Glorious dawn and a spiralling crisis

We had tickets to enter Stonehenge at 5:30 a.m. It meant we could see the dawn there, going among the stones, with only a dozen others. It was a perfect morning, blazing sun and blue sky, and driving the Mercedes at 5 with no traffic on the road, about 15 minutes away, was not too frightening. What we had really wanted was to go to Avebury with SarumStroller, but on the day we were supposed to do that, I was a nervous wreck just from driving the car from the agency to our B&B and couldn't face it.

It was going to get worse. The Mercedes came with SatNav, but someone had "nicked the chip," so it didn't work. After the success in getting to Stonehenge, I decided to drive to Wells, which was only supposedly an hour away. We got lost in Shepton Mallet four times by getting confused in Roundabouts, I repeatedly hit the curb on the left which caused me to skid, the traffic was horrendous, and it took two very stressful hours each way. We both loved Wells and its cathedral, but by the end of the trip I had to face the fact that I cannot drive in this country.

You were all very kind and encouraging, but I did not get used to it, and I am amazed that I didn't damage the car or cause an accident. Sue deserves sainthood for remaining calm and supportive despite being repeatedly nearly mangled in a heap of metal. I am so glad we weren't injured and didn't kill anyone else, but it was pure nightmare, not the way we want to spend our time together in this beautiful country.

So tomorrow we are getting rid of the car and taking a train to Cardiff. This means many changes in our trip plans, but I think it enhances our chances of returning home alive.