Weekend away – you don’t need to go as far as you think!

So returning home to south london last night was a bit of a reality check. Congested roads, sirens, loud car stereos. No wonder we all need a break sometimes from the hustle and bustle of the city. I love london, I wouldn’t have lived here 20-odd years if I didn’t, but a weekend away in the countryside always does the trick.

York was brilliant. From Jorvik to the Yorkshire Dales it really was a treat. I had ordered a car hire before so after arriving mid-afternoon Friday in York I had to go pick up the car etc. I had arranged for a mercedes e class for the space it provides. Nothing worse than the kids not having  enough space in back and distracting me. Plus  I wanted this to be relaxing for the old lady too!

The drive out there early saturday was a dream. Gorgeous morning and the kids seemed really enamoured as well. We spent most of the day walking and enjoying the views.  WE’d brought along some sandwiches and snacks and had a great picnic overlooking a little valley. Really didn’t have a care in the world.

Sunday we went to Jorvik in the morning before returning home on the train. Kids slept most of the way and so the wife and I had some quiet time to ourselves. It really was a wonderful weekend and for those looking for a break from the big city life you really don’t need to go as far as you think.

Is Germany the centre of auto innovation?

Saw this today: Apparently its a car tower in Wolfsburg Germany – pretty damn cool if you ask me.

Talk about making the most of your space! Why can’t England be that innovative. I mean our rail system is stuck in the 1970′s. Not that I’m complaining. I’m about to hop on a train with the family and spend the weekend in York so life is good.

Got everything packed up and ready to go. Even had some essentials delivered over night by an online chemist. Really important you prepare your immune system (not getting any younger) before you spend some time camping outdoors.

Really can’t wait to spend some quality time with the family. Should be a great weekend!

The City of York

So planning a weekend away you might think I’m crazy to go to York. I have to say though, apart from London, York is probably one of the most interestingly, beautiful and vibrant cities in the UK. It’s over 2,000 year is literally coming out of the ground and a weekend really isn’t enough to get through it all. (Good thing this isn’t my first visit). So to save you from my ramblings I’ll be focusing on what I’ll be doing this weekend.

First of all JORVIK is a must. I’m half norwegian and try to go at least once a year to marvel at the ancient civilisation. They literally have over 40,000 artifacts uncovered on they very ground you’re walking on! Not only the Norwegians but Romans and Saxons have also laid their claim to the city and for history fans you really can’t find enough things to do in York.

Adding the breath-taking scenery around the city, including historic Cliffords Tower, the Yorkshire Dales are also a very close drive from the city centre. Although I’ll be taking the train from londing car hire from York to the Dales couldn’t be easier and it’s definitely worth an early saturday or sunday morning trip out there. Truly wonderful views and brilliant walking trails for you to enjoy.

Best news of all – it’s inexpensive, great for the whole family and might make you appreciate a little bit more about the history of our country. It really is a rare thing to have millenia worth of history in one city, let a lone one country!

Why do people believe Dan Brown’s fiction?

Dan Brown’s books are a phenomenon. Like practically everyone else in the western world I read The Da Vinci Code and thoroughly enjoyed it. The short chapters, the thrilling suspense and the subject matter I all found very agreeable.

What I didn’t understand was why people who read the book thought it was true. No wonder the Catholic Church had to come out and lambast the book – people thought Dan Brown were dishing their dirtiest, darkest secrets. It’s not the Catholic Church’s fault the world is full of idiots. To be honest, I didn’t read Angels and Demons and I’m not planning on reading The Lost Symbol either but I’m sure there will be those who take his latest novel as a fly on wall tell all of Freemasonry behaviour. I mean there’s even a Da Vinci code tour in Rome! Give me a break.

It’s like the whole National Treasure series of movies. First of all I have a massive issue with Nicolas Cage being paid for acting. But these movies to the same line as Dan Brown’s books. Fudging the line between fiction and history. I’m worried the younger generation will grow up with The Da Vinci Code as a text book and “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” as a take home dvd assignment.

Clearly this is not the first (or last) time that the line between fact and fiction has been smudged. What is worrying is that we’re starting to not be able to tell the difference. So few of us read in the 21st century is very easy to forget what we were taught as youngsters and leave our children’s educations to Hollywood.

You’ve been warned.

More from Frankfurt

Audi has unveiled a new R8 Spyder with over 5oo horsepower. Looks a great car although I wonder where it fits with the CO2 emmisions target for 2012. BMW already released a car that is over double what the target is. Can’t imagine this V10 from Audi is any better.

Another one to look out for is the new Volkswagen Golf R. Apparently the fastest accelerating Golf ever! Not only is the new engine 35kg lighter and 15kW more powerful than the 3.2-litre V6 found in the outgoing Golf R32, it is also more efficient with a combined fuel economy figure of just 7.1 litres per 100km while CO2 emissions fall from 257 g/km to 199 g/km.

Pretty exciting start to the 10 day event. But have to say the Ferrari 458 truly lived up the hype surrounding it’s unveiling. Oh and having Michael Schumacher on hand to promote couldn’t have hurt either.

Frankfurt Motor Show

So clearly for all motor lovers big news over the next few days will be events coming out of deutschland, more specifically Frankfurt.

The Frankfurt Motor show kicked off today and there are a couple of interesting stories already emerging. Those keen for an environmental sports car will probably not be huge  fans of BMW. They’re BMW’s X6 Active Hybrid emits 231 grams of CO2 per kilometre. The EU’s 2012 target for average emissions from new cars is 120g. So they’ve got a ways to go.

Other car fans will enjoy new models from mercedes, vauxhall and rolls-royce. Have to say I’m especially keen to see the Aston Martin Rapide which looks BRILLIANT!

Whether or not all this buzz has any significant affect on the actual car market remains to be seen. Many auto-makers are still pretty skeptical but that doesn’t mean they’re not trying to “shake of the gloom”.

What car are you most excited to see?

Hello world!

Welcome to trains, planes and automobiles. This is a blog about travelling, locations and cars. I’m passionate about travelling, but like to keep it in the UK – for a number of reasons that I’ll get into. I also love cars, dream car is up in the air at the moment but again we’ll probably get into that a bit later too.

Hope you enjoy the blog. I’ll try and keep it as up to date as possible.