Newsletter - March 2006

From the Editor

March, in like a lion and out like a lamb. Winter is finally leaving us and Europe is gearing up for another tourist packed summer season. Your time is running out to come see all the sights without tripping over hordes of tourists and this month’s newsletter is once again loaded with great ideas for exploring Europe.

If the idea of a green Guinness strikes you as a crime against nature, then you’ll love our guide to great pubs in Dublin to help you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day like a true Irishman (or woman). We’ve even thrown in a few suggestions for getting you out of the pub.

We’ve got the second instalment of our Backpacker Bites section. This month our very own James MacDonald, a certified personal trainer, is dishing up the common sense guide to healthy living.

Bruges’ Cinema Novo film festival is a world film enthusiast dream. Now in it’s 22^nd year, the festival is still looking to confront western audiences with a new understanding and appreciation of the southern and Asian cultures.

Finally, our favourite American duo, Summer and Crystal are packing us along to Spain for this months book chapter. We’re off to meet new friends and live it up in a country that never sleeps.

March’s Features

Finding Work in London

This is one big, modern city. There’s always too many great ways to spend your meagre savings. If the Bank of Mom and Dad is no longer letting you withdraw cash then you might just be in the market for a job. To help ease your way back into the job market we’ve compiled a list of some of the best resources out there.

St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations

Top 10 places to enjoy a pint on St. Patrick’s Day, this pub crawl of Dublin’s finest beer serving establishments will have you seeing leprechauns before the days out.

Healthy Eating, Healthy Living

After an overwhelmingly positive reception to our Backpacker’s Bites segment last month we’re back to give it to you again. All new tips for repairing all the abuses backpackers inflict on their bodies.

Hot Ticket Deals

St. Christopher’s has embarked on a new partnership with Encore Tickets. Getting you out into London Theatre with all the top not-to-be missed shows at impossibly low prices.

Newsletter Regulars

Travel Story

Australia here we come. Our newest travel writer, Elissa, is taking us on a crocodile hunt in the Northern Territory’s Kakadu National Park. This is not the Australia of surf boards and never ending beaches, this is flood plains; tropical tree, Aboriginal culture and nature at its best.

Sports Sports

Sports Sports writer extraordinaire, Kyle, has gathered up all the highlights from the world of sports.

Catalyst for Adventure

On the road again, this time we’re joining Summer and Crystal in Madrid, Spain, where they get the insiders look at the Spanish capital. Here their biggest problem seems to be switching their sleeping routine to not getting up before noon so that they can last on their bar hopping until the sun comes up again.

Europe’s Famous Hostels

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day debauchery EFH is giving us a tour of Dublin’s Avalon House hostel. The perfect place to recover on March 18^th. Or take a trek down to Corfu for the Greek Carnival and enjoy the hospitality of the Pink Palace.

Beds & Bars News

All the hottest deal, best specials and coolest parties St. Christopher’s has to offer are all laid out in our Bed & Bar News section. Our hostels are offering up live music, challenging quizzes and cheap eats all to tempt you when you’re thinking where to next.

Hot Hostel

Greenwich hostel in London has a reputation of being a small town community in the midst of chaotic big city life. This is the place where all time comes from, literally. And if you show up after dark, the observatory will have a laser in the sky showing you exactly where the Prime Meridian lies.

Backpacker Interview

Meet a St. Christopher’s backpacker. We’ve managed to steal five minutes of his time to hear him rave about his London life experience.

Write around the world: Travel story

A new month, a new adventure. Our newest travel writer, Elissa, is taking us crocodile hunting in Australia’s Northern Territory. Give this girl a boat, some open water and you’ll be surprised what she can do with it.

Had an adventure of your own? Send it our way, get it published and win two nights accommodation at any of our hostels. submissions@st-christophers.co.uk

Working in London

So you’ve been travelling around, seeing the sights and spending all your savings. And you’ve been putting this day off for as long as you can, but it’s finally arrived, and you need to get a job. To help make the process as painless as possible we’re here to steer you in the right direction.

