The path to Llacas

City Centre or bus(t)...

Having only hand luggage increases the smugness factor that is already sky-high after another flight survived. No waiting for an age at the baggage reclaim (watching my suitcase crash on to the carousel while I wince at the thought of all the breakable objects inside) – nope, we just swan right through Customs, and hit the fresh Eire air.

That feeling fades pretty quickly outside the airport however, as we realise that to get a bus to the city centre requires you having the exact money for the fare. Having just arrived in a different country, we only have notes, which the bus driver (with more than a hint of jobs-worthyness, I note) refuses to accept. This is the first time I have ever been refused payment of something for having too much money…!

Another 19 minutes of frustration; shops that won’t change money and mental arithmetic as we try to work out what to buy to give us the requisite change – finally a sweet Irish shop assistant tells us that we could actually buy tickets from her that will entitle us to a whole hour and a half of trouble free Irish bus fun.

1440 seconds later, he is complaining that he doesn’t want to get off and see the sights of this amazing European capital city, he wants to fully exploit the remaining 66 minutes that he could be having bouncing around on the back seat of a public transport vehicle… My teeth grit for the second time today, and I point out the alternative: leaving the bus on a mission to locate a cold, proper Irish Guinness in a cosy pub. I win.

posted by Liberty Slutzski @ 4:44 pm