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
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
