Bus-ted!

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I was due to meet friends for lunch at 12 noon on Saturday in Stirling. All did not go according to plan.

There is an hourly bus service to Stirling that was due to pass the bus stop near where I live at 11.09 and arrive in Stirling around 11.40. Plenty of time to walk to the restaurant where we were meeting up. Or so I thought.

A check of my phone 'app' told me the bus was running 10 - 15 minutes late, so I decided to drive to the Park & Ride, just outside Stirling, and take the bus from there. They run every 15 minutes and it takes less than ten minutes to get into the city centre.

Arriving at the Park & Ride at 11.25 I reckoned I had timed it perfectly for the 11.30 departure, although I was surprised to see quite a queue at the  bus stop. A bus finally arrived at around 11.50 and, rather than ten minutes, took nearly 35 minutes to travel into the centre of Stirling. For whatever reason, the traffic in the city centre was more-or-less at a standstill - hence the reason the buses weren't running to time.

I had been able to text my friends to say I would be late (and again when I realised just how late I would be) and they should just start their meal. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that, while they had started on the wine - none for me, thanks, I'm driving - they had delayed ordering their meals until my arrival, nearly 35 minutes late.

After that, we had a very pleasant afternoon indeed. The food was excellent, the company better, and the buses were nearly back on time by the time I returned to the bus station.

I might have been sipping on soft drinks during the meal - a pity because my friends said the wine was rather good - but I made up for it with a large glass of red later in the evening. I reckon I deserved it!