"you can't possibly get lost"---- that will be the motto for this trip, because we've heard it at every place, pub, village, out of every mouth to give us directions and we've always managed got, indeed, get lost. And here's the reason: the English road system is not like America's.
1. No directions-- North, south, east west. No, they have small signs, usually hidden behind a very large hedge, that give the next town up the road. Therefore, if you don't know where yu are going, you can't ge there.
2. Hedges, see above
3. Signs are only given once, right at the round about and you must read quickly and then navigate the roundabout.
4. Once you are on a road, they never tell you what road you are on, nor do they give speed limits. Although for us, that has not been a problem as we have been driving so slowly, trying to miss the edge of the road, which grows right up to the edge with those very large, obstructive hedges. No shoulder, no verge...
English roads fall into 5 levels. The large blue roads-M roads: these would be equivalent to our interstates. Then the green roads, usually A roads: equivalent to our state roads. Then the B roads, smaller state roads. Then yellow roads, like county roads, then white roads, the country lanes. White roads are usually 12 ft across and often require one driver meeting another to back up to a wide spot to allow passage. Again, no shoulder, no verge...
It's been very stressful and I'm sure to have an ulcer at the end of the trip. Jim is laughing as he reads this, but I'm dead serious. Ulcer. My stomach has been upset for three days,such that I cannot eat much and only want bland, potatoes and bread things. I've been taking pepto bismol for two days just to keep stable. So Jim thinks it's stress, and perhaps it is. The roads are so twisty, steep, narrow, poorly marked, potted, and wife driving on the left and with the steering on the right----man! Constant stress in the car.
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