...on the left

...driving that is. I became painfully aware that in Ireland one drives on the lefthand side of the road, that one shifts with the left hand, and that the round-abouts, tough enough in the states, are places where the weak of heart loose all hope and the locals pick out the newbies for sport and torture. And my God, there are round-abouts abounding! This all I learned after flying through the night from Boston, being ushered to my rental car at 6am local time, a full two hours before sun up, sans coffee, and climbing into my car and not finding the wheel where I expected it. What the hell was I thinking, I thought, as I unfurled my map and looked at my route, a full three hours north, to Westport. And from there to Silgo and from there to Athlone and from there to Dublin. What was I thinking? Fast forward and the trip ended without incident, car incident, but God, handing over the keys four days later was a kiss the earth beneath my feet experience.