Suffice it to say that the 18 years since I last drove on the left hand side of the road feels more like 50..... Scared, Be OH so scared ye drivers of bonnie Scotland for you now have two American gals traversing the country in their spiffy Skoda Fabia!
Day One....Helen, brave Helen,takes the wheel! I admire her; I THANK her.....she is calm...she is collected....she is sweating profusely and her innards are clenching....BUT, she shows it not......She is woman empowered!
She says she is relieved to park the damn thing and get out! We have gone about 10 miles at this point....at an average of 20 mph ...... It has been a test! We are alive...so is everyone else....so are the sheep on the side of the road.....SCARED....but alive.
Two hours later we take on the fearsome challenge ahead....finding our B&B in the patchwork of Inverness....a BIG city...In massive traffic....it is Rush hour- 5 PM....with ROUNDABOUTS! After many a moment of " deep breath, we are fine". We make it to Ardemanech B&B ......Just...where Helen, brave Helen, parks the car....declares she is In Fact quite " skeert of roundabouts" and calls for a whisky.....or four! I oblige....she deserves a medal. Several whiskys later we declare Inverness a " walking town" and leave our Fabia to rest.
Day Two..... No longer terrified, we make it out of Inverness, barely, as I , the navigator at this point, continue to confuse left turns ( because they do not cross traffic) with right hand turns which do......I promptly call " Take the next Left!" And point right.....confused....we are very ,very confused. Yet, after only a few short miles I do the deed and take the wheel.
By now we are feeling much more secure....and do quite well until we reach a stretch of one lane road...... Which feels at least 20 miles long ( more like 5 :-) ......with pull outs ...Itttty bitttty made for Smart car sized pull outs and NEVER where we need them pull outs....and when we do find them they are pothole ridden pull outs.....more than once this day poor Helen was bounced into the car roof as I misjudged the depth of these damned holes! The lesson in driving etiquette, pull outs and how to utilize them well, is not wasted as we firmly decide a sign in our back window alerting all to the danger they face following to close is quite In order!
Rain, wind, sleet, lack of street signs.....Helen having to yell " No No...your OTHER left" a time or two....we make it to Greshornish.....deep, deep into the back hollows on the Isle of Skye. We have survived....once again the sheep have survived....we've got this!
Day Three........Cell memory take over...." Only twice!" She says does Helen pull into the right lane facing oncoming traffic.....".and what were you worried ride about anyway? There was no one coming!" She tells me. And, question: How polite shall we be? Shall we pull into a pull out lane on the right hand side on One lane road.....hmmmmmm....tried that today too.
Thank God we have only one day left before we are on foot for 10 days. But oh dear God, that one day includes a journey into the deepest depths of downtown Glasgow to return this fabulous little Fabio.
And we have sweated this for the last three days......how many bloody roundabouts will there be? And if two lanes was bad, God bless us as we maneuver 5 or 6......God bless all those who drive near.....God bless the poor pedestrians.....
At least we know God has blessed the sheep....they are now safe :-)
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