairs you’ll find one of the best intimate gig venues in the country. A firmly established step on the ‘Become Dead Famous in Music’ career path, expect bands who play here to go on to grander spaces in the near-future. It’s where Oasis were discovered and signed dontchaknow.
Stereo 22-28 Renfield Ln, Glasgow
Another of Glasgow’s masters of all trades, Stereo’s a vegan cafe, bar and music venue. You can also expect some of the bigger promoters, DIY outfits and curious independents all to appear. Often the host of gig after-parties, which some of Glasgow’s finest DJs have been known to crash.
Saint Luke’s 17 Bain St, Glasgow
One of the city’s newer gig venues, the converted church round the corner from the Barrowlands is an excellent addition to Glasgow’s live music scene. Even when the main hall isn’t rocking, The Winged Ox kitchen next door serves up an eclectic mix of hearty grub and great drinks seven nights a week. theskinny.co.uk/music
THE SKINNY
Photo: Ryan Johnston
Jeff Lynne’s ELO at The SSE Hydro
Go Big Or Go Home Some of the live music venues at the larger end of the scale...
Barrowlands 244 Gallowgate, Glasgow
A total institution. Most people based anywhere nearby – Glasgow resident or otherwise – have probably been among the 2,000-odd punters you can cram into this Gallowgate musical wonderland. There’s a ridiculous starry façade outside, and inside a sprung floor which allows Barras crowds to jump higher and go crazier than anyone else.
The Garage 490 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow
Beloved for their brimming club and gig schedule, the main room is an excellent live music venue and club which has hosted some bloody great shows over the years. The two other rooms, the Attic and G2, are smaller and feature up-and-comers and more leftfield choices.
The Liquid Room 9C Victoria St, Edinburgh
Well into its second incarnation after a massive fire knocked it out of action for a bit in the mid-2010s, The Liquid Room plays host to medium-to-largeish bands when they hit the capital. It’s also a great place to catch big-time club nights from promoters like Nightvision.
O2 Academy 121 Eglinton St, Glasgow
The Academy knits together the notions of intimate gig and enormo-tour, making it the kind of venue which makes Glasgow’s music scene so special. Formerly an Art Deco cinema, the 2,500 capacity allows for established acts from near and far. Shout out as well to its sister venue, 2018 – 2019
the O2 ABC, gutted in the Glasgow School of Art fire and which we hope to see back hosting amazing shows of its own one day.
The SSE Hydro Exhibition Way, Glasgow
It isn’t the most charming place in the world, and it looks a bit like a pie dish covered in the air cushions they use to stop your Amazon packages getting messed up, but the Hydro is the place to be when enormous acts hit the road. The lights and sound are spectacular, and the scale of the place is incredible. Go to a show at the Hydro, and you get A Show.
SWG3 100 Eastvale Pl, Glasgow
This one’s come a helluva long way since its days as a decomposing grotto and hipster’s wet dream. Outdoor gigs in the summer in the Galvanizers Yard, multiple indoor spaces that suit electronic sounds as much as noisy guitar bands, and a great post-industrial aesthetic throughout. Even the toilets are dead cool.
Usher Hall Lothian Rd, Edinburgh
At the heart of the Edinburgh International Festival, the Usher Hall has remained a key venue for homegrown and overseas acts alike over the last half a century. Expect to see a certain type of show here (BBC 6 Music fans, get ready); the grandiose archways and balconies give a real sense of spectacle to this Edinburgh classic. theskinny.co.uk/music
61
62
THE SKINNY
Let’s Dance Our favourite nightclubs, from noisy sweat-boxes to slightly bigger (but just as loud) dancehalls
The Bongo Club
La Cheetah Club
66 Cowgate, Edinburgh
73 Queen St, Glasgow
This one’s so popular that basically the entire student population rallied when it faced closure a few years ago. Probably something to do with its diverse selection of clubs and wicked resident DJs, plus it has an actual smoking area rather than the standard ‘one chair to huddle round’.
Not only the club with the sassiest moniker in Glasgae, La Cheetah’s also known for its diverse range of banging clubs, hand-picked from the vast brambles of the musical spectrum.
The Buff Club 142 Bath Ln, Glasgow
Head to The Buff Club if you want to throw some absolutely formidable shapes. Classic hip-hop, funk, R’n’B and soul all come a-pumping from the speakers, along with some more niche treats from guest DJs. Go with it, it’s all good.
