More Driving Pleasure

Driving like this is truly a Pleasure

I wrote of my lament that driving these days is such a utilitarian thing and a real burden There is ever more traffic with which to cope and hassles galore. Now the police are under orders to stop and fine drivers for every little infraction in the interest of bringing money into the government’s coffers. Whenever I take public transport I get to relax because someone else is doing the driving and the focus shifts away from me.

It occurred to me that driving the Highlands of Scotland and through parts of Ireland’s green valleys and hills would bring back some of the pleasure, and I’m sure that would be so. However, Spain has much of its old road network still intact, and what’s more it exist all around me. I just ignore that network because normally I’m in much too much of a hurry to detour off the smooth new ribbons of highway, but I did just that a week after posting my previous blog on this topic. What I discovered was actual driving delight.

The route took me through the back-country where in parts no buildings stood at all. Not even farming was in evidence. Except for the roads there was no suggestion that man had ever set foot on the land. To be able to see nature in such unspoiled and virgin conditions today was a real treat. To make the discovery even more astonishing, all of this is within 50 kilometres of where I live.

The roads are very narrow and winding, but I had to reflect that these were Spain’s original roads and there would have been a time when that road would have been a busy hive of activity. In days gone by everyone drove a Seat 600 type car, a car almost small enough to fit in my luggage compartment. I was deathly afraid of meeting an oncoming vehicle. There was not enough room for us to pass, so it could have been interesting.

Roads like these are there to be enjoyed as a throwback to the days of old, but extra special care should be taken. Unfortunately I don’t trust the average driver to take such care and caution and to exercise appropriate patience, so it’s probably not a good idea for large numbers of people to pass along on these roads.

For me, it was a very pleasant diversion from the mundane and to be able to do the route on such a brilliant day was wonderful. All the while that I was doing that there were many thousands of people trapped in airports unable to move forward nor backward.

What a crazy world we live in!

Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael

Driving Pleasure

Driving pleasure with very few fellow Travellers

I am probably like most people who drive, in that my driving is entirely utilitarian. I drive to get to the shops or to the city for various business reasons. My route covers the same roads every day and there is nothing new under the sun. I have to cope with the same traffic situations, and in some cases the same traffic. We know each other and expect to pass along the same stretch. Driving is a dull task.

I was watching a travelogue that took us through the highlands of Scotland. I admit that I was far more comfortable watching from my television than actually being there, because it evidently was very cold. What intrigued me was the discovery that driving along a road that had very little other traffic on it held for the driver.

The Scottish Highlands is not for the faint of heart. Firstly, take lots of clothes to bundle yourself in, otherwise you will need to be a very hearty person. There are few of us who are sufficiently tough to survive in that climate. To add to the cold the wind will give you a severe lashing, and the North Sea beats down upon the shores unmercilessly, creating a scene of great wonder and beauty.

There are the mountain passes and valleys, the coastal drives and the small towns. There are houses that sit all alone amid the empty waste that leaves the observer wondering why would someone have built a house in such a remote place? What must life be like for the people who live there?

Such places exists in my mind solely for the purpose of being visited. To get there we first make certain that the car is totally roadworthy before setting out, and we carry extra fuel. Then we are ready to go for a drive.

Should we take a camera? Frankly, I think that pictures can only do so much to tell the story. This is one of those things that each person has to experience for himself, particularly because getting there is really most of the fun.

I have this as one of my “Must Do” things before I turn in my driving license for good.

Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael

Driving in Marrakech

Driving and Dodging in Marrakech

I begin by saying how much I appreciate driving in Spain. I have spent a long time throwing barbs at our driving habits, but when you sometimes compare with another country you can rightly feel that things here are not so bad after all.

We recently visited Marrakech, and the bottom line is that we had a wonderful time. The people were very hospitable, in spite of the fact that so many live in dirt and abject poverty. The one thing that broke my heart was the number of elderly women who have nothing and daily go hungry. I quite naturally felt I should have given them money, but they are so numerous, the problem is overwhelming.

I want to focus a little on driving habits and street life. Within the city, so far as I could see there seems to be very few rules. For instance, one day we had to wait to be picked up for a sightseeing trip. The place at which we were standing was a plaza with a roundabout and a central island. Driving is on the right, so one expects traffic to circulate around the roundabout in a counter-clockwise direction. Not so! Traffic entering from our right that wanted to go left simply ignored the centre island and turned left meeting traffic coming from the left head-on. There was much horn blowing and dodging and weaving, but it all worked somehow.

There are the usual traffic signals, like stop, that most people tend to ignore. Hardly anyone wears seatbelts or helmets, and the motorcycle serves as a motor taxi for the whole family. When we add to this mix the fact that a thick layer of dust covers everything, and trash is ever present, combined with the crumbling state of most buildings and people congestion, the mind boggles and the eyes cannot take it all in.

Having said all that, the attitude of travellers is one of calm and tolerance. I never saw one example of road rage, or even discourtesy. It cannot be said that drivers are reckless, although as first sight it certainly seems that way. Were they actually so there would be a thousand crashes a minute. I didn’t witness even one accident of any consequence.

Driving in the countryside is another matter. The police are everywhere with their radar traps that are over-used. It seemed to me that the police are especially interested in vehicles with foreign plates or rental cars. In Cameroon, I observed that the police were worse than bandits as they spent their time in extracting “fines” on the spot from drivers. Someone suggested that is how they earn their living as the State rarely pays them.

I probably won’t go back to Marrakech because we have seen the sights, but for someone who has never been it can be a fun place to visit. It certainly is an eye-opener.

On our last day we passed a business that displayed the following sign: “Would you like to rent a Car?” My response was, “Are you Nuts?”

Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael

Where did the Time Go?

Time flies and your children leave in your car.

The event is so fresh in my mind that it could have been only yesterday when I stood in the delivery room and watched my son enter this world. I think my heart may have stopped for a beat and I definitely forgot to breathe when he arrived almost like an angel.

I whole heartily recommend to every father that he be there to greet his new-born because it certainly is the beginning of a bond. We have been there with our son every step of the way and the memories we have are truly very fond. I think back on the time of his first clear word, and his first step. There were all the milestones through which we travelled, things that were familiar to us adults, but through which we saw again with his new eyes.

His first day at school when he stood in the doorway of The Montessori Academy and saluted us without the slightest hesitation; the time that he stood on stage and recited his prepared work with calm and assurance; his first piano piece before a mixed audience; the first time I let go of the cycle and he stayed upright.

We came here to Spain and within six months he was speaking fluently in Spanish. I know this because I came upon he and his friend, Julian, and they were engaged in a passionate argument. He was giving as good as he received, which was a pretty good indicator that he was settling in really well.

Fortunately his Mom took up employment at the same school that he attended, so everyday he was driven in the family car to school. From this point time seems to have moved quickly, and before we could hardly have time to realize what was happening he had graduated from secondary, and was off to Australia for a gap year experience. He had his driving license in hand, and now that he is back, he sometimes drives his mother to school, and then he drives off to go about his business. This one aspect is more descriptive of how things have changed. For every family who has this experience I’m fairly sure they are as gobsmacked as we are.

So, where did the time go? While I shrink in height and size he continues to grow. With a full head of hair he seems to be about two metres tall and I have to look up to him. This is about as good as it gets, and we have so much to be thankful for as our boy has grown into a really wonderful man.

To place the icing on this, he is also a very good driver, and that is one more thing to make me proud of him.

Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael