Due to the holiday, we are going to have yet another instalment of Travel Trivia today! Last week, Andrea knew the location was Lake Thun in Switzerland, and posted the first correct answer which makes her the winner! And now for this week’s trivia…

Where is this scenic Christmas Market?

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New Year’s Eve is celebrated all over Europe with as much enthusiasm as it is here in the United States.

In France, New Year’s Eve or la Saint-Sylvestre, is celebrated with a feast called le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre. There is always plenty of Champagne for this feast. It can be celebrated in any of the major cities, as well as smaller groups for more intimate settings.

Silvester is the name of the German New Year’s celebrations. The City of Berlin plays host to one of the largest New Year’s Eve celebrations in Europe and draws a million people. Fireworks from the Brandenburg Gate take place at midnight. The sale of firecrackers and fireworks is always high around this time, so watch your feet!

New Year’s Eve in Ireland is typically modest compared to the rest of Europe. Dublin’s New Year’s celebration ends with fireworks along the River Liffey. Other major cities in Ireland that have New Year’s celebrations are Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

Capodanno is the Italian word used to describe New Year’s Eve. The proper dinner is enjoyed with family and friends, typically includes spiced Italian sausage with lentils. At midnight, fireworks are enjoyed in most cities throughout the Italy.

New Year’s Eve in Spain is called Fin de Año. Family feasts traditionally include shrimp and lamb or turkey. Tradition in Spain says that wearing red underwear on New Year’s Eve brings good luck. Weather or not this is true is debatable. The countdown is followed from the clock on top of the Casa de Correos building in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid. Traditionaly, twelve grapes are eaten for each chime of the clock. The parties after the 12 grapes usually last until the next morning. They range in size from small celebrations at local bars to huge parties with thousands of guests.

In the UK, London has a massive fireworks display, which is viewed by millions on television. The fireworks display in London celebrations centre around the London Eye. In Edinburgh a giant cannon is fired at right at the stroke of midnight at the scenic Edinburgh Castle. Scotland celebrates New Year as Hogmanay.

However you decide to celebrate, please be safe, and enjoy the festivities!

Auto Europe wishes you all the best in the new year.
Follow Auto Europe in 2009 on Facebook!

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We get many questions every day about the additional equipment that can sometimes be rented in Europe.  Let’s take a look at what is generally offered, and when is the best time to ask for it.

Child seats are available at nearly every location. You will want to request the seat in advance, as it will be attached to your rental. Make sure to note the age and weight of the child in the request. There are many laws pertaining to children in car seats, and the rental companies can be held responsible if you drive off the lot without one when it is needed. Older children may also use booster seats if the location knows to have them in advance.

Ski/snowboard racks are generally only available at mountain locations.  This is another item that you should request in advance. It’s important to note how many pairs of skis/snowboards you will have with you so that you can reserve what you need. Typically a car can be fitted with a rack that can hold 4 pairs of skis, or 4 snowboards.

Auto Europe offers GPS on all rentals in Europe, so it is important to request it in advance. We offer our own in house GPS, which you can read more about here.

In Europe, pretty much all new cars come equipped with CD players and 1/8″ auxiliary inputs. There are however some cars that will not have either of these, so if you need either, it’s best to ask at the counter.  All rental cars in Europe will have a standard FM radio, so if you take an FM transmitter with you on your trip, you will be able to listen to your own music once you plug in your MP3 player.  If you are going to be in Europe for a longer stay, our Peugeot leasing options will provide an auxiliary input in all but two of its models in 2009.

Diesel fuel is available to request at the counter, although there are some cases where we can confirm it in advance, like with our long term Peugeot leases. Read more about diesel myths here.

Of course there are other things that different rental stations may have to offer. Remember that it is always a good idea to book whatever equipment you need as far in advance as possible. It can only help make your vacation more smooth!

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Congratulations go out to Damien who knew the correct answer to last week’s Travel Trivia.  The correct answer was Rotterdam.  A reminder to everyone, if you have any good images you think would work for Travel Trivia, please send them to Hans@autoeurope.com.

And now for this week’s photo:

Q: On what lake is this famous castle located?

Good luck, answers will be posted on Monday!

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Millions of Americans like to contribute time and money to charities during the holidays. However this year, things may not be so easy. With our economy in a recession, it’s hard for many of us to find extra money to spare. One way that you can make a donation to someone who really needs it is by giving blood.

Donating blood is a great way to give something back to the community and help someone in need. Donated blood is needed for emergencies and for people who have cancer, blood disorders, sickle cell, anemia and other illnesses. Some people even need regular blood transfusions to live.  Only five percent of the eligible population donates blood in a given year, and that’s not enough.

The entire process only takes about an hour. It starts with  registration, where you fill out a brief questionnaire and show proper ID. You are then asked some quick general health questions while your blood pressure heart rate and iron levels get checked.  Provided you meet the criteria, trained staff members will then draw a pint of blood, which takes about 10 minutes. After a snack and 15 minutes of monitoring, you are on your way.

Sounds easy enough, right? Then make the step this holiday season and donate blood. Each donation can save up to three lives, and you can donate again after only 56 days. You can visit www.givelife.org to find the closest blood drive to you.

From all of us here at Auto Europe, have a safe and happy holiday season.