Cabaret Voltaire 36 Blair St, Edinburgh
Nestled beneath the anxiously touristic Royal Mile lies a staple of alternative music culture. Drinks are a bit pricier but for your dollar you’ll get a classy dram, with regular nights from the likes of Hector’s House (Tuesdays) and FLY (Fridays) bringing the noise in the subterranean main room.
The Hive 15-17 Niddry St, Edinburgh
Appalling in all the right ways, The Hive is one of the best dive clubs in town. The music is mainstream, the drinks really, truly flow, and you’ll see more disco winches than you can shake a Jägerbomb at.
La Belle Angele 11 Hastie’s Close, Edinburgh
La Belle Angele was one of the city’s most popular music venues before it was destroyed in the blazing Cowgate fire of 2002. However, the venue has certainly made its triumphant return and now hosts touring live music and big-time DJs courtesy of promoters like Jackhammer and Storytime.
2018 – 2019
The Mash House 37 Guthrie St, Edinburgh
Situated in the bustling Cowgate, The Mash House is a three-level club and gig venue, and an answer to the prayers of those begging for a new place to party almost every night of the week.
Reading Rooms 57 Blackscroft, Dundee
Festooned with camouflage and full of people out of their joyous minds, Reading Rooms is a bit different. Loud, intimate and soundtracked by everything from Afrobeat to hip-hop.
Sneaky Pete’s 73 Cowgate, Edinburgh
Sneaky’s reputation as a tiny wee club now precedes it entirely – but don’t let that put you off. When you’re cranking out 150 decibels of sweet, melodious music into the ears of sweaty happy people (or a wildly entertaining gig full of atmosphere) then size means nothing at all.
Sub Club 22 Jamaica St, Glasgow
Subbie pushes the musical envelope week in, week out, canonising its resident DJs and providing a space for local up-and-comers and big name guests alike.
Wee Red Bar 74 Lauriston Pl, Edinburgh
The ECA bar churns out great gig after great gig. It also hosts the brilliant Hey QT, an LGBTQI night with a safe space policy ‘because boogieing is for non-jerks only.’ 63
Movie Magic The cinemas to check out, and the deals to be had at each of them touch of old-style class. It’s a cinema in Morningside, so of course it’s swanky AF, but in this case that’s a good thing as it means comfy chairs and free crisps. Ideal for a date night, or if you just want to watch a film on a real sofa and not one of those horrible rectangles of fireproof foam you’ve been lumbered with in your halls of residence.
Filmhouse 88 Lothian Rd, Edinburgh
Indie cinema Filmhouse skims the cream of everything from arthouse to home-grown indies (and the weird stuff between). Student membership of the Filmhouse is A FIVER and gets you money off all your tickets, a first crack at Edinburgh International Film Festival tickets, money off in the bar and a whole load of other stuff. So yeah, grab a pint and a comically cheap student ticket (£4.50 if you go down on a Friday afternoon) and watch the kind of films that will make people think you’re all intellectual and that.
Glasgow Film Theatre Cameo
Cameo 38 Home St, Edinburgh
Art Deco and intimate, the historic Cameo makes going to the cinema feel like a real treat again. They screen everything from the mainstream to the obscure, and even host sleepover film nights and live events. A £20 yearly student membership gets you two free tickets, money off every time you come in, 25% off food and drink (the bar is lovely, by the way), and a host of other benefits. For the less-committed among you, Cameo is home to the E4 Slackers Club, hosting free monthly preview screenings of new movies exclusively for you lot – head in with your student card to sign up for free.
Dominion 18 Newbattle Terrace, Edinburgh
The Dominion Cinema is a historic family-owned cinema offering all the latest releases with a 64
12 Rose St, Glasgow
With a fair bit more charm than your average cinema, GFT’s famed for its Art Deco design and old-timey ambience. Part of Glasgow’s cultural scene since 1939, it acts as the hub of the annual Glasgow Film Festival and is the place to catch classic screenings, one-offs and arthouse (read: actually good) new releases. While GFT do offer student tickets, the real game-changer is their 15-25 Card, which gets you in for £5.50 (ie, nearenough half-price) if you are under 25, as well as acting as a loyalty card. Pop into the GFT for an application form and they’ll get you sorted.
