OK folks - this is the deal. In the UK, they drive on the left side of the road. The steering wheel is on the OTHER side of the car from where we Americans are accustomed to seeing it. No biggie really - unless you're going to be the one driving it. So, why does this come up? Well...tomorrow we are returning to Stonehenge (yes, going back) this time with our professor and her 2 boys, aged 13 and 16. Then we're going on up to Avebury, which we missed last time due to timing issues. How do we do this with this many people and try to make it work? Well, you rent a car of course! So, tomorrow at 10 am we are picking up a VW Golf (no kidding, it was the only automatic they had available) that we need to return by 5:30 or return to Salisbury on Friday to return it (which really won't work because we need to be in London taking exams).
Guess who was nominated to drive this thing?
Oh yes...yours truly.
We'll see how it goes. I've been here long enough (nearly 6 weeks in the UK, folks) that I am accustomed to things, for example, like looking right instead of left when I cross the street and remembering to check behind me. (Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear). And we are driving on these windy country roads the whole time - Avebury is this tiny little town - so I'm not going to be driving in uber-traffic. But it certainly will be an experience.
Yesterday I went with our professor's niece out to Camden Town, London. It was very cool - quite punk. Then we walked over to Regent Park to meet a bunch of people for dinner. I fell in love with Regents Park - I think that it was my favorite part of London thus far. I spent loads of time ogling ducks in the duck pond and smelling the 45,000 varieties of roses they have growing there in the rose garden - all beautiful and huge blooms. I was so sad that I didn't have my camera with. But I found the slouchy bag that I wanted in Camden Town. That was a good thing. It will wad up & stuff into my backpack, but it's big enough for my camera and other junk that you'd be likely to want to drag around a city.
Our finals are Friday. I'm ready to leave for Paris. I'm most ready to shake off the shackles of going to class. I'm ready to move on. I am just starting to find the things I love about London, though. Which makes me sad that I'm leaving now, despite all the freakiness of the place (like me getting kicked out of Kings Cross at 11pm onto Grey's Inn Road in the DARK by MYSELF because of a bomb scare - I pretty much RAN home...fortunately it was only a mile & a half). I think that will be the lovely thing about Vienna - I will be there long enough to sort out what I love and know where everything is. Find my favorite coffee place, favorite foods, places to get what I need, places I love to sit & just be...it will eventually feel settled. I'm not in this place long enough to get that feeling.
Just 2 more days in England!
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