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Last night, we got hit with a pretty good sized snow storm. If you need a glimpse of it just check out our online harbor camera. With all the snow, I thought I would mention some ways to stay safe when in Europe with a car rental. Here are some helpful hints on winter driving that you can take with you on your next trip.

Make sure that your car has proper snow tires and chains if necessary. In winter, pretty much all major car rental companies will rent you cars with snow tires. This is especially important as you get closer to the Alps, or other mountain ranges. There are many roads in Europe that will require snow chains. Many rental companies will not supply these unless you are already in a high altitude location. If you are renting this winter, be sure to find out this information.

Even though you have a rental car, make sure to check the windshield washer fluid and anti-freeze levels. If you have ever been in on the Autobahn in winter when the roads are wet, you will be glad you have the ability to clean the glass while driving.

Don’t let the gas lines freeze. Apparently diesel can freeze in temperatures below freezing so in mountain locations, the fuel is sold with a special kind of anti-freeze already mixed in. You can also purchase a special additive that will keep it from freezing and add it yourself. This only applies to diesel cars. If you prefer to add it yourself, there are usually two kinds of diesel fuel available in the mountain locations, so it’s up to you.

Most rental cars will come equipped with a scraper, but it’s something you should double check at the station before you drive off. Make sure you are prepared with plenty of warm clothes, just incase you do need to sit for a while. Like someone used to tell me, “Always be prepared!”

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It’s Thursday, and that means another round of Travel Trivia!  Last week’s winner was Damien, who knew the image was of Split, Croatia.  This weeks photo is another city skyline.  You may click the photo for a larger image.

What city is featured in the above photo?

Guesses will be posted on Monday morning.  Best of luck to everyone.

-Hans

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Imagine you’re cruising along through the wine country on your trip to Italy. The sun is shining, the engine of your car is purring, you’re feeling good. But somewhere in the bushes, all is not well. As you drive you decide to see what your car can really do. You make it to the villa just in time for a delicious home made Italian dinner, and the rest of your vacation is relaxing and wonderful. Six weeks later you see a mysterious charge on your credit card from the Italian car rental company.

What happened is your car had its photo taken by a road-side speed monitoring camera.  There is no chance of talking your way out it. No trying to reason with an officer or trying to explain the perfect rationale you had for going over the posted limit. The fact is that if you get one, you may not know about it for weeks. Car rental agencies in Italy are legally obligated to provide the traffic authorities with the name and address of whoever was renting the car, and generally pay off the ticket, but use your credit card to do so. They also charge an additional fee for this.

No one likes getting a speeding ticket, but they sometimes happen. Obviously, disputing the charge on your card may seem like the easy way out of paying a ticket, but most likely it won’t work. You may obtain a copy of the photograph, and if it’s not you behind the wheel, you can typically win a challenge. The best way to get out of paying one is to not get one in the first place. The cameras look like large white boxes on the side of the road, and are generally marked with signs. There are also white stripes on the road that indicate the speed trap is coming up. Slow down when you see these visual cues to avoid a ticket. Don’t worry about looking silly, everyone else will be doing the same.

Keep this in mind while driving and you will be sure to avoid any tickets while overseas!

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Looking to chill out on your next vacation? If the answer is yes, then think about a visit to the village of Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. There you will find the world famous Ice Hotel. It all started  with an art exhibition from French artist Jannot Derid that was held in a cylinder-shaped igloo.  As hotels in the area were sold out, some of the visitors asked for permission to spend the night in the exhibition hall. They slept in sleeping bags on top of reindeer skin thus, beginning the tradition of the Ice Hotel.

When the temperature drops in mid-November, the building process begins. The snow is sprayed on huge steel forms and allowed to freeze. After a couple of days, the forms are removed, leaving a maze of free-standing corridors of snow. In the corridors, dividing walls are built in order to create rooms and suites. This year, the Ice Hotel will have seventy-four rooms and occupy an area of 5,500 square meters. Nearly 21,000 cubic meters of snow and 900 tons of ice will be used to complete it. The hotel is open from the 10th of December until the middle of April. When completed, the hotel features a bar, church, main hall, reception area and rooms and suites for over 100 guests to sit and sleep on blocks of sculpted ice in the form of chairs and beds.

The Ice Hotel never gets colder than –5° C (23 F), regardless of how cold it may be outside. Before you climb into bed, you dress in warm thermal underwear, pull the hat over your ears and slip down into a comfortable sleeping bag on a bed built of blocks of ice, a thick mattress and reindeer skins. During the daytime the Ice Hotel is open to the public and everyone who wants can join a guided tour through the pillar hall, the suites and the ice rooms. You won’t want to miss out on having a cold beverage in the Absolut Icebar, located on premises. Here, your drink is not served “on the rocks” but rather “in the rocks” with glasses molded and frozen from the purest river water.

When spring comes, the ice melts away and returns to the Torne River, so don’t miss out!

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It’s that time of the week again!  Congratulations are in order to Tess who knew the correct answer to last weeks travel trivia.  The correct answer was in fact, Hallstadt, Austria!  Thanks again to Robert Todd Felton for supplying this great photo.

Here is this week’s photo:

What is the name of this 1,700 year old European city?

Good luck to everyone this week!

-Hans

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