• Added: 12th of September 2008
• Area: Birmingham
• Category: Education

Birmingham B4 7ET
0121 359 3611

groovygarden said
Small, friendly uni in middle of Birmingham
Aston is right in the centre of Birmingham, about 5-10 minutes walk from the city centre. I went there because I didn’t want to be stuck on a campus miles from the centre of town, but I didn’t want to be at a uni with buildings spread all over a city either. At Aston you get the best of both worlds really – a nice campus, close to town.

Aston has a pretty impressive graduate recruitment record – another of the reasons I applied there. It has a bit more of a down to earth attitude than other traditional unis. The courses are quite “real world” and I learnt things I’ve actually used in my job! Most students do a placement year.

Its quite a small uni, (about 6 or 7 thousand students) which people may or may not like. I liked it cos it felt quite friendly. I didn’t want to feel lost amongst 20 thousand odd students!

• Added: 12th of September 2008
• Area: Birmingham
• Category: Stations and Transport

Birmingham

groovygarden said
Busy rail hub
Birmingham New Street gets a bad press, some of which is deserved. It’s an ugly building and can be incredibly busy at peak times, but it's not as bad as people make out.

There is only one information booth, so if something’s gone wrong with the trains there is a HUGE queue of people waiting to get help/information.

If you’re coming to Brum for shopping, there is a direct covered link to the Bullring shopping centre, clearly signposted. The Palisades shopping centre, which is part of the station, isn’t fantastic. It has quite a few cheap (and nasty?) shops. There’re also a few handy places, like an Argos and a Woolies.

If you need to grab something quick to eat, there’s quite a bit of choice - a few coffee shops, a Subway, a Burger King, Boots, M&S.

• Added: 12th of September 2008
• Area: Kenilworth
• Category: Bars and Pubs

Kenilworth CV8 1LY

groovygarden said
Oldest pub in Kenilworth...?
If you’ve visited Kenilworth Castle, the Virgin & Castle is a great place to pop to for lunch or dinner afterwards. Walk down the High Street (one of the nicest roads in the town – thatched cottages, old church etc etc) to the “V’s”, which is probably the oldest pub in Kenilworth.

Inside it’s all very “woody”, with beams and low ceilings. There are lots of nice corners and little rooms to tuck yourself away into.

The food is excellent, and reasonably priced. For a 16th Century (?) pub the food isn’t what you might expect, offering a mix of Thai/Malaysian/English. The menu isn’t particularly long, but I’ve always managed to find something good.

• Added: 12th of September 2008
• Area: Kenilworth
• Category: Restaurants

Kenilworth

groovygarden said
Nice food, slow service
Food wise, if you’ve been to one Zizzis, you’ve been to them all. It’s good food, and much better than most Italian restaurant chains. The Kenilworth branch opened recently (2007 or 08) and looks nice inside. It’s a surprising large restaurant for a small town, but it’s generally busy enough. They can handle large parties, but there are also sets of tables slightly to the side for smaller, quieter couples or groups.

The one downside to this restaurant (which lots of people I’ve spoken to have commented on) is the incredibly slow service. The first couple of times we went it drove us mad, but last time we went we were expecting slow service, and so it wasn’t so bad. For a leisurely evening or weekend meal, it’s good, but I def wouldn’t go there during a lunchbreak or if you’ve only got an hour to spare.