Grosvenor Cinema 24 Ashton Ln, Glasgow
Throwback movies and a good selection of new films, plus the occasional one-off or all-dayer make this an interesting place to get caught up on all things Hollywood. The student-friendly location on the quaint Ashton Lane doesn’t hurt either. theskinny.co.uk/film
THE SKINNY
Setting the Stage Live comedy and theatre is all over the place in Scotland’s student cities – here’s where to track it down
Assembly Roxy
Royal Lyceum Theatre
2 Roxburgh Pl, Edinburgh
30b Grindlay St, Edinburgh
Formerly the Lady Glenorchy’s Church (and for a brief spell, The Bowery), the Roxy is open yearround as well as during the Edinburgh Fringe. You’ll find a programme of theatre, performance, screenings and talks as well as the occasional lo-fi gig.
A gloriously archaic theatre located between Lothian Road and Edinburgh Castle which hosts both travelling and resident talent year-round, with a focus on new writing and original work.
Bedlam Theatre 11 Bristo Pl, Edinburgh
Home to Edinburgh University Theatre Company, with its iconic red door and newly spruced interior, Bedlam is exciting for punters and performers alike. If you want a belter of a Friday night, grab a ludicrously cheap pint and laugh your spleen out at homegrown improv troupe The Improverts.
Dundee Rep Tay Square, Dundee
The Rep is home to one of the country’s most renowned theatre companies, but also accommodates some of the best touring productions as they make their way around the UK. It’s not all highbrow stuff: you’ll also catch a bit of stand-up, dance and live music there too.
Festival Theatre 13-29 Nicolson St, Edinburgh
Big old glass-fronted theatre with a year-round programme of theatre, musicals, dance, live music and more. If there’s a big London show you want to catch, chances are it’ll turn up here. Feeling spontaneous? Head down on the day and grab yourself a £10 standby ticket.
Monkey Barrel Comedy Club 9-11 Blair St, Edinburgh
Open seven nights a week and home to an eclectic mix of stand-up, sketch and improv shows, Monkey Barrel is a welcome addition to Edinburgh’s yearround comedy scene. Want to impress people with your in-depth comedy knowledge when the Fringe comes back around? Here’s one of the places to start. 2018 – 2019
The Stand Edinburgh 5 York Pl, Edinburgh
The Stand Comedy Club is a good one if your ribs need tickled - Turn up early to grab a safe seat, unless you’re OK with becoming front row joke-fodder.
The Stand Glasgow 333 Woodlands Rd, Glasgow
A stage which hosts both established and up-and -coming comedians. Not to be missed is Red Raw, their weekly showcase of new comedy every Tuesday (Monday in Edinburgh).
Traverse Theatre 10 Cambridge St, Edinburgh
A theatre affectionately known by its many supporters as the Trav, this one’s a mainstay on our list. It’s regarded as one of the best Scottish platforms for new writing, so you’d be foolish not to take advantage of their student concession prices.
Tron Theatre 63 Trongate, Glasgow
The Tron Theatre stands out in its city centre location, and the theatre it features stands out too. It hosts elements of Celtic Connections and the Merchant City Festival, and boasts a rather swanky theatre bar.
YesBar 14 Drury St, Glasgow
Originally called Vespbar (geddit), this Euro-cafe themed spot recently took the name YesBar in support of Scottish Independence. Head down for beer, stupendous pizzas and some underground comedy, particularly when Glasgow Comedy Festival rolls around. 65
Arty Time From tiny grassroots galleries to giant multi-million pound behemoths – the galleries to look out for this term
Collective City Observatory & City Dome, 38 Calton Hill, Edinburgh
A gallery committed to challenging conceptions of art, popular culture and social attitudes, Collective specialise in far-reaching projects, including the Satellites Programme where emergent artists in Scotland can develop their technical and critical skills.
Cooper Gallery 13 Perth Rd, Dundee
Part of the University of Dundee, the Cooper plays host to a series of large-scale exhibitions over the course of the year, offering DJCAD students an ideal opportunity to mingle and draw inspiration.
their work ever since. Its projects are run by a team of six artists who rotate every two years, keeping things super fresh and exciting. Oh, and membership is a fiver. A FIVER.
