Five of the Best: Bars in York

Everything they tell you about student life is lies. At least towards the end of third year anyway. The booze filled nights of dancing until the sun dawns, the debauchery of house parties that would put Skins to shame, the bar crawls that would leave you struggling to stand by 7pm... all a distant memory. The closest I've managed to get in the last few weeks has been scraping one night out at the local condemned-Chinese-restaurant-cum-disco (surprisingly better than it sounds) and sharing a bottle of wine with my boyfriend whilst watching Britain's Got Talent. More get-slightly-tipsy-and-have-an-early-night than your typical go-hard-or-go-home student life.

So, in the spirit of my recent dry spell, I've decided to reminisce about the glory days of university; those care free nights of freshers year spent sampling the night-life, and the happy evenings as a more seasoned second year reciting local drinks deals like the alphabet.

So for tourists, students and locals alike, here's my go-to guide for the best bars in York. Whether you're looking for a quirky hang out, or picking your watering hole based on the all important Shots of Vodka to Reasonable Price ratio, I present to you five of the best bars in York.

5. THE LOWTHER

Best. Wallpaper. EVER.

The ultimate student hang out, and the prime place for drinks deals, The Lowther has introduced many a Southerner to the up-North love of treble-for-singles. Perhaps not the choice for a quiet drink, The Lowther is the perfect place for large groups of friends to head before hitting the town (although all the body-popping laydeez should note there is no dance floor. However this often won't deter the odd club-eager lass after one too many vodka Vimtos) Recently renovated, the Lowther's dog-breed print wallpaper is an endless source of fascination if the company's not great, whilst the large tables and spacious layout is perfect if it is.

4. TIGER 10
Formerly known as 'The Parish,' this sufficiently snazzy bar is set in a beautifully converted church. Adding a touch of historical class to your evening in an ancient city, you can sip on the cocktail drink deals or the one pound a pop Jagerbombs feeling significantly more classy than your beverage implies. Alternately, slightly more expensive but not unreasonable drinks are on offer for you to enjoy as you take in this unusual modern renovation.

3. STONE ROSES
Themed around indie and alternative music, The Stone Roses is York's definite rock bar. One of the few city establishments to feature live bands, this off-beat venue balances quirky decor, cheapish drinks and a buzzing atmosphere. Another popular student pub, The Stone Roses is also frequented by tourists and locals alike, and is splurged with painted lyrics, pop art prints, and TV's offering mildly amusing musical facts.  (Led Zeppelin, R.E.M and Depeche Mode have not had a number one single between them, while Rihanna has had 10, in case anyone's interested.)

2. THE GOLDEN FLEECE
Featured on 'Most Haunted,' as the sign outside proudly and permanently proclaims, the Golden Fleece is something of a York tourist attraction. Better suited to a daytime drink due to its early closing hours, this historic pub holds host to a range of ghoulish goings on. Most famously haunted by a Canadian airman and a ghostly aristocrat, The Golden Fleece is a little more expensive in terms of drinks, but is worth it for the spooky atmosphere.


1. EVIL EYE LOUNGE
Popular for its classy but cool edge, this quirky bar is entered through its own shop selling all manner of quirky alcohols. This perfectly sets the scene for entering the mystic themed Evil Eye Lounge, a bar set in the centre of York boasting the city's most comprehensive drinks menu. Famous for their fantastic bespoke cocktails, Evil Eye is bizarrely Brazil, Haiti, and Moroccon themed, and mixes incredible and original drinks. At minimum of £5 a drink, it doesn't come cheap, but their cocktails are beautifully adventurous, immensely strong, and served in brilliant surroundings.

Why Curvy Girls Can Wear... Prints

Firstly, apologies for the long absence! Dissertations, essays, and general final-term-of-university stress has got the better of me recently, leaving me with very little blogging time.

Lack of writing hasn't been the only consequence of third year woes-- my bank-balance has also been reeling from the sporadic bursts of retail therapy motivating me through hours in the library. A spate of summer outfits have steadily streaming my wardrobe in anticipation of mythical, post-hand in sun drenched days.

With the greyness of both the university study spaces and the current weather weighing on my mood, my reaction has been to invest in cheering, increasingly gaudy prints. Splurged with colour, my new staple outfits are a rainbow of cartoons and printed cupcakes. As a lover of stand-out pieces, the creativity of prints currently available is perfect for stamping individuality, especially with the quirky cartoon prints of spring setting a trend for stylishly brazen outfits.

However, as every curvy girl will know, prints can be a worse enemy. A veritable minefield, patterns have the unfortunate effect of distorting the figure, the effect of your curves on the design highlighting every lump and bump. With the age-old ferocious warning against stripes ringing in every curvy girl's ears, the motto 'black is slimming' has sent me scurrying for a nice plain dress on many an occasion.

However, the thinking curvy girl can be worry free with jumping on the print-painted bandwagon. The simple tip for achieving a beautiful, flattering look is to avoid all over, busy prints. Teaming a patterned skirt or leggings with a plain top is a perfect way to get in on the trend, making sure any 'worry areas' are covered my a plain item of clothing, offsetting the busy-ness of the print, and solving the problem of nightmarish stretched prints over curves.

I recently purchased these pop-art print leggings from ebay. Garish and over-the-top, they require teaming with a plain top. I chose a long, black vest top to cover up the print around my mid section.

My other great print purchase lately has been this gorgeous skirt from Cameo Rose at New Look. Having lusted after its bodycon counterpart, regretfully acknowledging that I simply can't carry off tight prints, I was delighted to discover a skater skirt version. Flared out, the effect of prints on my shape isn't a problem, and it's nipped in waist is ultimately flattering. Furthermore, the skirt is truly gorgeous, and incredibly elaborate.

