Travel Diaries: Taipei Traffic

I have this memory from when my sister and I were kids.  We used to play in the street in front of our house and when a car would turn onto the street we’d move out of the way.  At some point we turned this into a game (Mom, I’m quite sure we never told you about this part).  We would dare eachother to touch the car as it drove by.  I remember the thrill of getting my fingers on the moving car or if I was really gutsy, putting my foot up and touching the car with my shoe.  Yes, it’s a stupid and crazy dangerous game for kids to be playing.  Thankfully we were never hurt.

Well, before we came back this time I was wondering how on earth we were able to get close enough to the car to touch it.  I had forgotten how tight some of the roads are here.  Here are the boys lugging our groceries back from the grocery store:

 

Here is a similar street with a car driving down it. 

 

See how close those people are to the moving car and how unphased they are?  C’mon, touch the car – just stick your foot out and touch it.  I dare you!   A big lesson my kids are learning on this trip is how to dodge traffic.  For the most part it hasn’t been too dangerous, but it’s enough to make a mom worry about her American kids.

And you want to see an amazing parking job? 

I’m pretty sure the motorcycles parked after the Cooper was parked, but still, imagine getting out of a spot like this.