Two Horse Hire

Dear Reader,

I've been painting and moving furniture all day so am too tired to write one of my stories so I'll just tell part of a quick one. It was on my very first trip to Europe and also in England. After some very hectic days in London we rented a car to drive out into the countryside. This was a trip of many firsts for me. My first time in a major cosmopolitan city, my first English beer, my first pub meal, my first authentic fish and chips, my first gothic cathedral and my first time ever driving on the left.

Not realizing how extremely scary it is trying to drive in a foreign country in an enormous and busy city that uses the opposite side of the road, we made the mistake of renting a car in London, rather than leaving by train. There were several harry moments when I drove up the wrong way on a one way street, into a dead-end street turned the wrong way out of a round-about but somehow eventually we made it out of London into the countryside.

Being on a very tight budget and attempting to adhere to the "Europe on $10.00 A Day" book, I had scouted around for the cheapest possible rental car and ended up with a local company called "Two Horse Hire". We got a tiny red Citroen which looked like a volkswagon bug wth the sides flattened. There was only a tiny shelf for a back seat and the windows flapped out and upward. At high speeds, the windows would often catch wind and fall down or lift us right off the ground. It was difficult to drive because the stick shift came out of the dash rather than on the floor and it was extremely stiff to pull and turn. I scraped my fingers shifting that thing until they bled. And of course, I had to do all of this with my left hand because the driver sits on the right side. Pretty complicated along with all the strange traffic signs, round-abouts and unknown signals.

Our first stop was Brighton  on the southern coast. A charming town of aged elegance yet cheerful with its boardwalk and beaches, tea rooms and pubs and old hotels. The Oriental pleasure palace of Prince Willliam, son of Victoria, is the main attraction nowadays but we were sidetracked, because we got lost, and visited a wonderful and very old castle nearby called Arundel Castle. The Earl of Arundel was related to the famous Howard family which produced Sir. Thomas Howard, uncle of Anne Bolyen & Katharin Howard and a very powerful man. It was a lovely castle in the woods with a moat and very enjoyable.

Touring always makes us hungry so we stopped in a small village at their pub and went inside for a beer and pub food. The group was small, as was the bar. They were all definitely locals and pub regulars and were having a lively converstation until we walked in. Then there was complete silence as they stared at us with unhidden curiousity. I asked the bartender for his best bitter and got it. John ordered his favorite beer and we asked about food. He recited some things and showed us a chalk board and we chose our food and went to a table to drink. But we couldn't help people still staring at us. No one would speak to us though. We were just too alien, I guess.

Finally one gent with his front tooth missing and a few hairs on the top of his head wandered over and looked out the window at our car which proudly displayed "Two Horse Hire" in white letters on both sides. Underneath that it gave an address in London. He spoke finally: "Two Horse Hire" I have three horses to hire". Then he laughed and walked away. Now people were getting braver and another looking at the car asked us if we were from London, that far away and strange place. We shocked them once again into a short silence when we advised that we are from California. There was a collective Ooooooooooo throughout the pub. After that eveyone wanted to talk to us, buy us beers, and even followed us to the car when we were leaving.

This was my first real country pub experience, one which I've enjoyed again and again throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Once you open up and speak to the country folk, they are incredibly friendly, very generous and extremely curious. I learned a lot that day about human nature and how very different as well as alike we are.

Cheers!