So here's a few of my recommendations for carrying off a curvy print look:

1. For an all-over print, go for one that is simple, sparse and non-geometric; busy prints will show off any lumps and bumps A black background is perfect to create a more streamlined shape. This Boohoo cartoon print dress, worn with spanx, would be perfect.

April cartoon print bodycon dress, £12, Boohoo

2. Geometric prints are ultimately unflattering, but you can still get in on the monochrome trend for checks and stripes. Choose a skater skirt which will flare out over your curves, or accentuate the curves you want to show off with a crop top and plain, high waisted skirt (don't forget to check out my earlier blog for more crop-top advice! http://what-katieb-did.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/why-curvy-girls-can-wear-crop-tops.html )

Geometric Print Skater Skirt, £28, River Island

Ellin vertical stripe monochrome crop top, ASOS, £8.99

3. For the more adventurous fashionista, wide-leg trousers are a good way to get on board with the craze for global prints. Hiding a multitude of sins, these should be worn with a plain, fairly tight top to avoid looking frumpy.

Eastern Print wide-leg trousers, Topshop, £48

Things I Learned from being a Book Geek

Having spent countless hours engulfed in well-leafed paperbacks, from the very first garishly shaded Ladybird Classics, to the American teenage dramatics of Sweet Valley High and the more mature reads of adult life, it’s fair to say that my perception has always been somewhat skewed by the ever-climatic experiences of a book geek.

For a teenager more familiar with the man-chasing antics of Austen’s Mrs Bennett than actual boys, or a ten year old with aspirations for a jolly-hockeysticks Mallory Towers-esque education rather than the local comprehensive, life for me was always going to be one wistfully guided by the books  that surrounded it. Life lessons aplenty poured forth from the novels that navigated my growing pains, first love and transitions into adulthood. Unfortunately for me, most of them turned out to be wildly inaccurate, and even bordering on the bizarre.

And so, in an elaborate attempt to procrastinate in the midst of dissertation writing, I’ve compiled a list of the things my (almost) 21 years as a self-confessed book geek have taught me. Some accurate life-lessons, some plain ridiculous twaddle, but all rewarding and entertaining in their own imperfect way.

What not to expect

The big loves are the best (but they don’t always work out)
Romeo and Juliet, Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, Cathy and Heathcliff. The very best knee-trembling, tear-jerking, hear-pounded loves in fiction come complete with passion, bodice ripping and proclamations of undying love. The great lovers of literature are destined to be together, bound by some instant and unrelenting force set to send the reader taking a sidelong glance at the less than romantic back-of-a-crowded-bar introduction with their own boyfriend with a little less gusto than before.

However, the real crux to these all-consuming roller-coaster rides of relationships is that they never really hold up. The dizzying highs are always countered by devastating lows, and the couples’ love lives are more tumultuous than Taylor Swift’s dating catalogue. With the majority of these affairs ending up in abandonment, misery, and- more often than not- death, Ben and Jerry’s and a nice rom-com with the boyfriend isn’t looking quite so staid now, is it?

It’s OK to have a few angsty teenage years...

Me, reliving my teenage Goth years...

 As any good lit geek or emo will tell you, the book business is not one for shirking around teenage angst. Giving generations of angry adolescents firing power for the hormone soaked years between 13 and 19, classic “The Catcher in the Rye” told us that it’s OK to mope around a bit in those tricky secondary school days. With “Perks of Being a Wallflower” taking a more modern slant, we all now know that finding yourself, sulking, and existential wonderings are an integral part of our teenage years, and should be treated as such.

...Or live the all-American teenage dream

...and pretending to be All-American.
Fancy-dress is a wonderful thing.

Spending my early teenage years engrossed by the go-get-‘em Babysitters Club, the summer camp adventures of Marcy Lewis, and the Princess Diaries’ dream of my Dad turning out to be the king of a small European country, the light literature of American teen fiction taught me that life was going to be a happy parade of s’mores, friendly communities, and the light tribulations of whether to let your boyfriend go to second-base (without having any idea what ‘second-base’ actually entailed.)

Although sadly inaccurate, it’s still nice to occasionally sink back into the delusional promises of the US teen scene, and pretend that my looming final hand-in is no more pressing than what I would wear if I had a Homecoming Dance.

 “Don’t have sex, because you will get pregnant and die”
Since sex sells, it’s always been a bit of a contention in literature. Whilst Chaucer indulged his bizarre tendency to turn sex into a never-ending opportunity to create apparently hilarious pranks, the Victorians warned us of the terrible consequences of enjoying a bit of rough and tumble. (Pretty much always resulting in death, if you’re interested.) And now with 50 Shades of Grey advocating a spanking paddle as the real key to all-over life fulfilment, and the ever-growing trend for giving classics saucy “mummy porn” make-overs, literature just can’t seem to make its mind up.

Something which books do never-endingly tell us, however, is that sex is a BIG DEAL, a veritable life-changer, and must be treated as such. Another valiant, and not entirely accurate, word from the world of books which has probably left many a teenager pretty terrified. Now where’s my copy of “Jane Eyre gets bare”?

Not everyone gets a happy ending
I’ll still never forget the sheer horror with which I laid down Birdsong the first time I read it aged 11. Deaths of wonderful characters, dizzying romances sunk into banality, and unexpected reconciliations, Faulk’s most famed novel is beautiful, yet uncompromising. And it certainly wasn’t the first I was to come across. The painful injustice in To Kill a Mockingbird, the bruising finality of Atonement, Dumbledore dying in Harry Potter...

Literature has an incredible power to reveal that the truth about life is that there really is no truth. It is characterised by stories without morals, questions without answers, and endings that are not happy. But it also teaches us about the beauty that lies behind it all, and that glinting possibility, that just perhaps, ours might be the happy ending that comes out of it.