Tag Archives: winter

World’s Wackiest Rollercoasters – Voyage

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Everybody loves a different style of holiday. Some people like to tan it out through two weeks of sun, sand and sangria, whereas others will relax in warm shade and read a book or two. Some people like to see the world, snapping photos of ancient ruins and crumbling mountains and some love to ski down the sides of beautiful snowy mountains. Then there are the pleasure seekers. The ones who can easily be happy enough with a day ticket pass to Thorpe Park, where they would ride every roller coaster twice if they had the time.

Whether you belong to one of the former categories or the latter, or you are just looking for a few ways to get some thrills into your life, why not have a look at some of the world’s biggest, highest, longest and wackiest roller coasters with us at Penguin car hire?

Todays Coaster: Voyage
voytageVoyage is a traditional wooden roller coaster and is on both top ten lists for the longest and the fastest wooden rollercoaster in the world. Located at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana, the coaster is a staggering 6442 feet in length and the whole ride takes around 2 minutes and 50 seconds. The carts can reach up to 67.4mph which can be pretty intimidating for a wooden roller coaster, and climbs to a height of 163 feet at various points along the course.

Voyage also holds a world record for the amount of airtime – time in which passengers are lifted from their seats either gradually or violently – which is a gut-wrenching 24.2 seconds. Half a minute may not seem like a long time now but while you’re spiralling down at 60 miles an hour with only a padded metal bar across your lap preventing you from falling, it can get pretty exhilarating. The course ricochets through the woods of Holiday World, dipping underground at two points during the ride and starts off with a stomach-churning 154 foot drop.

As the coaster descends underground, passengers are treated to complete darkness and a rush of cool air and then suddenly plunged downwards into two more drops before emerging back out into the sunlight. For a warm Indiana day the sudden temperature change can be as thrilling as the ride itself.

With Penguin we have thousands of car hire destinations to choose from. For a hire car to Holiday World, Indiana you can drive from Terre Haute, Indianapolis or even Nashville, Tennessee. What are you waiting for? Get out there!

Celebrating May Day, Worldwide

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Next Monday the 5th May is the annual holiday May Day, and a bank holiday. Surprisingly enough, May Day is not just a tradition celebrated in the UK, but it has a different level of significance in a number of countries across the modern world. Whether you are planning a road trip across the USA, or you are looking for help hiring a taxi in Romania, Penguin can help you with a huge directory of hired cars available, all at your fingertips!

[penguin] may pole blogEngland

Associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime and fertility, May Day in England is often accompanied by Morris Dancers and with the traditional cross cultural maypole, where dancers will circle it with ribbons attached to the maypole.

May Day was once abolished by puritan parliaments but was reinstated by Charles II in 1660. In 2011 the UK Parliament attempted to replace May Day with a bank holiday in October known as ‘United Kingdom Day’ but this decision was overruled.

Ireland

Ireland has celebrated May Day since pagan times, when it was known as Bealtaine. Originally the Irish would light giant bonfires in order to welcome the coming of summer and to scare away the darkness and cold, long nights of the winter months. Although to this day larger cities do not partake in May Day Bonfires, smaller rural areas will still light a bonfire for good luck. 

Romania

May Day in Romania is commonly associated with the celebration of the beginning of summer. People would have parties where they would roast lamb and drink red wine to refresh the blood and symbolise protection from a bad harvest and diseases. People may wash their faces with morning dew for good health and you might also see birch saplings or green branches tied around house fates for good luck.

In the evenings it was traditional for both men and women to not do any work in the house or out on the farms, as well as the animals, so as to avoid bad luck. It was thought that if anyone worked during May Day eve, they could die or the animals could fall ill.

[penguin] heart blogGermany

May Day is similar to a miniature Valentine ’s Day, as traditionally a maypole was delivered to the house of a girl the night before may day, covered in coloured streamers.

The maypole is normally from a love interest, although if the pole was covered in white streamers it was considered a sign of dislike for the girl. Girls would place roses or rice in the shape of a heart at the doorstep of their loved one. On leap years, females would place the maypole on May Day.

 

Easter Celebrated By Different Cultures

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Whether you are planning on staying home for Easter Weekend, or you have decided to take a few extra days off during the Easter holiday to spend time with the kids, different countries and different cultures have individual ways of celebrating Easter Weekend. Although commonly associated with Christianity, Catholicism and the death and rebirth of Jesus Christ, cultures from around the world celebrate the death and rebirth as well as a number of other, related events in their own way.

Verges in Spain

[penguin] easter blogThe Thursday before Easter weekend is known as the night of the ‘dansa de la mort’ in the town of Verges, Spain. The residents dress up in skeletal outfits and re-enact scenes from The Passion while parading through the streets of town, complete with eerie fire torches. The parade starts at Midnight and lasts for three hours until the early morning.

The end of the ‘dansa de la mort’ is signified by terrifyingly designed skeletons carrying boxes of ashes, signifying the death of Christ.

Rome, Italy

Easter celebrations in Rome start on Good Friday, where the Pope will commemorates the ‘Via Crucis’ or ‘Way of the Cross’. At the coliseum a huge cross made of burning torches is burnt, lighting up the sky, while the 14 Stations of the Cross are described in multiple languages for all to hear.