The McManus Albert Sq, Dundee
The McManus recently celebrated its 150th birthday, and the gallery demonstrates the history of the city in an impressive fashion.
Rhubaba 25 Arthur St, Edinburgh
Running from a warehouse space off Leith Walk, Rhubaba have 13 studios and a gallery/project space where they host contemporary art Edinburgh Printmakers exhibitions and events. Their self-proclaimed 23 Union St, Edinburgh mission: to propagate and practice a DIY Tucked away off the top of Leith Walk, Printmakers approach to art production and dissemination. is a bustling artistic hub. As well as studios, it houses a brilliant gallery space. Printmakers have RSA a new home in the works on Fountainbridge – keep The Mound, Edinburgh Housed in the iconic pillar-faced building on your eyes peeled for more info. Princes Street, the Royal Scottish Academy is The Fruitmarket Gallery home to the annual New Contemporaries show, 45 Market St, Edinburgh which distills the previous year’s degree shows If sculpture’s your thang, Fruitmarket Gallery will into one easy-to-manage exhibition. see you right. Along with two floors of exhibition Transmission space, they’ve got an incredible selection of art 28 King St, Glasgow and photography, books and magazines, a quirky Established by a group of GSA graduates in 1983, wee gift shop and a damn good cafe. it seeks to encourage interaction between its GoMA members to create an inspirational atmosphere, Royal Exchange Sq, Glasgow with a focus on bringing in artists of colour, Based in the heart of the city centre, Glasgow’s artists from non-traditional backgrounds, and iconic Gallery of Modern Art is both a prestigious, other marginalised groups. eternally divisive playground for the bigger names V&A Dundee in Scotland’s contemporary art scene, and a 1 Riverside Esplanade, Dundee godsend for anyone light on cash who just wants Finally, it’s here. The Kengo Kuma-designed to kill a few hours in the pleasantest of ways. monolith on the waterfront opens this autumn, Generator Projects and is set to be the biggest thing to happen to Unit 25-26 Mid Wynd Industrial Estate, Dundee Dundee’s creative scene in a long time. The design Generator was launched in 1996, and has provided museum will feature a host of exhibitions, touring a space for new and established artists to exhibit shows and collaboration opportunities. 66
THE SKINNY
Under One Roof Our guide to those venues that manage to be all things to all people – the multi-arts marvels
The Art School 20 Scott St, Glasgow
A certified staple on Glasgow’s student clubbing scene, The Art School is not your run-of-the-mill union. It has re-established itself as a cultural and clubbing powerhouse in the heart of Glasgow – gigs, clubs, films, food, art and much more await inside.
Centre for Contemporary Arts 350 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow
A multi-functioning, all-action venue, CCA puts on quite the magnificent spread of contemporary film, music, performance and art. It houses the Aye-Aye bookshop, provides studio and gallery space for artists and offices for a plethora of ‘cultural tenants’, and hosts a programme of exhibitions, gigs, film nights... you name it, you’ll find it at CCA.
Dundee Contemporary Arts 152 Nethergate, Dundee
What’s got a two screen cinema, professional printmaking kit and features heaps of high profile exhibitions? DCA, that’s what. A key hub for Dundee’s artist community, DCA also has its very own cafe-bar and a gift shop, making it a pleasant place to spend a couple of hours browsing and people watching.
The Glad Cafe 1006A Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow
A day-to-night venue where you’ll find locally roasted coffee and treats when the sun is out and indie/electronic music by the moon, with some art, poetry and film thrown in along the way. It’s a creative and cultural magnet in the south of the city; the Southside’s pride and joy.
Kinning Park Complex 43 Cornwall St, Glasgow
A bustling community space run by a voluntary committee of artists, musicians and activists, this three storey sandstone building on the Southside 2018 – 2019
has no end of potential. If you have an idea you want to bring to fruition, KPC would be a good place to start.
Out of the Blue Drill Hall 36 Dalmeny St, Edinburgh
Yep, we’re talking about an actual drill hall here. Funnily enough, it’s pretty well suited to its new purpose – a bustling hub of artistic creativity, with exhibitions, film screenings, workshops, flea markets and vintage fairs.
