motoring and aviation
Whilst researching places to visit in Romania, I came across photos of a spectacular winding road, snaking its way high up to a pass over the mighty Carpathian Mountains. It looked amazing and a blast to drive, so I put the Transfagarasan Road on the must-do list. After a couple of days in Romania’s capital Bucharest, I picked up a hire car to explore the Transfagarasan. I planned to start the drive from the northern side of the Carpathian Mountain…
A big part of why I had traveled to Germany’s Baltic Coast was to visit the small village of Zirchow. And the entire reason I wanted to visit the small village of Zirchow was to go to Hangar 10, a museum which houses a unique collection of rare aircraft. Figuring out local public transport whilst traveling can be challenging, but I thought I had everything sorted for my short bus journey from Ahlbeck to Zirchow. Turns out I didn’t. I…
With no aid distribution planned, I found myself with a wintry Sunday off in Zaporizhia. Naturally favouring an indoor activity, I did a little online research and discovered there was a car museum in town. Long suffering readers will know all too well my penchant for antique autos, and won’t be surprised that I was soon winding my way through the grey city streets to Zaporizhia’s industrial area. I expected to find a small place with a handful of soviet-era…
I really enjoyed my first day exploring the Nürburgring, which had included a visit to the RingWerk Museum and touring the Formula 1 track facilities. My guide had mentioned that the Nordschleife, the Nürburgring’s spectacular and fearsome 21km circuit, was open for public driving that afternoon. He reassured me that I could take my rental car, a tiny Fiat 500, out onto the famous circuit. Without hesitation I paid my 25 euros for a lap and was issued with a…
Whilst visiting the Nürburgring, I discovered that you can do a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the Formula 1 circuit. By now I was totally hooked on the place, so leapt at the chance. Perhaps because the weather was shithouse, no-one else turned up for the 11am tour, so I had my own private guide. Sebastian was a young bloke who clearly had a passion for motorsport, and a lot of knowledge about the legendary Nürburgring. He told me we…
‘For a quick lap at the Nürburgring, you’ve probably experienced more in seven minutes…than most people have experienced in all their life in the way of fear, in the way of tension, in the way of animosity towards machinery and to a racetrack.’ Jackie Stewart, three-time F1 World Champion When I was a kid, I used to love Australian touring car racing. Holden versus Ford (there were other makes in the mix, but they were a sideshow to the Big…
I’d had a great time at the Technology Museum Sinsheim, so when I found myself on the other side of the Rhine, I thought I’d better go and check out its sister museum in Speyer. The Technology Museum Speyer is a little smaller than Sinsheim, but it still provided a very enjoyable couple of days gawping at old cars, bikes, and a whole bunch of other stuff. After handing over my euros, I scanned my ticket and pushed through the…
Mini motoring in the former Yugoslavia The former Yugoslavia was comprised of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovena, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia, and existed from after World War II until it began to disintegrate in mid-1991. During this period a thriving motor industry exisited within the Republic, producing some interesting, funky and just plain shithouse cars. In order to support the local industry, vehicles brought into Yugoslavia were slugged with a whopping 41% import duty. Needless to say, this tax, plus…
Long suffering readers will know I have a penchant for historic aircraft and vehicles, and will spend hours contentedly poring over exhibits until the cleaners throw me out. When I found out that the grandaddy of all engineering museums was located at Sinsheim near Heidelberg, it wasn’t a question of if I would go, but rather for how many days. The Technology Museum Sinsheim’s webpage offered this advice: ‘For the exhibitions you need between three and four hours. We definitely…
Trabi Museum, Berlin Cars can earn a cult following for many reasons. It could be timeless style, dependability, or tyre-scorching performance. The Trabant has none of these things, and yet DDR’s little car that could has a loyal following that sees nearly 25,000 of them still out on the road. As long suffering followers of Midlife Crisis Odyssey will know, I’m a bit partial to cars and car culture, so when I found out there was a museum dedicated to…