Another Misadventure

Yesterday, I met up with a friend who I haven't seen since before I moved to Dublin. She had emailed me to say she was in Dublin for a few days with her husband and wanted to know if I had any free time. We scheduled to meet up on Friday afternoon. I left work a bit early and thought I'd have plenty of time to get to city centre from Ballymun. Well, I saw a bus passing the stop as I walked out of the office. Then I waited. And waited. All taxis were full. The buses that went by were out of service. Then, finally, I saw a bus. It was full and not stopping. I waited a bit and finally saw a bus just labelled "city centre." It was pretty empty so I hopped on it. It was 30 minutes after I had left work. I was supposed to meet my friend at Molly Malone in 5 minutes and was still in Ballymun!

Needless to say, I was late. Luckily for me, however, the bus driver was a "speed driver." We got into town in amazing time and then I legged it to Molly Malone. I was only 20 minutes late! Anyway, I met up with my friend and we meandered down Nassau street and did a bit of shopping. We then headed to her hotel which was near Merrion Square. Somehow, we just ended up there. I didn't intend to direct us and we weren't paying that close of attention. We just got it right! I was quite happy by this. We then went into her hotel and chatted until she had to get ready for her dinner plans.

As I was leaving, my friend asked me if I was OK getting back home on my own. It was only 5:45 PM and Merrion Square isn't that far away from Temple Bar. I assured her that I was fine, that I knew my way, and if I didn't, I could just hop on a bus. Ooops.

So, I started walking. Instead of paying close attention to where I was headed, I texted John to tell him about the amazing deal I got on a cashmere sweater at the Kilkenny shop. I also thought about going to the Louis Malcahy store to look at the pottery. Before I knew it, I had no idea where I was. I walked past Pearse St. dart station. It wasn't the side I was used to seeing and shouldn't have been on the way back home. I thought I still had a clue so I kept walking.

And then I saw a lot of Council housing. I knew that I wasn't in the right area. I called John again to try to help me figure out where I was. I walked down Pearse street and headed towards what seemed to be a bridge. It was. But it wasn't the river like I was hoping. It looked like it might be the Docklands (later found out it was). While talking to John and trying to figure out where I was and how to get back to Pearse station, I saw a bus that said it was going "an Lar." I hung up with John and waved the bus down. I wasn't exactly at the stop. The bus driver waved to me and I thought he meant to go to the next stop since many drivers won't pick people up unless they are at a stop. Well, I ran over the bridge which had the sidewalk closed so I was actually running on the road where the cars drove (but there were no cars since they had a red light).

I got tired of running and looked back to see where the bus was. He was slowly behind me. He stopped and opened his doors. I got on the bus and he asked where I was trying to go and why I ran off. I said I thought he wanted me to go to the next stop. He said that he was trying to wave me onto the bus. I said but he didn't open the doors. That is the universal get on sign. And I also mentioned that other drivers don't let people on if not at the stop. He told me the next stop was the end of his line! He also said that route 77 drivers are nicer. He was really nice. So, he let people off at the last stop and told me to stay on the bus and he'd help me get sorted after I calmed down (I was a bit out of breath from running). I explained where I was trying to go and he laughed. I was in the completely wrong direction (actually heading south instead of north). He also laughed when I asked if I had been heading north or south and reminded me that Dubs don't use north and south. While chatting, he drove into the bus depot and pulled up next to another bus. He asked the driver if she was going on her route soon as he had someone who needed some help. She said the bus in front of her was going out next. He pulls up next to this bus and asks the driver if he'd help me out since I have such a pretty smile and I was lost.

The two drivers joked around for a while and laughed. The other driver agreed to take me on the bus and help me get to where I needed to go. I then asked him where I was. He said I was in RingsEnd! Yep, I ended up near the Docklands and was walking away from city centre, not towards it. So, the driver had me sit in the seat closest to him and we chatted a bit. He got to another stop and two women got on who didn't know exactly where they were going. They asked him if the bus went where they needed to go. He said to get on the bus, sit next to me and he would get them near where they needed to go. Then, near Trinity College, another couple got on and again asked if his bus went where they needed to go. He tried to explain that they needed a different route but they didn't seem to understand his directions. He told them to get on the bus and stay up front and he'd get them to the other line.

So, we get to Dame street and I get off the bus. The driver tried to give me directions to Temple Bar but I assured him that I did actually know where I was at that point! He then told the couple who had gotten on the stop before to get off the bus and go a little bit up the road and what bus number they needed. There are some really helpful people out there and those two route 77 drivers really were friendly.