Platform The Bridge, 1000 Westerhouse Rd, Glasgow
Located just inside the Easterhouse suburbs, Platform forms one part of The Bridge complex, an overarching name for four facilities (John Wheatley College, Glasgow Life’s library and a swimming pool). Platform’s size and approach to events and exhibitions means it’s the host of a number of unique mini-festivals and multi-disciplinary arts takeovers.
Summerhall 1 Summerhall Pl, Edinburgh
A hub for the Edinburgh art scene, this is the place to be if you’re a creative type (and we aren’t just saying that because we work here). You’ll find club nights, art exhibitions, gigs, theatre, an onsite brewery and gin distillery, a bar and courtyard, an escape room, rehearsal space, and even select members of The Skinny staff gossiping after a long day in the office.
Tramway 25 Albert Dr, Glasgow
Few spots are rooted more deeply in Glaswegian history than Tramway. Over the years it’s spent its days as a tram depot and a transport museum, before reincarnating into a performance and exhibition space. Tramway 1’s forte is performance-based events, and Tramway 2 is the primary gallery space. theskinny.co.uk/art
67
Out and About Our pick of the places to get and stay active, with trampolines, boulders, and a skate park we (sort of) helped to build
Alien Rock
Glasgow Ski and Snowboard Centre
8 Pier Pl, Edinburgh
16 Dumbreck Rd, Glasgow
Scotland’s first dedicated indoor climbing centre, Alien Rock offers training from beginners up and the space to learn skills safely, indoors and away from the harsh realities of the Scottish weather. Alien One holds a large selection of roped climbing for all levels, while Alien Bloc nearby provides a bouldering centre with low walls and no ropes.
An extremely highly regarded snowsports facility, Glasgow Ski and Snowboard Centre has won the award of best club at the English Alpine Championships five years in a row. If that’s not reason enough to win you over, then what will it actually take?!
Avertical World
Go Ape Aberfoyle, Stirling; Crathes Castle, Banchory; Glentress
7-11 Blinshall St, Dundee
Forest, Peebles
Avertical World is your Dundee bouldering hub, with regular classes and open sessions. Right in the centre of the city, you can even nip out of uni in between lectures for a quick climbing sesh.
Live out your childhood fantasies of Tarzan or Endor life with a treetop adventure featuring rope courses, zip-lines and segways in three forest locations across Scotland – Aberfoyle, Crathes Castle and Glentress Forest, each within driving distance of Glasgow, Aberdeen or Edinburgh respectively – where you can retreat for team, family or solo adventures.
Edinburgh International Climbing Arena 1 Ratho Quarry, Edinburgh
Europe’s largest indoor climbing wall is situated at Ratho, just outside Edinburgh, and offers coaching for all ages alongside literally hundreds of roped routes and multiple rocks for practising your bouldering. You can hire everything you need to get started on site – remember it’s basically outdoors, so if you’re planning on climbing at any time but the height of summer, take warm clothes.
The Factory Skatepark 15 Balunie Dr, Dundee
An indoor skatepark with wooden features including a bowl, hips, rhythm section and rails. It’s not for you daredevils though; safety comes first here and helmets must be worn by all skaters.
Glasgow Climbing Academy 124 Portman St, Glasgow
The Climbing Academy offers state of the art indoor bouldering facilities on Glasgow’s Southside, membership is only £10 for life, and their Movement and Technique beginners bouldering course is ideal for people who lack either good movement or technique. They’re here to help you get up and moving. 68
Gravity 130 Dundee St, Edinburgh; Intu Braehead, Glasgow
Jump, jump, jump, jump around at one of Gravity’s two Scottish locations in Edinburgh and Glasgow, where trampolining isn’t just for kids. No more jumping the fence in your back garden for a quick shot on your neighbour’s trampoline while they’re out, book in for an open jump or a summer pass at Gravity instead and bounce to your heart’s content.
Kelvingrove Skatepark Parkgrove Terrace, Glasgow
Situated in Glasgow’s massive Kelvingrove Park, this skatepark even has a little bit of The Skinny in it as our Film Editor actually helped build it. It’s not just writing we’re good at over here, we build shit too.
Laggan Wolftrax Laggan Forest, Perthshire
Fancy a bit of light mountain biking through the Scottish countryside? Laggan Wolftrax is a single-track mountain bike centre, with over 20
THE SKINNY
Edinburgh International Climbing Arena
miles of purpose-built trails winding through Laggan Forest. Enjoy the views and get some exercise at the same time – pretty nice.
