I feel like my first time driving in Ireland probably deserves it’s own post. You can tell Hertz in Dublin is used to tourists since they issued me my own VIP Bracelet!
Someone blared their horn at me when I had to switch lanes last minute at the airport. I responded with an authentic gesture of American gratitude! Good bye Dublin…off to Belfast!
Of course 2 min after I situated myself in the driver’s seat it started to rain. But not just a steady rain. The kind that spits and then pours and then stops, and repeat. My kids thought it was funny listening to me mutter to myself because I just could not endure the stress of handling a car gadget while driving.
City driving was hairy, but if you follow the general flow of cars, you are most times ok! Highway driving is pretty easy as long as you remember the right lane is the “takeover” lane, not the left. Sometimes you find yourself with an angry driver up your rear end while you are gawking at the scenery. Oh, and Ireland loves round abouts. Everywhere. Randomly inserted everywhere. Tractor also drive on the freeway. Actual tractors, doing 30 mph in the left lane. You’ll know you have crossed the border to the UK when you see speed limit signs change back to miles.
You have to watch drifting off the left side of the road. I had some near misses with the front ends of some cars waiting to pull out from the left, and the sound of rumble strips may have drowned out the radio a bit. To be honest, driving from the other side of the car after some time really didn’t feel very different.
The cab driver who dropped me at Hertz said I would pick it up in no time and he was right. In about an hour I had it down. And worst case, if you get confused in the city, you look around quick, hope no one is looking and gun it down a road before anyone notices you cut down the wrong way. I mean not that I tried that but…
A note of warning…they advise you to drive a smaller car because of the narrow roads. Smaller to people here is a bit different. I ordered a midsized for the luggage space and we’ll just say Syd is still traveling with two suitcases as her backseat buddies and Caleb is hugging the dash!
Anyways, we have made it safely to Belfast for the next two days!
The Roaming Roths 