So we have to go to London for a few days of business and a few days of pleasure. We got cheap tickets from Ryan Air, $0 (plus like $200 in taxes each leg total!). But Ryan Air flies out of odd places like Frankfurt Hahn and London Stanstead. Public transit does not service the remote airports well (leave at 3 AM for a 10 AM flight), so tack on some more money for a rental car. Finally after two months, I get to drive! And now I know what the symbol for "end all speed restrictions" is. We managed 110 MPH at one point (180 kph for non-USians). Not Ferrari speeds, but faster than I have ever driven.
Then we picked up a car in London. How hard could that be? Just drive on the left, no big deal. My buddy said Heathrow had troubles because they put tons of traffic circles near the airport and idiots like me had trouble navigating them when not used to driving left. Stanstead had four traffic circles before we got to the highway. Two were actual traffic ovals. One of the ovals was three lanes wide with traffic circles every 60 degrees. Cripes. I was so conservative I was only going 60 on the highway, which I thought was kph (like 45 MPH). Actually, they use miles in England, not kilometers. So much for EU standardization!
England was really boring so far. We drove for two hours and saw nothing but fields. No cities, not even much in the way of gas stations. It reminds me of the stretch between Augusta and Atlanta. Nothing. And it rained the whole time.
We found the place where we were staying in Birmingham, an old train station. We walked into what appeared to be a bar, thinking the bead and breakfast may be upstairs. We actually were in the Railway Guest House, across the street. I tried their Chestnut Hill, very smooth and tasty. For dinner, I tried a hand-pulled Old Speckled Hen. Both were outstanding.
