The Refectory & Library
Mmmmh, food. The main refectory is up and running, serving a nice range of gorgeous food, second only to my mother's cooking. It's also very well priced so I'm more than happy to make this my stop for main meals when I'm not at Allt-yr-yn.
My father and I stopped in the main refectory last year when we attended the University's open day. Back then it consisted of little more than a large hall with plenty of seating and a small servery counter at one end. Not any more! The front end is like walking into a modern coffee bar where there's a servery selling drinks and snacks. People sit in comfy looking seaters dotted around little coffee tables, chatting or reading papers.
Further down, you come to the hot food servery which is very much like what you'd expect in one of the more modern motorway service stations. Once you're laden up with food and a little lighter in the wallet, the space for eating in is well lit and the chairs are quite comfortable. My only qualm would have been the spacing of the tables but from my experience in designing commercial restaurants and the like, it's nothing out of the ordinary. Noise, which often plagues such places, isn't too much of an issue and that all comes down to good design.
As I've made quite clear, I was very impressed with the food quality. Considering I hadn't paid the earth for my food, the plate was left looking like a miniature food mountain. With the refectory being open seven days a week, there's not really any excuse for me not to enjoy a good hot meal once a day. Depending on what my timetable is at Allt-yr-yn campus, there may be a few days a week I'll have to eat at that location.
After eating more than my fair share, I decided to check out the library. Sadly the library was facing a power cut when I entered, though undeterred I felt my way around, dodging other folks looking just as lost and bewildered as I was feeling. I found the current publications section and picked up the latest edition of the British Photographic Journal. I found a window for light and settled down to read that as my lunch also settled down.
I was half way through the journal when the power came back up, to a collective sigh of satisfaction throughout the facility. Once I finished the mag, I walked around the three floors a little before heading back to my room. It's interesting to note that the libraries and computer suites around the University are all wi-fi enabled as too are, I believe, the various eating/drinking outlets. I think the whole of Allt-yr-yn is wi-fi enabled, seeing it's the computing and engineering school ((though they have an arts school there too)). Anywho, I've looked around and for about £20 I could get a decent 802.11g wi-fi card for my laptop which is backwards compatible with the 802.11b standard used around both Caerleon and Allt-yr-yn campus. I'll be in a better position to say if that'll be worth doing once I've got a better idea of how I might end up using my laptop once the course starts.
Thinking of the course starting, I kick off at 9.30 tomorrow morning, so I've got to catch the 8.30 bus first thing and then find room B33 for my first lecture. Communications and Presentation... sounds like a doddle!
My father and I stopped in the main refectory last year when we attended the University's open day. Back then it consisted of little more than a large hall with plenty of seating and a small servery counter at one end. Not any more! The front end is like walking into a modern coffee bar where there's a servery selling drinks and snacks. People sit in comfy looking seaters dotted around little coffee tables, chatting or reading papers.
Further down, you come to the hot food servery which is very much like what you'd expect in one of the more modern motorway service stations. Once you're laden up with food and a little lighter in the wallet, the space for eating in is well lit and the chairs are quite comfortable. My only qualm would have been the spacing of the tables but from my experience in designing commercial restaurants and the like, it's nothing out of the ordinary. Noise, which often plagues such places, isn't too much of an issue and that all comes down to good design.
As I've made quite clear, I was very impressed with the food quality. Considering I hadn't paid the earth for my food, the plate was left looking like a miniature food mountain. With the refectory being open seven days a week, there's not really any excuse for me not to enjoy a good hot meal once a day. Depending on what my timetable is at Allt-yr-yn campus, there may be a few days a week I'll have to eat at that location.
After eating more than my fair share, I decided to check out the library. Sadly the library was facing a power cut when I entered, though undeterred I felt my way around, dodging other folks looking just as lost and bewildered as I was feeling. I found the current publications section and picked up the latest edition of the British Photographic Journal. I found a window for light and settled down to read that as my lunch also settled down.
I was half way through the journal when the power came back up, to a collective sigh of satisfaction throughout the facility. Once I finished the mag, I walked around the three floors a little before heading back to my room. It's interesting to note that the libraries and computer suites around the University are all wi-fi enabled as too are, I believe, the various eating/drinking outlets. I think the whole of Allt-yr-yn is wi-fi enabled, seeing it's the computing and engineering school ((though they have an arts school there too)). Anywho, I've looked around and for about £20 I could get a decent 802.11g wi-fi card for my laptop which is backwards compatible with the 802.11b standard used around both Caerleon and Allt-yr-yn campus. I'll be in a better position to say if that'll be worth doing once I've got a better idea of how I might end up using my laptop once the course starts.
Thinking of the course starting, I kick off at 9.30 tomorrow morning, so I've got to catch the 8.30 bus first thing and then find room B33 for my first lecture. Communications and Presentation... sounds like a doddle!
posted by Matthew E Cornish at
13:32
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home