On both Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday mass is held in the evening, and on the Sunday, visitors congregate in St Peter’s Square to be able to receive the Pope’s blessing seen from the church’s balcony. This is known as ‘Urbi et Orbi’ or ‘To the City and to the World’.

Sweden and Finland

[penguin] sweden easter blogEaster time is like a mini Halloween for most of Sweden and various areas of Finland. It was thought that on the Thursday before Easter weekend, witches used to fly to the mountains to congress with Satan. Children would wear rags and old clothes and would go from door to door holding out a copper kettle for treats.

To scare away the ‘witches’ the Swedes would light up large bonfires that would keep evil spirits from entering their homes. Nowadays children still go out ‘trick or treating’ and bonfires and fireworks are set up and let off throughout the town in  keeping with the old traditions.

Whether you need transport in the bustling streets of London, or are looking for a hire car to help you make your way through the roads of Paris, Brussels or even Marrakech, with thousands of companies to choose from, Penguin Car Hire can get hold of a first class hired car to take you where you want to go within minutes.

Holidaying in the Easter

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When it comes to the Easter holidays, although nowadays there is much more diversity when it comes to religion and the meaning of Easter, the Easter holidays are still widely recognised by schools across the country. What this means for your kids is a beautiful fortnight of no school no homework and hopefully some late nights! However what this means for you is two weeks of hastily arranged sleepovers, babysitting arrangements and if you’re lucky, a three or four day weekend to spend with the children.

Although it can be hard many of us choose to keep working throughout the Easter Holidays, even if it means hiring a babysitter to look after your young children during the weekdays. For those with older children it is slightly easier; they have more responsibility, often you can easily trust them to stay home alone without turning the house into a post-war bomb site.

Why not go on holiday then?

The Easter holidays are the perfect opportunity for parents to take some time off to spend with their kids. Sure, trips away may be more expensive during the Easter holidays, but you have a limited amount of time to spend with your children before they grow up and make their own way in the world, so why not make the best of it?

The Mediterranean

[penguin] bournemouth blogWhy not get in some early sunbathing practise? In the UK, the Easter marks the start of spring, where the air becomes slightly less icy and the grass becomes slightly greener.

Unfortunately, spring in the UK also means a lot of April showers and sometimes a Mediterranean getaway can be just what the doctor ordered.

If you are not willing to travel for your sun, you could always wait for a sunny day in the UK and Hire a car to Bournemouth for a cheeky day out at the beach?

Skiing

[penguin] skiing blogIf the sun is not your thing, why not go on a spring skiing holiday? Many ski slopes still keep their courses open in the spring, and as it is known as the ‘late season’ skiing is cheaper than at peak times!

With less people on the slopes both accommodation and course and lift passes are cheaper than if you want to ski in the full throes of winter. Bonus!

Whatever you decide to do for the Easter Holidays, make sure you enjoy it and try to spend at least a little bit of time with the kids. They’re not young forever!

 

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! 

upside-down-christmas-trees

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’.

aurora-borealis

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.

800px-Polarlicht_2

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!

Visit the Barcelona Christmas Market

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Christmas is so close we can almost hear those sleigh bells ringing. The leading retailers have been fighting for the most heart-warming advertisements on the telly and all the old, cheesy and adorable Christmas films are showing every evening. So what else can we expect in the lead up to Christmas?

barcelona-christmas-market
Why not take a trip to Fira de Santa Llúcia in Barcelona, one of the most renowned Christmas markets? Normally active between 25th November and the 23rd December, this prestigious Christmas fair has been running for over 200 years, first established in 1786!

It is situated in Avinguda de la Catedral and is home to more than 300 stalls selling a variety of merchandise and foods both traditional and contemporary. The Avinguda de la Catedral is located near the city centre and takes around 25 minutes by hired car to get to from Barcelona Airport, or only 5-10 minutes from any hotel located in the city centre.

Fira de Santa Llúcia also hosts a variety of parades, contests, exhibitions and traditional dancing and more, so for a real traditional experience with a modern day twist, there will be something there for the whole family. There is even a Nativity Scene production on at various evenings throughout the holiday season starting at 19:00 that runs for an hour and a half.

The fair’s named is derived from Saint Llúcia or the Saint Lucy, and so the best day to visit the fair is on the 13th December; the Day of Saint Lucy, where a variety of colourful performances will be on show, plus the reading of traditional Christmas stories.

log pinata fira de santa lluciaOne of the most popular stalls the Fira has to offer is the Caga Tió what looks like a giant humanoid log, complete with smiley face, hat and Christmas blanket. The tradition is that children will ‘feed’ a smaller version of the Caga Tió that they have at home with sweets, and then attack it with sticks on Christmas day until it bursts, showering them with candies and gifts. It’s sort of like a mix between a Pinata and a Stocking.

With four huge sections to explore; Simbombes, Greenery and Plants, Crafts and Nativity and Figurines, and with a wealth of traditional and cultural performances showing, a trip to the Fira de Santa Llúcia is not to be missed.