71 replies to this topic

[Lisnpuppy]

Should have gotten the Vette the first time, Robin. *smacks* Though I am glad you got to be driving on the proper side of the road. LoL

Went to San Diego a few years ago and loved it. Being from West Virginia it was a lovely treat. I am glad you wrote this article. I am hoping that Americans will again begin to realize what a massively, wonderful place in which we live (no offense to the rest of the world, of course) and that beauty is all around.

[ladydesire]

I think the sad part about what Robin said is that we yanks are so in love with "modern" architectural construction that we tear down what little history that we do have and replace it way too soon, and when someone tried to preserve it, they get told in essence, "sit down and shut up; that building isn't worth preserving" (this actually happened when a local historian tried to buy a historic building in my old home town, by the way).

[Nadimos]

Thanks for the article. Would love to go visit cali sometime.
History? Well, they almost kiled all the indians off.
(12 million in 1500 to barely 237,000 in 1900..)

Edited by Nadimos, 04 January 2011 - 12:37 AM.

[HellKnightX88]

I envy you.

But hey, I still have my Mediterranean coast (Costa Brava), so there!

Was an interesting read

[homaredou]

whose the guy with cool sun shade o?

[AndalayBay]

You can drive on the right (as in correct) side of the road? I'm impressed I was given the driving duties when we visited the UK and I tell you, I'll never do it again! My husband doesn't even have a driving license... He was born in Kent, too... Nice pics, sounds like you had a wonderful time.

AB, from Canada, where we also drive on the right side of the road...

[Dark0ne]

I think the stumbling block for most American's who come over here looking to drive are roundabouts (or rotaries...whatever you call them). You don't have any in the US! It's all square block after square block of houses and roads, stopping at every bloody crossroad for fear of the cops catching you not actually stopping on the line and looking before heading off again. Booooooring! Of course if you started using roadabouts your cars would actually have to be made for turning and then there would be real problems!

I've been warned off getting a Corvette C6 in the UK because (a) they leak if it rains at a certain angle and (b) they can't take corners anything like their EU counter-parts. Still want one though; no one drives them around here!

[bben46]

We are starting to see more roundabouts in the US. Actually they have been in use in the northeast for quite a while. My little town in SC has several now, but all in out of the way locations - one was put in front of a school, but it was made slightly too small for the school buses to make the turn. (They were warned at a public meeting, but chose to ignore the warning) They actually cut the curb down on one side so the buses could swing wide enough to make the turn out of the school The city planning commission is locally famous for such 'well thought out' decisions. Based on the problems with that one undersized roundabout, They decided not to make any more.

My biggest problem is with the drivers who don't know what to do when they come to one. Many just stop anyway - even if there is no traffic at all. Others don't yield to traffic already in the roundabout. I saw one going too fast ignored the yeild sign, (before the roundabout this was the non stop part of the original intersection) then realized he couldn't make the turn and drove across the center. Luckily there was no traffic. I think he probably did some damage to his suspension though.

[Dark0ne]

Indeed, roundabouts form a prominent part of any driving theory and practical test in the UK. You'll generally go around a minimum of 5 roundabouts during your 40 minute practical test to insure you understand the concept of giving way to the people to your right and getting in the right lane. I can understand why American's might find it hard to adapt to the roundabout system but my god driving through, for example, San Francisco was mind numbing with all those stop signs after every 100 metres on ridiculous inclines.

[Riven1978]

I remember stopping off in your neck of the woods back when i was in the Navy. We made port in Portsmouth and a few buddies and I hightailed up to London (we only had a three day stop off). I enjoyed my time in your country it seems about as much as you did in ours . We did the big circle jerk around the city and boy can i tell you the metro-rail (The London Underground too you i suppose) was a life saver for us since you guys have an A$$ ton of history and sites to see. A few of the places that we were able to hit were of course the Fountain, the Palace, the Clink, The Globe (found out that it isn't the real one ), Peter Pan Park, 221 B Baker Street (again not real but i love what they did with what they had ), The London Eye, and the fort (can't remember the name). Big Ben was also on the menu as well as a ton of other places but we ran out of time, I would love to go back and visit the rest of the city and the country for that matter. my main high point was the fact that i can now say that i have actually visited both the new and the old London bridges hehe. Glad you had a safe and pleasant time in our country, but it is always nice to return home in the end.

Forgot to mention if you want the history of America you'll have to visit the other side of our country for that

Edited by Riven1978, 06 January 2011 - 10:12 PM.