The recent Mike Leigh movie Happy Go Lucky features an insane driving instructor (DI) who harasses his laid back pupil about her driving and her life.















But there is one thing the DI is right about in the movie. He gets very upset (well unhinged actually) when the young lady he is teaching turns up in inappropriate footwear. “You can’t drive properly in high heels,” he sneers at her.



Having nearly ploughed into a car while trying to get across a roundabout myself, I now forgo flip flops as a very unsafe form of footwear.

It turns out I will not be the only driver to sacrifice my relaxed and comfortable footwear for safety’s sake.

The Spanish police, known as the Guardia Civil, have now decided that it is an
offence to wear flip flops while driving on the Costa Blanca.



The rule applies to any shoe which does not have a back and could be in danger of impeding the foot pedal if it slipped off.

While the police in most Mediterranean countries the police force are usually quite accommodating, the Guardia Civil have a reputation for being heavy handed and should not be trifled with.

Speaking about the footwear law, a spokesperson of travel agent company airflights.co.uk said: “Many customers arrive in Spain on a cheap flight at say Malaga or Alicante Airport and immediately pick up their cheap car hire without even thinking about their footwear.

“Sensible footwear is recommended for the safety of the holiday makers and their families, other road users and of course to stay within the laws of your Spanish Hosts. So visitors to the Costa Blanca and other areas who are intending on renting a cheap car hire you have been warned!”

So, when you are preparing for your trip abroad, remember you may need to pack more than just flip flops. Or, do what I do and drive barefoot.

So when bookng Car Hire Malaga or Car Hire Alicante Airport, make sure you wear some shoes !!

Everybody has a dream. It’s just that, well, some dreams are much stranger than other dreams.
A Ukrainian man recently made huge sacrifices for his ultimate dream by selling his car, giving up his job, and dedicating two years of his life (and an unspecified amount of money) to making an unusual wooden replacement car. The new creation is made up of thousands of pieces of oak.
Vasily Lazarenko said: “The most difficult thing was to preserve the balance between the modern and vintage halves of this design, so that they did not clash with each other.”
The car was put together using bolts and glue and then finished with a wooden lacquer. It has a wooden bonnet under which is a 1981 Opel 100-horse-power engine.



According to its designer the wooden car could possibly come up for sale, but only if Vasily wants to use them money to pay for another project.
From Eastern Europe back across to America the world is full of weird cars, not all of them wooden.
One unusual design was a split car which from the front looks like a Subaru, but from the back looks like a VW. The car has two gear sticks and two engines meaning that it could certainly be described as having a split personality. That is why the creator of this car decided to call it the ‘Volksaru’.







Another real gem is the pimped out UPS van straight from hell, complete with dangerous fire stripes down the side of it. Just imagine you are sitting there minding your own business, having forgotten about that package you ordered last week, when this bad boy turns up at your doorstep! I hope the UPS delivery guy has a suitably eye catching outfit to go with his cool looking car.

The Russians have taken conspicuous consumption to a new level over the last few years and one wealthy Muscovite even thought it that it was a good idea to cover his Porsche with gold.

Covered in 40 pounds of pure gold (beaten 22 carat gold), this Porsche 911 may look dazzling but it’s a fair bet to say that it will no longer be doing 0-60 in under five seconds.

While it is beyond doubt that this turbo charged sports car looks even flashier than before, it is surely quite a lot of responsibility having an already expensive car which has been covered in gold.

You can imagine hoards of pigeons queuing up to shit on this gold plated wonder, as well as plenty of jealous motorists in old beaten up cars ‘accidentally’ banging into it.

The gold plated Porsche was always going to attract plenty of attention, some of that attention of the welcome female variety, and some of it of the unwelcome criminal variety. In fact the car was actually stolen and found again some a short time later. Very mysterious.

It is not just the outside of this Porsche which has been covered in gold but also the steering wheel, the alloys and other interior features. To top it all off the gold plated Porsche has a cool flowery design which has been etched into the gold. However, as one Russian man commented on this unusual car, – “Good taste can not be bought.”

If you can’t afford a gold plated Porsche then you’re not working hard enough. No seriously, if you can’t afford a gold plated Porsche, Rhino car hire has a range of prestige and luxury car like the Jaguar X Type available for rent in Moscow and other world wide cities at cheap prices. Our vehicles are covered by vehicle theft waivers and comprehensive insurance so you don’t have to worry about them getting stolen or damaged, though you still have to keep an eye out for pigeons which have just had their lunch.






 

A young couple tell the story of an adventurous decision to live abroad.

“It was a large step to make and yet we made it completely blind” says Ronald Stevens, a 26-year-old man who moved to Nicosia with his partner last year.

Moving to Cyprus made complete sense on lots of logical levels. The only problem was we had never been to this medium-sized Mediterranean island before.

There were lots of strange looks and questions from friends and family members about why we had chosen Cyprus, a place we had never even thought of visiting, let alone relocating to. All I could say to their enquiries was that it seemed to be the most practical option.

