perceptions

my dad posted a comment that he had this idea of ireland and the UK having dirt lanes between the fields, rock walls and houses made out of the same stone, and glassless windows.
not far off! everything here is old. so the houses are made out of the same rock as the walls, the dirt lanes are paved, but still no bigger (fun when you are in a bus and there is oncoming traffic, let me tell you), and they have discovered glass. the old stories and pictures that we have all seen of england and Ireland that give us those perceptions, were based on the contemporary sights of the time...and they are still here! so it is still true! buildings are never knocked down, never uninhabited. in Dublin we visited the oldest pub in town, and it was built in 1198...and has been a pub the entire time!!!! Guinness signing his 9,000 year lease for his brewery is not a unthinkable idea here.
seriously, Old Edinburgh is midieval and the buildings are still in use, and don't look like they have ever been cleaned. all the modern stuff we are used to just look so out of place in these settings. driving through the countryside I could totally believe it was 1800, except for the fact that I am seeing the countryside from a bus! haha.
a guy on the trip told me that he had to remind himself before he came on the trip, that London would not still be cobblestoned with horse and buggies all around. I totally share the sentiment. Old Edinburgh is still cobblestoned, but no horses. Europe is very surreal.