Fri 19 Oct 2007
I just want to be let alone.
This is not, by any means, a dig at my traveling companion. If not for her, my stupid German-accented driving commentary wouldn’t make a ripple. I love laughing ourselves to sleep and sharing desserts and playing the simile game we play when trying to find new words for ‘pretty.’ Because, of course, Scotland is pretty. And gorgeous and exquisite. And… well, it’s Angie’s turn now.
I’m just not used to this. Eating, sleeping, teeth-brushing - I’m accustomed to doing it all alone, on my time, and to no soundtrack other than the thoughts in my own head. And Angie isn’t really one for companionable silence. And that’s alright - not everyone prefers to sit in absolute quiet. But boy, I sure do. I love quiet in the car, and quiet while I’m wandering, and I don’t necessarily want to have the street signs read to me. But saying this kindly and diplomatically can be hard — if not impossible — because it’s usually at wit’s end that it occurs to me to mention it.
Speaking of the car and wit’s end: Driving on the left side of the road is, incidentally, totally nerve-wracking. The streets here are incredibly narrow. And if it looks like a turning lane, it probably isn’t. And if your GPS tells you to go right, she probably means left - so that’s no help at all. And by the end of the day, I’ve very nearly had three strokes and a total emotional melt down, and then, I still have to buy gas at EIGHT DOLLARS a gallon. Man, am I glad I’m done with that whole thing and back on the train, letting someone else do the driving.
And even in all this missing my alone time, I know that when Angie leaves on Sunday, I will wish her back again to read me road signs.
As a side note: I have to say I’m amused by the comments that express displeasure that I’m blogging about traveling (and, god, the nerve, linking to where I’ve posted the photos I’ve been taking). I’m not sure what I’m expected to write about… when this is a personal blog, and personally I’m traveling right now. For the next several weeks. I’ll be staying put in Barcelona next week, so I hope to be able to get out, meet the locals and have some fresh, funny stories. In the meantime, jump ship if you must, or stay and have a look at some photos I took in the shire and on the moor.