Midlothian Snowsports Centre Biggar Rd, Edinburgh
The Midlothian Snowsports Centre at Hillend stars Europe’s longest dry ski slope and offers the chance to practice your shredding no matter how much snow’s lying around.
Playsport Scotland Stewartfield Way, East Kilbride
This purpose built 90 acre park in beautiful East Kilbride offers a wide range of indoor and outdoor sporting pursuits from Zone 54 – Scotland’s newest indoor skate park – to Air Space, a ‘spring-loaded urban playground’ of over 100 interconnected trampolines. They’ve also got a climbing centre, pool and some inexplicable golf.
Shanti Yoga Glasgow 20 Sandyford St, Glasgow
If you want the full Zen experience, Shanti Yoga offers not only yoga classes but also a variety of therapies, yoga retreats and teacher training. If you’re not familiar with the frankly quite bizarre concept of Reiki, try your first healing session here. 2018 – 2019
Snow Factor Kings Inch Rd, Glasgow
Snow Factor at Braehead is the UK’s longest indoor ski slope that, oh by the way, is also covered in real snow all year round. Bad for the environment? Almost certainly. Good for practicing your snowboarding when it’s unseasonably warm outside? You betcha.
Transgression Skatepark Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh
Originally opened in 2008, Transgression has changed locations twice before moving back to its original home in Ocean Terminal. Drop in for a single session, the minimum of which is an hour, or if you’re thinking about polishing up on your skills, you can book in for some private lessons.
Tribe Yoga 35-36 Haddington Pl, 71 Northumberland St & 1 Porters Walk, Edinburgh
Sweat out your sins in one of Tribe’s hot yoga classes, with three studios across Edinburgh for you to choose from. Rooms are heated between 21-32° Celsius and classes range from Beginners to Advanced Flow Yoga, and everything in between. theskinny.co.uk/travel/adventures
69
Top of the Shops Whether you need paintbrushes, pristine second-hand records or powerful literature, here are the places to stock up
Assai Records 241 King St, Broughty Ferry, Dundee
Vinyl’s back, baby! Prove your impeccable musical cred at Assai, which specialises in the format with a great mix of new releases and classic vinyl reissues. They’re also in Edinburgh, offering much the same set-up (1 Grindlay St).
Cass Art 63-67 Queen St, Glasgow
Whether you’re a devoted artist, a hardworking art student or just trying out a new hobby, these guys have got everything you could possibly need. The impossibly neat shelves are stocked with a huge range of art tools and supplies – there’s a student discount too, naturally.
Edinburgh Art Shop 129 Lauriston Pl, Edinburgh
Conveniently positioned just down the road from Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh Art Shop has everything you need to assist with your art-related needs. They even do a variety of discounts, including 15% off for students.
Good Press 5 St Margaret’s Pl, Glasgow
Run by a group of artists, designers, publishers and facilitators, Good Press is a gallery and bookshop combined, making original works of art available to everyone. Have a rifle around and get a foothold into the Glasgow art scene.
GuitarGuitar 36 Trongate, Glasgow
In need of a creative pick-me-up? A pick up? Pedals? Electric ukulele? Situated on the Trongate, Guitar Guitar is a music-makers’ paradise, filled with all manner of stringed delights.
Lighthouse Bookshop 43-45 West Nicolson St, Edinburgh
You’ve had your mind wrenched open by that guy on your floor who keeps talking at you about ‘the
man’ – where to now? Lighthouse Bookshop, of course. FKA Word Power books, it stocks a huge range of political and cultural literature.
Lupe Pintos 24 Leven St, Edinburgh; 313 Great Western Rd, Glasgow
A treasure trove of hard-to-find spices, store cupboard staples and amazing hot sauces. Your Mexican or Central American feast just got a whole lot better.
Monorail 12 Kings Court, Glasgow
Tucked away in the corner of Glasgow’s vegan fortress that is Mono, Monorail is a fiercely independent record store with a particular devotion to vinyl. New releases, and an extensive selection of rarities, oddities and reissues.
Rubadub 35 Howard St, Glasgow
Rubadub has by-and-large transformed itself from a record shop into an electronic music and technology centre, housing a large selection of synths, audio interfaces and production software, as well as speciality cables and DJ equipment.
