Imagine, you have been on a transatlantic flight for six and a half hours. You left Philadelphia at 8:50 PM on a Thursday and you landed in Shannon Ireland at 8:30 AM Friday morning. You're tired. You're hungry. It's raining. Then the reality hits you. "I'm not in Kansas anymore!" You look for the Hertz car rental desk and they advise you that the actual pickup location is a bus ride away. You begin to feel the pangs. Your breathing gets heavier. Your heart begins to pound. You arrive at the pickup location and you face your fate...... You have to drive on the left side of the road.
I experienced this very chain of events last August when I arrived in Ireland with my wife and two children. Upon landing, I left my wife and two year old son at the airport with our 12 metric tons of luggage, and my daughter and I were off to retrieve the car.
Now, I can tell you that the actual driving on the left side of the road thing would not be so bad except that I had to do it from the right side of the car. And, to make matters worse, I was driving stick for the first time in three years and had to learn how to shift with my left hand.
Ahhhh, the memories. I was not out of the airport before I completely forgot everything. I was like a newborn fowl on wobbly legs. Even the turn signals were reversed! Swerving to and fro, and constantly drifting off the road, I made my way for the Irish version of a freeway. But, alas, this was not so bad. Sure, I missed an exit or two, and I was still drifting left, but I was beginning to get the hang of it. Or so I thought.
When you leave the airport at Shannon, there are giant signs saying "Drive on The Left". As you drive on you begin to see the even larger signs professing the number of tourists killed on the local roads in the past 12 months. These are not so much intended for the highway driver as they are preparation for leaving the highway.
Ireland is known for its lush beauty, rolling green hills, and magnificent cliffs. What you don't hear about is that their roads are barely a single lane wide, often lined with hedgerows, and curve and turn constantly. Most of the time you are amazed that the speed limit is set so high because no one in their right mind would dare drive that fast on these roads. As if that is not enough, The Irish must have a "Park at Will" clause because they can and will stop their cars in the middle of the lane, get out, and walk away. More than once, I was forced off road just to pass a parked car.
I hope I don't sound as if I am complaining. After all, there are like a gazillion acres of wide open space everywhere and still the roads are nine feet wide. But I will admit that once I got the hang of driving on the left, from the right, whilst shifting with the left, I became quite relaxed. You see, there is no road rage. There is no hurry to get from one point to another. The Irish are much more relaxed than we Yanks and it certainly translates on the road. If someone stops in front of you and gets out to take a stroll, you simply drive onto the sidewalk and around, and continue on your merry way. I miss driving in Ireland.
One last note. Be sure to be completely comfortable on the Irish roads before attempting a drive out to the Dingle Peninsula. The cliffs drop straight down to the ocean below and the road at points cannot accommodate two cars passing each other. It was nerve racking to say the least. However, the views were well worth it.
I experienced this very chain of events last August when I arrived in Ireland with my wife and two children. Upon landing, I left my wife and two year old son at the airport with our 12 metric tons of luggage, and my daughter and I were off to retrieve the car.
Now, I can tell you that the actual driving on the left side of the road thing would not be so bad except that I had to do it from the right side of the car. And, to make matters worse, I was driving stick for the first time in three years and had to learn how to shift with my left hand.
Ahhhh, the memories. I was not out of the airport before I completely forgot everything. I was like a newborn fowl on wobbly legs. Even the turn signals were reversed! Swerving to and fro, and constantly drifting off the road, I made my way for the Irish version of a freeway. But, alas, this was not so bad. Sure, I missed an exit or two, and I was still drifting left, but I was beginning to get the hang of it. Or so I thought.
When you leave the airport at Shannon, there are giant signs saying "Drive on The Left". As you drive on you begin to see the even larger signs professing the number of tourists killed on the local roads in the past 12 months. These are not so much intended for the highway driver as they are preparation for leaving the highway.
Ireland is known for its lush beauty, rolling green hills, and magnificent cliffs. What you don't hear about is that their roads are barely a single lane wide, often lined with hedgerows, and curve and turn constantly. Most of the time you are amazed that the speed limit is set so high because no one in their right mind would dare drive that fast on these roads. As if that is not enough, The Irish must have a "Park at Will" clause because they can and will stop their cars in the middle of the lane, get out, and walk away. More than once, I was forced off road just to pass a parked car.
I hope I don't sound as if I am complaining. After all, there are like a gazillion acres of wide open space everywhere and still the roads are nine feet wide. But I will admit that once I got the hang of driving on the left, from the right, whilst shifting with the left, I became quite relaxed. You see, there is no road rage. There is no hurry to get from one point to another. The Irish are much more relaxed than we Yanks and it certainly translates on the road. If someone stops in front of you and gets out to take a stroll, you simply drive onto the sidewalk and around, and continue on your merry way. I miss driving in Ireland.
One last note. Be sure to be completely comfortable on the Irish roads before attempting a drive out to the Dingle Peninsula. The cliffs drop straight down to the ocean below and the road at points cannot accommodate two cars passing each other. It was nerve racking to say the least. However, the views were well worth it.
See ya at the pub!!!
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