CHAS’ & SUSAN’S
EXCELLENT
2002 UK ADVENTURE
DAY FOUR
Day Four was mostly spent TRAVELING!
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:15 am. So, we arranged
for a TAXI to pick us up at the Admiral Hotel at Oh-Dark-Thirty
(No WAY were we going to lug baggage through the Tube system again!),
and take us to Victoria Station, to catch the Gatwick Express airport train.
After a very brief fuss with ticketing and security check-in
(MUCH briefer than the US fuss!), we headed for our gate.
Once there, we discovered that LONDON WAS FOGGED-IN.
Our flight to Aberdeen was delayed by almost 2 hours. But, hey! We got there!
Upon arrival in Aberdeen, I went to the AVIS counter to get our car. Got the paperwork taken care of. And asked for an Aberdeen MAP. I was given a silly, small, map of the UK.
They had NO maps of Aberdeen available – even for a price!
Thankfully, I had our “Trip Book” – the notebook I’d created, containing all the
information about our trip: flights, bookings, tickets already purchased, and the like.
In our Trip Book, I had a rudimentary map of Aberdeen, and some directions to our B&B.
POINTERS about CAR RENTAL & DRIVING in the UK!
- WHATEVER IT COSTS, rent an AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION car!
I just rented the cheapest car … and got a STANDARD transmission.
I OWN/DRIVE a STANDARD transmission car at home!
But, when you have to deal with driving on the “WRONG” side of the road,
while simultaneously having to deal with SHIFTING with the “WRONG” hand …
Well! You can imagine how much LESS STRESSFUL it would have been,
had we rented an AUTOMATIC transmission car!
- BRING A MAP of your PICK-UP CITY WITH YOU!
Upon my return from the trip, I discovered that AVIS had over-charged me.
Once I had dealt with that (and a refund was arranged), I mentioned that I had only
ONE “complaint” about AVIS’ service: that of the LACK O’ MAP available.
The rep assured me that the Aberdeen AVIS should have had one for me.
I assured the rep that the Aberdeen AVIS person clearly acted as though
there NEVER was one offered by them.
The rep assured me that my “comment” would be logged for consideration.
BRING A MAP of your PICK-UP CITY WITH YOU!
- Every time you are about to make a TURN – any turn –
say the word, “LEFT!” – out loud! – to remind you to drive on the left.
Silly as it sounds, that really did seem to help!
The “ROUNDABOUTS” defy description!
ROUNDABOUTS
You must give way to
traffic from the right.
Use the left hand lane
if turning left or
going straight on. |
Enroute to our B&B, we had no idea
what the “rules” were for them –
and there were several
that we had to get through!
I swear they looked like
“free-for-alls!!!”
Thankfully, we were
clued into them later.
Even more thankfully:
we never had to deal
with a “mini” roundabout!!! |
MINIROUNDABOUTS
These are painted or
only slightly raised
and should be
treated exactly like
a normal roundabout. |
Finding The Open Hearth Guesthouse
 |
Weird (“MAGIC”) Driving
Adventure Number ONE!
Ok. We had a rudimentary Aberdeen map.
AND, we had a few directions to the B&B. But,
Road Signs are almost
NON-EXISTENT in the UK!
So, once we’d traveled to a point where we
(I) despaired – thinking we were terribly lost! –
I simply TURNED LEFT!!! (Easiest turn!) |
I drove a few blocks … saw a PUB (on the LEFT!) … and pulled over!
Once inside, I asked a guy at the Bar, “Hello! Can you help me find Holburn Street?”
He looked at me … looked out the pub window … looked back at me … and said,
“Darlin’ … You’re ON Holburn Street!”
By sheer “luck” (hmmm?),
I had turned precisely where I was supposed to have turned.
And, two blocks later, we’d found our B&B!
The Open Hearth Guest House
WAS HEAVEN! |
 |
Our hosts, Jim & Ailene Fife, were truly lovely people. Friendly, kind, eager to do anything and everything to make us comfortable and help us with our vacation. (Jim provided us with an Aberdeen map!!!) Their home was clean and comfy. Breakfast was yummy.
I don’t have a single complaint about The Open Hearth! … Susan? Any complaints?
Once settled into our room, we did little more on DAY FOUR, than eat and SLEEP! After our long last-day in London (yesterday), and the early wake-up on this morning, we were very tired!
And, DAY FIVE was booked FULL o’ FUN STUFF in SCOTLAND!
COME WITH US TO DAY FIVE!
Return to CHAS & SUSAN’S UK PIX Directory
Return to The Miller Family’s HOME PAGE
(the one with other Main-Directory Page Links)
If you have suggestions for The Miller Fandamily Web Site,
OR contributions to the photo gallery!
please Email WebMistress Chas!
c-d-miller@neb.rr.com
That’s: c-d-miller@neb.rr.com –
those are hyphens/dashes (-) between the “c” and “d” and “miller”
This COUNTER was started on September 19th, 2002.
