Driving on the Left

I have several back-logged blogs to post, but this will be the first. Yes, that is me in that picture, behind the wheel of a Ford Focus, driving on the left!

It is unbelievable to me that self-respecting car rental companies here in the UK will rent a car to any yahoo who gets off the plane at Gatwick or Heathrow. We can't have guns in the UK, but they will rent two or three ton vehicles to people who have spent their entire lives driving on the right side of the road (and on the other side of the car).

On Friday, we hired a car at Gatwick, with the intention of doing a loop around the south-east part of the country, from Dover to Stonehenge, then back to London. The first part wasn't too bad, apart from the 45 minute traffic jam on the M25, because when you are on the motorway, it is just like an American freeway, just on the other side.

However, the little towns were an absolute nightmare. Roundabouts, cars parked on the left side of the road to avoid, fog, it just kept getting worse. Finally I found an oasis at the Yew and Ewe, a lovely little pub/inn in Kent. I was desperate for a place to eat and saw the sign at the first roundabout, then the second, and figured it was an omen. Otherwise I think we would still be driving on the coastal route to Hastings.

So we aborted the southern coastal route and the next day drove back up to the M25 to cut over to stonehenge. It was a much better plan.

The good news is that we found not just one, but two amazing little country pubs to visit. The Yew and Ewe served excellent food and drink, and we were the only ones there for the night Friday, so we had a fantastic breakfast all to ourselves the next day. Unfortunately, the inn will change owners at the end of the month and become the Royal Oak, which was the original name. I wonder if the sheep across the way will have anything to say about it?

See all the photos from this and from Stonehenge here.