Again.
It seems like forever since the rainy times, actually. Today is just rain, not RAIN, but we’ve nowhere to go and nothing that needs being done, so we are in for now. Keith was working before 8am and has a 7pm meeting, so it is a working day for him. Neither of us maintained our dead status from yesterday, but I did sit down to listen to my audiobook (due tomorrow!) and fell asleep (which is actually pretty awesome).
So, since we have no exploits from today to tell about, I want to address cars. People from here and from there have assumed that we would have rented a car. We initially assumed we would rent a car, or if we were going to be here a while, even buy a car. We quickly learned that unlike when you rent a car in North America, our personal insurance would not count here. We would have to take the rental place’s insurance which made renting quite out of our budget. We considered buying a car (again, when we thought we might be staying longer), but as non UK citizens, we cannot have auto insurance here. While Keith was researching insurance he found a LEGITIMATELY listed exclusion: not available to musicians. There were a few other professions listed, but we can’t remember which, as they did not pertain. Mind boggling.
Our very first ride with Neil from the airport convinced us that we had no business even thinking about driving in the Rhondda valley. Because of the nature of the valley, there is one major road that runs through the valley, the high street of every town (the street on which we live). Here in Treorchy, the Rhondda River is one block off the street in one direction, ending roads. (For the most part. There is a bridge over the river by the Co-op where we do most of our shopping that gives an alternate way to get to the next town. And to Neil’s house.) The hills limit building much in the other direction – roads go 2-3 blocks. So there are local roads, but to actually go anywhere you drive on the main street. SO. MANY. CARS.
So many cars (we’ve seen many times that traffic is just stopped for blocks and blocks) and they are driving on the opposite side of the road from which we are accustomed (I will not say the wrong side because that is just ridiculous). I actually am currently completely confused about which side of the road a car might come from when there are no cars around. I stand and look at the road and imagine driving (which does fall into place on the right side), but then for some reason I have to put my hands out in front of me and look at them to figure out how to translate that to here. It’s probably how people with a brain injury use patterns to help remember things. My inside talking also repeats check left, check right, check left, proceed from drivers ed, and then I think do it the other way, and I end up just swiveling my head in every direction. Mostly, I am just trailing behind Keith. When I go without him, I am very, very cautious, then zoom as fast as I can across the street (cue hilarious mental image).
A super terrifying aspect to driving/riding is that cars can park on either side of the street. Parking is so limited – so many houses close together, most without an alley or garage makes for a lot of cars needing to be parked – that somehow zooming into any available space is allowed. It makes total sense that it happens, but when an oncoming car just crosses in front of your lane to park, it blows my mind.
Look at this next picture. Periodically, there is this. One lane of traffic has to come to a complete stop until there are no more oncoming cars, so they can switch lanes, go around the impediment, and back to their original lane. What? They often seem to come in pairs – one lane first, then the other lane in 20 meters or so. Is it a substitute for speed bumps? Just slowing things down? That’s all I can think of. Please give me the answer, if you know or can guess.
Since I mentioned roads ending at the river, I am going to include a picture of this amazing sight. This house has it’s own bridge over the river. I can’t love that more.
