Driving

A shuttle picked us up at the Bradford/Leeds airport and dropped us off at the rental car place. I wasn't about to try driving just yet, but Matt was game. We picked up the car (which was one of the largest they had - no minivans here!), and loaded up the luggage.

I still don't know how it all fit

Now, I was already having some anxiety about even riding in the car here, which I'm sure didn't help Matt at all. We loaded up the necessary address in his phone, and turned on the audio navigation. I think the combination of the unfamiliar surroundings plus the stress from traveling had a big effect. Matt made a right turn just a little too wide, jumped up onto the curb, and popped the tire. Luckily we hadn't made it very far, so we went straight back to the rental lot. Matt filled out some paperwork, and we called a taxi.

We were both pretty shaken up by this point, and I vowed that I wouldn't be driving at all while we're here. It actually took me about 3 days before I even got back into the car as a passenger. 

Anyway, Matt caught a ride with a co-worker on Monday, and picked up the rental car after work. He was much more calm, and has since become more comfortable with driving. 

I'm still a reluctant passenger. The streets are so narrow, and even when there are two lanes, they're not always big enough for two cars to go through at once. It's commonplace for people to just pull up halfway onto the curb to park, and it really feels cramped then!

Matt said that when he spoke to his work contact about taking a written driving test, he inadvertently mentioned how nervous I am. And now it's noted that I'm a nervous driver, haha. So we now have the names of a few driving instructors that I can choose to take lessons from. I'm sure that's for the best, but I still plan on walking as much as I possibly can.

Who wouldn't want to walk through this?