I hate driving...

This is a short one, and no pictures I'm afraid (public computer...). So this is what it comes down to-- I HATE driving...H-A-T-E it. I'd managed to forget how much I hate it seeing as I haven't properly driven in over two years. Oh sure, I drove some while I was home last Christmas...but that was a short time and not every day. It also wasn't in a city. Yeah, city driving has never been one of my favorite things in the world and I never worried about it since the times I've lived in a city (St. Louis and Ilsan/Seoul) I haven't had a car or driven really. So it just wasn't something I had to deal with. Until this week.

Siobhan had to work Saturday night so that meant I had to take things into my own hands in order to make my way to Dublin. I decided to rent a car and drive my way through Ireland and be able to stop where I wanted and see whatever strikes my fancy as I'm going along. In opposition I'd be stuck on a bus for immesurable amounts of time with no possibility of stopping off to see something weird I saw a sign for three kilometers back. To top it off I'd have unwieldy luggage that is overpacked to deal with as well...not looking desirable. So I rented a little car from Hertz. Those smarmy bastards suck you in with low rates of 7 Euro per day...haha. I spent much more than I had anticipated...but I'm jumping ahead now. I left Cork Saturday afternoon after Siobhan dropped me off at the airport to pick up my car. I had a faint idea of where I was going, determination to drive on the Left side of the road and learn to shift gears with my left hand...weird. Well, for awhile it was ok. I managed to drive on the correct side and shift without difficulty---and learned how to do this all in the gale I was driving through on leaving Cork! The only thing I hadn't learned until a long line of honking cars alerted me to the fact that the slow lane on the interstate was NOT the right hand lane...nope. Of course it would be the opposite. What was I thinking?!?!

I drove through the countryside to Cahir Castle- it was pretty. I stopped in Limerick for the night...struggled to find parking in downtown after finding the first B&B I could...down by the train station. Now train stations, in my experience, are all located in basically the same neighborhoods, no matter what country you are in or what kind of city you're in; they're all going to be in bad neighborhoods. When walking to the train station in Cork one day I discovered no less than three cars with busted out windows...St. Louis is worse in the scary factor...and I was parked across the street from the train station in Limerick...great idea. So I was concerned all night that I was either A-going to discover my car missing a windshield and my luggage gone (only clothes, but still) or B- that the kindly old lady in the B&B was wrong and my car would be clamped in the morning for parking in a loading zone. Morning came and both I and the car survived.

I decided not to stay Sunday night in Galway...I don't like cities and had a bit of trouble in Limerick that Saturday night that I just really didn't want to do cities again. So I found a country B&B in the middle of nowhere to stay...where I watched a special on TV about No Gun Ri in the Korean War...it was nice hearing Korean again (didn't think I'd say that) and seeing Korean faces. lol. No really, it was. I think my homesickness has sunk in and I miss Korea like crazy now. It started with having korean food while Laura and Luke were visiting and has only gotten worse. Moving on.

Today I drove from just outside Galway to Dublin, with a minor detour to Clonmacnoise, the oldest monastic settlement in Ireland. It was nice, I think I'll get some good pictures from that set. I also visited the Cliffs of Moher on Sunday's drive and the rain cleared while I was climbing around and started when I was going into the gift shop, good timing. Anyway, onto Dublin. Oh Dublin...you're a city and I'm driving in a car...two things that I know I shouldn't do at the same time. Well, needless to say, I was stressed out. I'm sure I had managed to raise my blood pressure when nothing else will make it go up, and screamed at my car and cried because I was hopelessly lost and gave up finally just to park it illegally and walk in search of the rental shop. I was trying to take my car back!

I had managed to make it downtown and find my hostel with no trouble (Lord only knows how I did that one...) and then when I left in search of the car rental office downtown all the bad things about driving in a city came roaring back.

One way roads, construction delays, alternate routes, mean drivers, no navigator, no street signs big enough to read from 10 feet away (seriously...make BIG street signs...it'd help). The list could possibly go on and on.

I spent 2.5 hours driving around a 3 mile radius trying to find an elusive shop. Finally after getting assistance from a nice man at a hospital I got on the right road. Still can't find the place. Finally I park it and decide to walk from there. Six blocks later (behind me) I find it. I go pick up the car, drive it there and then they have the suggestion that I go fill up the tank. I said, nope, you can do it and charge me for it. I'm not driving that car again as long as I live. Even if it's only for two blocks and back. No freaking way. So things should be better tomorrow. No car, only my own two feet and my hopeless sense of direction to screw me up (and hey, at least I won't get into traffic congestion), so things should be much better. Until next time.