This morning, I decided to walk into town again to find the train station so I could meet Frank there. He wasn't scheduled to arrive until 4:00pm so I had plenty of time. I walked back to the river and this time boarded a metro bus heading downtown. When I got there, I found the train station and started sightseeing. The city of Porto is much bigger than I imagined.
I finally sat down at a cafe for lunch and ordered a French omelet with fritas and a cervesa. The waiter quickly brought my beer and I sat and watched people jumping on and off the metro buses right in front of the cafe. When my meal arrived, I had just taken a few bites of the delicious omelet when my phone buzzed with a message from Frank: "I'm at the hotel, where are you?" I checked my phone for the time, it was only 12:30!! I thought, "What's going on??" I sent a reply: "I thought you weren't arriving until 4:00!!" I waited, but didn't get a reply. I had visions of an exhausted, jet-lagged Frank waiting for me in the hotel lobby. I panicked. I called the waiter to me and looked up the Portuguese term for "take-away." I figured I'd pack up my lunch and catch a bus back to the hotel. The waiter looked at me and blinked when I said "Tirar." He shrugged, picked up my practically full plate of food and disappeared. I sat there a while, then I thought, "What if he thought I was finished!! Oh no, I really wanted that food! Hey, I'm still hungry!" I was about to just pay and leave, when he showed up with my food clumsily wrapped in paper and in a plastic bag. I guess they don't get many requests for "to go" food. Relieved, I quickly paid my check and ran to the bus stop.
I looked up the name of the stop near the hotel (Ave de Jesus) and saw that the "gold" line would take me back across the bridge and to the correct stop. The first bus came and I asked the driver "Ave de Jesus?" He shook his head and thrust his thumb out toward the bus behind him. I jumped off and waited for the next bus to pull up and repeated my query. The driver nodded and said "Um oitenta." I handed him two euros and got change back. Relieved, I sat down in the nearest seat. I was excited and happy to think that Frank was HERE!! I'd soon be with him at the hotel! The bus took off and I smiled as I thought about spending the next few days with Frank in this beautiful city.
The bus started toward the bridge and then veered off to the left away from the river. I thought, "That's strange, maybe it makes a circle around the plaza before it crosses the bridge." I wasn't worried, after all, the driver had nodded and taken my money. Surely I was on the right bus. I was busy perusing the tourism maps and sight seeing literature I had picked up at the Cathedral when I realized that this trip back across the river was taking a lot longer than the original trip to downtown. I looked up and was shocked to see that I was now in an industrial area. I didn't recognize any of this scenery from the first trip!
The driver kept driving and when I asked again, "Ave de Jesus?" he just nodded his head. I was beginning to worry, but still confident that I would eventually get where I needed to go. There were fewer and fewer people on the bus, and finally - I was the only one left. The driver stopped and pointed to the door. This time, I panicked. I looked at him and pointed to the route map I had in my hand. He looked at the map and sighed. He said something in Portuguese but I didn't understand. I had no idea where I was, but I knew it wasn't where I was supposed to be. He sighed again, pointed to the bus stop and motioned for me to get off the bus. Then he pointed to the stop across the street and said "Wait" in English. So I got off the bus, walked across the street to the stop, and apprehensively waited for - I really didn't know what I was waiting for. The driver drove off as I sat there alone and upset.
About 5 minutes later, I saw a familiar looking bus approach the stop. It was the same bus with the same driver. Puzzled, I stood as he stopped in front of me and motioned for me to get in. I got my coin purse out to pay but he waved me off, pointed to the seat next to him and said "Sit." Obediently, I sat. He drove back towards down town, but about half way there, the stopped the bus, opened the door and pointed to a side street. He was saying something in Portuguese, but the only thing I understood was that he wanted me to get off at this stop and walk somewhere. I didn't argue, I got off the bus. I thought to myself, "That driver is nuts! I'll just wait for another bus and at least get back downtown where I can get a taxi." Then I was thinking, "Well, I'll figure out where I am on Google maps, then I'll walk to a hotel and get a taxi." There were no hotels in sight.
About that time, another bus pulled up and when the driver opened the door I jumped in and asked him "Ave de Jesus?" He said, "Oh no, you're a long way from there. This bus doesn't go that route." He was speaking ENGLISH!!! Horrified that I was so far removed from where I needed to be and thinking that Frank was probably worried about me since it was now nearly 2:00pm, I asked, "How do I get there?" He answered, "Walk down this street to the left and take the metro train. That will take you across the river and it will stop at the station across the street from Ave de Jesus." OH!!! THAT was what the other driver was trying to tell me. I thanked profusely him and jumped off the bus practically running to the train station.
I could see a train already approaching the station, so I hurriedly ran to the ticket machine. The home page was in Portuguese, but there was an English option. Relieved, I pushed the button for English. The machine froze. The train arrived. I kept pushing buttons, getting more frantic by the minute. Nothing happened. The train pulled out. FINALLY, the machine responded. I bought a ticket. I looked at the receipt, it said "Tren #6, Ave de Jesus. 4:30pm" WHAT???? That's another two hours away!! Surely I can find a taxi before then!! Frank will be worried sick. He hasn't answered my messages, he probably doesn't have wifi because he can't get into the room. Poor Frank, I'm sure he's exhausted and uncomfortable. Augghhhhh!!!
I looked at Google maps. I was in the middle of nowhere in this lousy city. I started walking as fast as I could in the general direction of downtown. I looked for hotels, I couldn't find one. I saw that there was a hospital about 3 km from me. I started walking towards it. I thought, "Surely there'll be a taxi stand near a hospital! If nothing else, I'll be close to an emergency room when I collapse." I finally got to the hospital and I was relieved to find a taxi stand. I approached the first taxi in line and I'm sure the driver was appalled when he saw this wild-eyed, sweaty, bedraggled woman, clutching a greasy, soggy bag of stinky egg and cheese omelet, approaching his pristinely upholstered taxi. I held out my iPhone with the address of the hotel on the screen. He shook his head, he said he didn't know where it was. He took my phone from me and walked to a less shiny, older taxi behind him and showed the address to the driver. They talked for a few minutes and the other driver motioned me over to his cab and we took off. At this point, I didn't care how much this was going to cost. I just needed to get to the hotel as fast as I could because I was sure Frank was frantic with worry.
When I finally got there, he wasn't in the lobby. He had gotten a key to the room, he had showered and changed, and he was comfortably snoring away in the king-sized bed. Blissfully unaware of my ordeal. I kissed him and let him sleep. I collapsed in the chair and fell asleep myself. When I woke up, Frank was eating my lunch.
I'm sure I'll have a good laugh over this someday. Or maybe not.
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