We wanted to live abroad and, because Cyprus is now part of Europe having recently joined the EU, it was possible to live here without much hassle.

The amount of English speakers in Cyprus is an advantage and we were both able to find work immediately for English speaking companies.

I work as a journalist and there tends to be work from companies who need people capable of writing decent English - the language in which most business here in conducted. As Cyprus is divided between north and south following the 1973 conflict with Turkey there are also plenty of interesting news stories on the island.

Many people think only of Cyprus as a holiday destination but it has a thriving economy and so my partner was able to find a job in finance.

Salaries are not as high in Cyprus as England, but there is a low rate of taxation - 10% once you are earning more than 19,000 Euros. There is also no council tax.

We have managed to find a large two bedroom flat in a superb central location for only 600 Euros per month. I’m certain this would be difficult to match in England.

Combined with a low cost of living, we feel we have a much better quality of life than in England. It was also a stroke of luck to move here just before the recession started.

Not everything is cheap in Cyprus; in fact the cost of groceries and any imported goods is high.
Our shopping bills come to more than 100 Euros per week for two people (about 87 pounds). Like everyone else we were not helped by the falling rate of the pound against the Euro.

Petrol started off relatively cheap at .77 per litre, but the price has now gone up to .89 per litre and will likely continue to rise.

Bills are affordable in Cyprus. Although the island has a water shortage (we did spend a few agonising days without water and face the prospect of more to come) water bills are low, between 16 – 20 Euros per quarter. Electricity is also reasonable at between 50 – 100 Euros per quarter.

Going out to eat and drink in Cyprus is expensive with bars in the capital charging more than 3.50 Euros for a pint and meals coming to about 50 Euros for two people.

But the great thing about living here is the fine weather which allows you to spend cheap weekends at the beach.
The beaches in Cyprus are not that fantastic on the whole but there are some dazzling, white sandy strips in Ayia Napa and the water is always gorgeous and clear.

The island is relatively small and we feel we have seen most of it in a short time. We initially rented cars from some local car hire firms here which worked out very well even though it was expensive. We would have gone with an international car hire firm to save money but at the time I was a beginner driver.

There are a few locations in Cyprus which really stand out for their beauty such as the Akamas peninsula in the south western region of Paphos. The Akamas is somewhere we would quite happily return to again and again.

Cyprus is also well placed within easy distance of many major Middle Eastern cities and we were recently able to fly to Cairo within an hour.

Although cultural differences with the Greek Orthodox Cypriots are large, they are friendly people and have been helpful to us on various occasions.

Our only bug bear is the noise in Nicosia. The driving tends to be quite bad and the use of the horn at all hours of the day, night and weekends is enough to drive you crazy. There are also an inordinate amount of high powered bikes and cars, such as Ferraris and Porches, for such a small country.

With the financial crisis creating lots of uncertainty and unemployment in England, I would recommend Cyprus to young professionals as a place to consider living. Relocating here is easier than we could have ever imagined and has been a rewarding experience.
 

Hertz has become the first car hire company to drop its minimum car rental age to 19 across various European countries.

In a further concession students can get 15% off when they hire a car and 20% off when they hire a van from Hertz.

Michel Taride, the president of Hertz Europe, said: "Hertz is the first car rental company to offer consistent pricing across Europe for younger drivers.

“We are pleased to extend our competitive prices and car rental convenience to a whole new market segment of leisure customers."
Hertz has made this important change just before the summer holidays when many students will be moving their things from one place to another.

The European countries which will have Hertz car hire for 19 year olds are Belgium, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
In other news several car hire customers have written into a magazine asking about the possibility of hiring cars in one location and dropping them off in another.

One family wrote to Smart Travel asking: “There are four people in our family and we want to rent a car in Lisbon, tour Portugal and Spain, and return from Madrid, but we have heard that cross-border rentals are excessive. Are they really?”

In response car rental expert Ed Perkins stated that it could be extremely expensive to use a drop off point in a different country with Hertz charging $900 for the privilege.
Another person with experience of the industry, Robert Bestor, the publisher of a German travel website, stated: "International one-ways are priced virtually on a case by case basis, depending on vehicle and cities involved.

“The cheapest international one-ways are city pairs like Frankfurt - Paris, Munich - Vienna, Zürich - Paris, Brussels -Amsterdam, and they range from about $140 to $300.
“Any one-way involving Italy is pricey—usually $350 to $600 and Italy is the most expensive country in Europe to rent.

"In general Europcar's fees are the lowest, followed by Hertz and Avis.  Enterprise rent a car, Thrifty car rental and Budget don’t often allow one-way car hire travel.”
Rhino car hire is proud to offer different pick up and drop off points in Various European and world wide destinations without charging a one way surcharge. Check out our latest offers as we search all the available options to come up with the most convenient car hire for our customers.