Night Bus

Last night we went out to meet a doctor couple we recently met. They are both doctors- he is Norwegian and is not. His English is so good you would never suspect he was Norwegian- and most odd of all, he lived in Ireland for years, yet his English remained unaffected. Our bus ride downtown seemed frenetic. I actually commented to Lise that the driver seemed to be in an incredible hurry. I speculated it was his last run for the day. He surprised all of us by parking the bus, announcing he had to use the toilet. He grabbed his money bag, and leaving the engine running and door wide open, literally ran into the building. He quickly returned and we were on our way. I guess when you gotta go...

This couple wanted to meet in an Irish pub that was inhabited by a strange mix of true Irishmen, ex-pat Texans, and everthing in between. Such a fuss was made over Guiness by the Englishman I babysat in Bergen, that I made it my beverage for the night (and that sentence construction is an "homage" to his writing style). The best part of Guiness is that it is easy to drink very slowly, and at a cheap $10/pint for even far lesser beers, I prefer to drink slowly if for no other reasons than the economy of it.

Somehow the night slipped away and it was after 1am. We went to catch the bus leaving at five before two. Some guy was puking in the bus stop. Couples were drunk and arguing. To give a little back story, alcohol is so expensive that most young adults go to a party first, get hammered, and show up at the bar around midnight. Bars that serve anything higher than beer or wine in alcohol content close at 1. The rest can stay open later. Finally our bus arrived and we piled in. I then discovered that the drunk bus is significantly more expensive than the regular bus- three times expensive, I believe. The next stop downtown filled the bus. It was a wild mix of people. We were the only vehicle on the road as he tore through the night until we made it home. This bus seriously reminded me of the night bus in Harry Potter. It has to be experienced to be believed.