The other night I was getting ready for my big trip. Due to circumstances beyond my control I set out on my travels way later than I planned.

But I did manage to get a seat at the very front of the bus so I had a great view. Of course the driver also kept talking to me in broken English. "Where you from?" "What time you fly?"

I managed to get to Dublin around 11 pm. It was very dark and there were plenty of drunk people around.

Before you knock on the Irish for being drunks, these were drunk tourists, mostly young tourist doing the "Finding Myself in Europe" thing. Which is completely different from what I am doing thank you very much. Then there was a group of high schoolers in prom-like outfits totally smashed and screaming at each other.  Not in a mean way. Just in a "carrying out a conversation at different sides of the street" way.


So I left the bus and tried to follow my map-quest directions for my hostel.

Ok that's one time around the square, can't find Bachelor's St.

The over friendly Bus Driver saw me circling the station and was like "Where you going? You stay in city? Hey, where you going?"

I am sure he was just trying to be helpful, that I reminded him of his daughter and he wouldn't want her lost in Dublin at night.

But it still freaked me out. I watch too many murder mysteries. I have been told before.
 
Then I realized: if I couldn't find Bachelors St. I was not going to have much luck with the next 58 steps until the hostel.

Finding a hostel I have never been to before in a city I have only been to a handful of times in the daylight is not too big a deal.

At night Dublin can be a bit scary. At least if you don't know it very well and you are on your own.  And the way I follow directions involves getting lost and back tracking a lot.

Not something I wanted to do in Dublin at night. Lost foreign girl with nose in directions at almost midnight?

Yeah, great idea.

So Plan:

1. Find hostel -- Out  I wouldn't be able to do it.

 2.  Local hostel/hotel-- all co-ed dorms or 99 euros a night. OUT

3. Get a cab to take me to the hostel.  Yeah I've seen that movie. And expensive. Out.

4. Get a bus to the air port and sleep there. -- Well do you have any better ideas?


So I slept in the Dublin Airport and got to Edinburgh safely. I know it sounds like I was an idiot. But I was alone, in a strange city and freaked out. I like to think I managed the situation pretty well.