"It's Quite Lovely...Really"

Really...of all the things that are quite lovely about Ireland, the Blood Sausage was not one of them. But that's how the little Lass tried to sell it to us this morning for breakfast. You would think that is a quite lovely phrase lilting off the tongue of a sweet Irish lady...but it was actually said with a heavy Polish/Irish accent (there is a whole pocket of Poles working here in Ireland).

Well, speaking of  breakfast, let me catch you up on actually being in Ireland (the only thing those two have in common is that we ate it in Ireland). But hey, we're troopers...and so we tried it (not lovely at all). 

So we arrive after a 7 hour flight in Dublin. After factoring in the time difference, we got in at 8:30 AM...that is 6 hours ahead of Oregon. Our first job was to grab the luggage and head for the cars...yes we were renting a car. Now Mimi had asked me if I was so afraid of driving here. Pshaw!!!! No Way. I love to drive and I love challenges while doing so. As you may know, the whole fricken world drives on the right hand side of the road...except Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales...what's wrong with these people?

But I was up for the challenge anyway. the actual driving on the left isn't all that bad...it is the other aspects that you don't think of until you are face to face with a total bass ackwards vehicle. I told Mimi I couldn't find the door locks for the door...apparently they don't put them on the passenger side door. It's a safety prevention device so drunk americans don't get into their cars. But once I realized I was on the wrong side (and trust me I wasn't drunk) I did indeed find the door lock on the driver door...you just need to go around to the other side.

So once I actually got in the car I noticed that the stick shift did not move...well I mean it moved...but somehow I had to make it move with this thing called a left hand. The only thing that hand is good for is to carry my wedding ring. 

But eventually I got the hang of it after going round and round in the rental car yard and was ready to hit the open road.

Now once you come face to face with oncoming traffic it makes you pucker up just a bit (if you know what I mean) and try to dodge the cars, trucks, and busses coming at you. It is just bizarre at best to see them on that side of the road.

then there are the mirrors. After nearly merging into a truck I realized I needed to look in a mirror on the right side of the car and not the left. It was about 30 minutes into the drive that I realized the rear view mirror was also attached on the left side. I would have never expected to find it there. 

The only thing that is similar to driving in America is the simple hand gestures they seem to use. The one finger sticking out of the middle of a clenched fist means the same here as it does at home. It is usually accompanied by a frenzied horn blast here though. I couldn't quite make out the words they were saying, but it sounded like I was making their truck go off...or something like that.

 

Now don't get me wrong, after you learn to negotiate the wrong side of the road, the weird shifter, the crazy mirrors, and the pushy rude drivers, it looks...well...quite lovely...really.