Top 10 Places to get Pissed on St Paddy’s Day

St. Paddy’s Day, this year like every year, is on March 17^th. Fantastically enough a Friday night. This is Ireland’s day of celebration and commemoration for their patron saint and national apostle, Saint Patrick – the man credited with bringing Christianity to the Emerald Isle. For the family friendly version of this celebration there’s a festival parade from noon at Parnell Square which will carry you onto Earlsfort terrace for Ceili mor, a free exhibition of traditional Irish dancing and craic after the parade. But the real reason for heading to Dublin this St. Patrick’s Day is for the chance to drink shamrock topped Guinness until you’re seeing Leprechauns. And of course this is our specialty: we teamed up with some locals and found you the Top 10 pubs Dublin has to offer. And best of all at the end of the night our sister Europe’s Famous Hostel, Avalon House will be waiting with open arms to take care of you and help nurse you back to health.

Got a Top 10 idea? Want to know about the best of Europe but don’t want to do the leg work? Give us the idea and we’ll hook it up for you. Send it to submissions@st-christophers.co.uk

Europe's Famous Hostels

When travelling you’re always looking for the best hostels to stay in. You want the clean, safe comforts of home, but you’re also looking for the fun, non-stop adventure of being away. That’s why you’ve come to love and rely on St. Christopher’s. But what happens when there’s no St. Chris to guarantee the good times? Well that’s when you look to out sister hostels, other members of Europe’s Famous Hostels and you can rest assured you’re in good hands. This month head over to Dublin for some St. Patrick’s celebrating or to the Greek island of Corfu for their interpretation of Carnival.

Backpacker’s Bites

In this second instalment of our healthy eating series, certified personal trainer and St. Christopher’s hostel manager, James McDonald, brings you come great info and insider's tips for taking care of yourself.

If you have any handy suggestions on eating right, exercising and staying healthy on the road we’d love to pass them along to other backpackers. Send your personal tricks of the trade to submissions@st-christophers.co.uk

Sport Report

Our resident sports fanatic, Kyle, has dished up all the latest and greatest stories from the sports pages of the world. With a little sneak preview of the action to come.

Book London theatre tickets with St Christopher's

St. Christopher’s has teamed up with Encore Tickets to hook you up with some fantastic deals on all the hottest shows London has to offer. We’ve taken the guess work out of shopping for theatre tickets in London by giving our stamp of approval to Encore Tickets where you will be assured a great deal. There are still a few decisions to make, first, what to see? London’s West End theatres have a huge assortment of top comedies, musicals and dramas including: Fame, Chicago, the Lion King and the Producers. Also, new to the stage is the much talked about Spamalot, starring Tim Curry (of Rocky Horror fame). This is a night filled with showgirls, killer rabbits, cows and King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table. Your second decision: what kind of deal is right for you? There are discounted prices, 2-4-1 offers or dinner and a show packages. If you’re looking to make a night of it why not enjoy a special pre-show meal at a prestigious West End restaurant?

Check out all our killer deals and book online

Catalyst for Adventure:
The true story of best friends travelling through Europe

Don’t you just love Spain? Flamenco, tapas, sangria, not to mention the beautiful people. Sadly, since we can’t all be there, we need to live vicariously through our friends Summer and Crystal as they party the night away in Madrid and split their days between shopping and sleeping. In this month’s book exert from Catalyst for Adventure: The true story of Best Friends travelling through Europe, the girls are making some new friends, including a monogamously challenged Mexican, read on….

Have a favorite travel book that we should know about? Fill us in, write to submissions@st-christophers.co.uk

Hot Hostels - Greenwich in London

There’s so much hustle and bustle around you all the time when you visit London, sometimes it’s nice to know there’s somewhere you can go when you just need to get away from it all. That somewhere is St. Christopher’s Greenwich. Ten minutes on the tube from London Bridge is all it will take to give you totally new perspective on the city. The best of both worlds is what we’re offering, close enough to the heart of the city that you’re not going to miss a thing, far enough away that you’re not going to be trampled by the masses. Greenwich is a perfect balance.

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page. – St. Augustine