Newcastle

Next year, I'm going to Newcastle for my Erasmus. I have a couple of friends working there, I went for a visit for 5 days recently to see what it was like.

It's not a big city, but it doesn't feel small. It's not really oriented towards tourists, but it has some lovely places, streets that almost all of their buildings are monuments, churches, bridges, very nice parks, etc.

It seemed like a city that is predominantly for young people, something I was really pleased about, it's also a city that has a lot of life, there were people shopping and eating in the cafes, etc. at all times.

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Even though it's not a very big city, there are two universities there that both offer quite a lot of courses and master's programme. There are 16 university residences in the city centre, as well as a lot of flats and houses for young people and students in the centre and around it, which shows that the universities and university students are a driving force behind the city.

As for the gastronomy, well it's a bit soon to judge, but there are usually some very nice pubs that serve typical English food, and then they also have cuisines from all over the world: Greek, Italian, Vietnamese, fast food, etc.

Having so many young people there, there are quite a lot of offers and centres to play all different kinds of sports, the university has a lot to offer.

Regarding partying, well I went thinking, like we do in Spain, that there wasn't any partying, and I was right and wrong, let me explain: there are lots of clubs, lots of pubs, concerts and all kinds of things to do. I found it interesting that there are parties on during the week; I went out on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and on Monday I was queuing up for a club, so I don't think I'll be lacking on partying. Places there close at 3 or 4 a. m. or maybe some of them close later, but since you start the night pretty early, you do end up getting tired out.

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The prices surprised me quite a bit, since it was England, I though that it would be super expensive, but it wasn't at all, the prices were pretty good, it seems to be a cheap part of England.

The people there are pretty happy and outgoing, the "Geordies" are famous for their good character, although they are the only people who can understand their own way of speaking English, an English person from London can't understand a strong "Geordie" accent, but not everyone there speaks like that.

One of the things I liked the most was that, because the prices of things aren't too high here, a lot of people choose to come here to study. I met people from the United States, from Greece, India, Korea, China, Latin America, etc. So it's a pretty cosmopolitan place from what I could see.

Transport there is very well organised and the taxis are especially cheap.

The worst thing there is the weather, it's cold, unpredictable and there is very little sun, but you can get used to it.

The Newcastle football team is a great team and is going up to the Premier League...

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Newcastle is near the beach and to lovely towns like Durham, it has commuter train connections to other important cities in England, like Liverpool and it is especially close to Edinburgh, you have to visit that city.

In general, I got a good impression, it's a very manageable, safe, fun city for young people, which is an easy place to enjoy. I hope that it will be and that this article has been helpful to you.

Thanks, guys.

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