Underground Solu’shn 9 Cockburn St, Edinburgh
If music truly be the sound of love then get down to Underground Solu’shn and prepare to find utter satisfaction. As Edinburgh’s only specialist independent dance, electronic and record shop, it has turntables, mixers, CD decks, speakers and everything else to create your own DJ heaven.
VoxBox 21 St Stephen St, Edinburgh
One of Edinburgh’s best indie record stores, VoxBox offers a deceptively large stock of new and used records from bands from all over. They push the boat out every Record Store Day, teaming up with their Stockbridge neighbours for a series of free gigs and events. theskinny.co.uk/things-to-do
70
THE SKINNY
Glasgow Women’s Library zine collection
Sharing Is Caring Need somewhere to work on your project, or a hub where you can meet like-minded people to help get your ideas off the ground? Go to these places and get started
Dundee MakerSpace
The Mitchell Library
10 Douglas St, Dundee
201 North St, Glasgow
Have a project you’d like to get made? Dundee MakerSpace are here to help. The community workshop helps to nurture, grow and promote creative ideas and projects, so you don’t have to worry about going it alone in the tricky world of the creative industries.
One of the largest public reference libraries in Europe, The Mitchell Library is used for a variety of events such as book groups, computer classes, exhibitions and family history workshops. It’s also the host venue for Glasgow’s literary festival, Aye Write! – where the licensed cafe and pop-up book shop make it the perfect self-contained festival venue.
Edinburgh Zine Library 7-9 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh
A zine fan’s paradise, located in the Art and Design Library at Edinburgh Central Library, which officially opened in November last year. As well as the archive and reference library,Edinburgh Central also put on regular events in the venue itself and in external locations – keep an eye on their Facebook page for these.
Glasgow Women’s Library 23 Landressy St, Glasgow
A community-driven gem making a name for itself as a go-to for ground-breaking events and exhibitions exploring the lives, experiences and achievements of women. The calendar is packed with events, projects and exhibitions covering a dizzying array of topics. They didn’t win Museum of the Year, but they designed an amazing tote bag to ‘celebrate’ their runner-up status anyway. 2018 – 2019
Shrub Swap and Reuse Hub 22 Bread St, Edinburgh
A wee hub promoting all things warm and fuzzy and good for the environment/your purse strings. Take along your old belongings and directly swap for something new, or collect tokens to save up for a treat.
WASPS Studios 141 Bridgegate, Glasgow
With studios and exhibition spaces all over Scotland, WASPS (Workshop & Artists Studio Provision Scotland) is a pretty massive operation. The charity provides affordable studios to support artists, arts organisations, and creative businesses, currently housing about 800 artists and 33 organisations in 18 buildings across Scotland.
71
Offers and Deals W
e all love a bargain, and there are plenty of them on offer for students in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee. A close cousin of the bargain is the special offer – in many ways it’s better, as it a) focuses your attention and b) makes you feel like a big shot. Look at you with your ‘special’ offer. Fancy. We’ve collected a series of offers from some of our advertisers and partners, and slapped them all down on these two pages. Need a haircut, a lift home or a cut-price pizza? You’ve got it; just don’t try to do all three at the same time...
Finn & Bear Student Wednesdays at Finn & Bear – Get 30% off all food (10% on other days) 58 The Shore, Edinburgh, 0131 555 4636; valid student ID must be shown, full details and terms & conditions at finnandbear.co.uk
The Jazz Bar Student discounts on ALL entry prices! Open from 5pm-3am daily; see thejazzbar.co.uk for more details. 1a Chambers St, Edinburgh; valid student ID must be shown.
