Tag Archives: christmas

Merry Christmas From Penguin Car Hire – Christmas Trees

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It’s Christmas Day! And the turkey is ready and roasting in the oven, the children are busy playing with their stocking gifts and mum and dad are desperately trying to clean up the shredded wrapping paper lying all around. Maybe you are stuck in traffic, driving a hired car over to relatives to spend the day with them. Or perhaps you’re just starting off your day with a lazy breakfast of bubble and squeak from the meal the night before. Whatever festivities you and your family are enjoying on Christmas day, we have a very Christmas themed blog for you on this day to keep up with the Christmas Spirit!

Here is a short list of some of the most amazing documented Christmas trees from across the world, all in one place. Enjoy!

Largest Floating Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree in Rio de Janeiro is an 85 metre metal cone that weighs a staggering 542 tonnes, and floats atop the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. It is decorated with a staggering 3.3 million Christmas lights, and Christmas doesn’t start in Rio until the Christmas Tree has been properly erected and lit up.

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World’s Biggest (to date) Christmas Tree

Lies in Gubbio, Italy. It is not a traditional ‘tree’ but is instead a tree decoration display situated on Mount Ingino, located above Gubbio. The ‘tree’ is 650 metres high and 350 metres wide, and can be seen from miles away. The shooting star at the tip of the ‘tree’ is made from over 25 lights and covers over 1,000 square metres.  The tradition of this hillside ‘tree’ has been going on for over 30 years, but this year the ‘tree’ has been the town’s biggest undertaking yet.

 

World’s Strangest Christmas Tree

There have been several competitors for this top spot, but the upside down Christmas tree is certainly worthy of the top spot, because it has all the aspects of a traditional tree, just turned on its head. The upside down Christmas tree is a great addition to any home, because it is also a space saving tree! 

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And one more, for those who really love sparing no expense at Christmas time…

World’s Most Expensive Christmas Tree

Located in the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, this tree has been decorated with over 180 items of jewellery and precious gemstones, and has been valued at 41,329,531 AED, which is approximately £6,975,880. The tree alone is worth over £6,000 but the majority of its wealth is accumulated through its furnishings.

Seeing the Northern Lights

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What is an Aurora really?

“Auroras occur when highly charged electrons from the solar wind interact with elements in the earth’s atmosphere” The colour of the aurora depends on the specific type of atom that is hit by the solar winds. The reason why the Auroras ‘dance’ is that they move along the atmospheric currents and follow the magnetic poles, which are called the ‘auroral ovals’.

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The winter months are the holiday season, the time of magic, and seeing the Northern Lights is always pretty high on the average person’s bucket list. Normally to see the Aurora you need to go north, but it may not be as far north as you think. With some careful planning and a little bit of luck, here are a few places you can get to, to see the Northern Lights, without having to empty out your bank account in order to do it.

Yellowknife in Canada

Why not go to the ‘northern lights capital of the world’, located in the North West of Canada? All you need is a starry night and you could be in with a chance of seeing the Aurora. Plus Yellowknife is known as the ‘diamond capital of the world’ as well. So there is no shortage of swanky shops. Take a taxi or hire a car in Yellowknife to be in the city centre in no time at all.

Ivalo in Finland

A place of beautiful scenery and fascinating wilderness and the hometown of expert Aurora Hunter; Andy Keen, who has several years of experience photographing Auroras, Ivalo is a great place to see the Northern Lights. He’ll take you out in search of the Aurora for £150, and with his expert knowledge in tracking Auroras, this could be invaluable if you have your heart set on seeing the Aurora.

Shetland in the UK

Surprisingly enough there is an ‘Aurora spotting’ location right in the UK. With the right latitude and closer to Norway than bigger cities like London, Shetland gets much less light pollution, so hunting for the Aurora is easier than expected if the conditions are right.

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Unfortunately the Northern Lights are a random occurrence, and so are unpredictable. You may not be lucky in that they don’t happen to come out when you want. With this in mind it is sometimes better to go to your destination with several other things planned; ice skating or seeing an opera for example. Because if you book a holiday just to see the Aurora Borealis and the Aurora doesn’t turn up for one reason or another, you will feel like it’s a wasted trip.

So get out! See the world!