As much as I love London…the bus system is completely confusing. Maybe that is because they have multiple places with the SAME NAME. Example: Finchley. There is apparently a Finchley Road and a Finchley Central. Guess who was unaware of that?? Me and Sarah… which leads me into last nights adventure on the way back from the Glamour Factory after party at Cafe de Paris in Leicester Square.

After an interesting evening at the after party, we decided to leave about 1 a.m., knowing that the tubes were closed and it would take us ages to by bus to get back to Northwick Park. So, while doing the “pain walk” because of wearing heels all night (terrible idea…won’t make that mistake again) We found the nearest bus stop… which had the night bus N20 running. Well, trying to be smart we looked at where the bus went and it said it stopped at Finchley Central. Of course we were like “Sweet! We can just transfer to the N18 once we get there!” WRONG! We start going and soon realize we weren’t somewhere recognizable anymore. So we get off at Finchley Central and start looking at the night bus maps to figure out where to catch the N18 (which is the only night bus that went to where we needed to be). Time about now was a little after 2 a.m. Luckily for us, the bus driver saw us looking confused and freezing in the chilly London weather and asked us where we are going. Come to find out… we had been riding the bus in the completely opposite direction than we needed to be going. So he tells us to hop on the N13 to Baker Street and then transfer to the N18. Easy right?

We find the N13 bus stop and wait, freezing, feet hurting. When our annoyance multiplied when two random guys decided to tryto chat us up while we waited. At first it was like okay, there just drunk. Then it got creeper-like when they followed us onto the bus and proceeded to try talking to us for like 30 minutes. After a good conversation of  which footy teams are owned by Americans and plenty of “can I get yo numba” questions…they FINALLY got off and left us alone to be lost. Time beginning to reach 3 a.m.

Once we got to Baker Street we became a bit more relieved once we saw the N18 sign on the bus stop. We were finally going to get home and go to sleep, since by this time we were past the point of exhaustion. To bad when we asked the driver if he went to Northwick he said we had to be on the other side of the road… and low and behold the bus we needed was pulling up. We RAN…literally RAN across the road… had a guy in a Porsche slow down and tell us “hey! you guys are fit”. In sync we both said “Thanks!” and kept running to our bus…which we made by the way. 🙂

The N18 was a bit crowded, but we found seats..which was nice since our feel were feeling like they would fall off at any second…and our sprint across the road did not help our situation much. So we’re riding along, thinking “yay! We are finally going to get to Northwick”… WRONG AGAIN! The bus ends at Sudbury station.. which is not far from campus, but its like 3:30 a.m., no taxi in sight, and it was freezing outside! So we sit, with everyone else needing to go in our direction, for 15 minutes for the bus we all needed. Once it got there we asked the driver if he went to Northwick, when he said yes, Sarah and I both got a little bit less grumpy then. Seeing as the time was creeping more towards 4 a.m., we just wanted to be home.

Might I say… sober and walking in heels from Northwick Park Hospital to the residence halls took FOREVER! Seriously… longest trek home I have ever experienced. I mean I am sure the fact we had been trying to get home since 1 a.m. and it was now almost 4:30 a.m. had something to do with that…and the fact it was cold and windy… but seriously. Call me a cab next time.

Lesson learned: Don’t stay out past the time the tubes close (12:30 a.m.) OR have enough people in your group to take a cab back. The bus system is stressful and was a terrible idea. NEVER AGAIN! haha!

*Note: the pictures were taken earlier, they are in post to explain the emotions we came across on our trip.*