Leaving London and public transportation behind brought us to our next challenge,( and by us I mean John). It was time to get our car for the next three months. We took our last ride on the tube early Sunday morning back to Heathrow and the car rental lot.
Originally, we had booked a manual transmission but caution and wisdom prevailed. We decided driving on the wrong side of the road would be challenging enough so we changed to an automatic. At first the price was 4 times that of the manual, but John persuaded the manager to let us have the car for considerably less than that. We went from a small two doors Fiat to a four door, Vauxhall Astra turbo .
This was a good decision. Driving in a foreign country is always a challenge, even when you speak the language. We have had the car for over a week now and still have to remember which side of the road to be on. Like the continent, rotaries are commonly used at intersections and like the continent they are often confusing. Sometimes the roads are two lanes but often, especially in the country there is only one. Traffic goes both ways on these. The rule is first car to a wide spot pulls over and lets the other car pass. The lanes are narrow even in the best areas, so watch those side mirrors!
Parking is allowed in any direction on either side of the road, even those with barely room for one car to get through. The sidewalk is an option if there is one. Sometimes you get lucky and find a real parking lot or a field.
So far we have found very few roads that we would consider to be a highway. When we have the slow lane is to the left, another thing to remember It is getting easier but of course, I'm not the one driving.
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