Automobiles, or Now We Are Really Here

Leaving the car rental is nerve-wracking. It isn't even so much the wrong side of the road thing. It is more the being tired and jittery and not having great directions out of the city and there being tons of traffic thing. We manage to get out of Swansea with only one wrong turn ( I backtrack and correct it) and my pulling into the wrong lane only once ( luckily there was no one coming towards me, but I am sure the people opposite thought I was crazy- or maybe just a tourist).

Once we get onto the M4 it is actually a lot easier. I just have to keep the center line to my right at all times and not let the car drift too far to the left. I handle the roundabouts without trouble too- the road signs show these sort of round shapes with lines going off to stand for the different roads leading out of the roundabout. Once I start visualizing them as clock faces and telling myself to get off the roundabout at 12 o'clock or 3 o'clock, it becomes much easier than my first couple of panicked accelerations towards an exit, praying no one else is coming.

The most difficult things are the little ones; the road signs are not green, so your eye is always subconsciously searching for the wrong color looking for directions. The eye is what trips you up- out of its corner, you see a car coming at you and the eye tells the brain to panic and get out of the way, you're in the wrong lane!!! But you aren't and so you have to make yourself stay put and not swerve over into the other lane. I still have no idea what speed I am driving at- if the little round signs are indeed to indicate how fast we are supposed to go, no one else seems to be paying any attention so I just try to drive at a speed that isn't too annoying to fellow drivers.

Signs for towns and places are in English and Welsh, so that isn 't too bad. But when you have to ARAF because another sign says YGOSOL it takes a few times to get it that you have to SLOW because of a SCHOOL. They are also very fond of painting all your turning instructions, etc. onto the road itself in fading white paint, which is not too easy to follow when it is pouring rain with a plumbers' van bearing down on you.

But really, I am not minding the driving. People are so nice about everything here. In the village, streets are so narrow that you just cruise over into the center until someone comes the other direction. Then you sort of take turns pulling to one side to let the other person through and everyone gives 'the wave' to thank you. I hate it when people don't give the wave when you let them into your lane or whatever. Here, so far, everyone does.

I've got so much more to write about- Laughrane and the castle and lots of other things. But I'm tired now and it's late here. More coming soon!