72
Photo: Andrew Kyle
Glasgow Film Theatre Join GFT’s free 15-25 Card scheme and get standard GFT tickets for just £5.50. That’s £5 off full price! Get the full details at glasgowfilm.org/student GFT, 12 Rose St, Glasgow; 0141 332 6535; facebook.com/glasgowfilm; twitter.com/glasgowfilm
The Jazz Bar
Charlie Miller Enjoy 30% off cut and colour appointments at all five Charlie Miller salons across Edinburgh. Includes complimentary refreshments, a one-to-one consultation, calming head massage, and personalised home care advice. Valid student ID must be shown. Offer applies Monday-Thursday. For full terms and conditions, please see charliemiller.com
Finn & Bear
THE SKINNY
ADVERTISING FEATURE
GettTaxi Get £15 off your first rides with taxi app Gett Taxi. Download the app from the App Store or Google Play and enter the code GETTSKINNY. Coupon valid for 14 days; £15 is equal to £3 off your first five rides. New customers only. Full terms and conditions at https://gett.com/uk/legal/terms/
Summerhall
Swishing at Summerhall Swap your pre-loved clothes for something different at Vintage Vibes’ Swishing Clothes Swap on 16 September! A photobooth, tea, cake, music, styling and more. Bring your clothes to swap or buy tokens at the event, and get 20% off tickets with the discount code SKINNY. Tickets via http://ctzn.tk/Swishing; enter discount code ‘SKINNY’ at checkout for 20% off entry (normally £4 for students) AND free unlimited tea and cake. Offer ends 5pm on 15 September.
2018 – 2019
Photo: Mihaela Bodlovic
Filmhouse
Photo: Vivienne Lowe
Filmhouse Student Membership is just £5 for the entire year! Includes £2 Tuesday tickets, ticket discounts and special offers. 88 Lothian Rd, Edinburgh, 0131 228 2688; visit www.filmhousecinema.com to find out more
Bloc + We are offering readers two pizzas for £6.95 (with two toppings on each pizza) with vegetarian and vegan options available. 117 Bath St, Glasgow, 0141 574 6066; valid student ID required.
The Copy and Print Shop Get a Free Coffee made with freshly ground Arabica beans with every print order! Valid for all print orders received in store or online and which are collected in store. 595 Great Western Rd, Glasgow, 0141 576 5536, info@thecopyandprintshop.com; limited to one cup per customer per order. For take away, regular cup size.
73
Photo: Creative Commons
Brandeburg Gate, Berlin
Bargain Hunt If you’ve actually managed to save up enough money for a holiday, congratulations on your stellar budgeting skills – here are some places you can go where you won’t have to blow all that sweet, sweet cash Words: Nadia Younes
T
raumatised by your post-high school trip to Malia and desperately trying to avoid similar PTSD this summer? Student holidays don’t have to be all about suspect alcoholic buckets on dodgy boat parties with DJ Badboy, and a calmer getaway might be just what you need to ease you into adult life – where the alcohol comes in a glass rather than a bucket, you’re sat on a rooftop bar rather than a wobbly boat, and everyone calls it a ‘city break’. If Lisbon isn’t already on your travel bucket list, get it on there right now. It’s easy to get to, it has lots of culture, the food is delicious, the nightlife is great, there are lovely beaches nearby and, most importantly, it’s really cheap. While you’re there, invest in a Viva Viagem travel card and use it to travel to the beaches of Estoril or Cascais and visit the MAAT museum in Belém, where students get 50% off entry. Don’t forget to grab a pastel de nata, or 25 – they are VERY addictive – at the Pastéis de Belém bakery too. Gimme gimme gimme SOME DECENT STUDENT DISCOUNTS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. Why of course, we shall oblige, answered Stockholm, as fans of ABBA and Swedish meatballs rejoiced. We can’t pro-
mise any meatball discounts actually (if you find any, let us know), but we can inform you that students get 30% off entry to Stockholm’s ABBA Museum all year round, so money money money doesn’t have to be that much of a problem after all. Everyone goes to Berlin for the museums right? If you fancy a break from all the techno and currywurst (not at the same time, we hope – sounds messy), students can get a three-day Museum Pass for the reduced price of €14.50 (a standard ticket is €29) and it includes entry to 35 museums. Tip: five of them are conveniently located very close to each other on Museum Island in the Mitte district if you can’t be bothered trekking all over the city, and make sure you visit The Libeskind Building at the Jewish Museum. Not just the land of cheap, tasty beer and so many different types of trdelník you won’t know what’s hit you, Prague is another student-friendly European city and a great place to visit if you’re on a budget. Plan a visit to the opera if you fancy a PNO (posh night out) at The National Theatre, who offer 50% off tickets to students. Remember, if you’re paying more than the equivalent of £1 for a beer in any bar, you’re paying too much. theskinny.co.uk/travel
74
THE SKINNY
2018 – 2019
75
76
VENUES
THE SKINNY