Not one of my finer moments

So for art class we had to go to this museum (the Dulwich Picture Gallery) and boy that trip might go down as one of the most embarrassing moments in my life to date, and trust me I have my fair share of embarrassing moments; refer here for a reminder. Anyway,  about two weeks ago in art class my teacher told us that it takes about an hour to get to the museum, and to plan to go when we have plenty of time. She also told us that the museum is closed on Mondays. Well 2 weeks later I decided to be efficient and go on Monday when I don't have class and have plenty of time. Yes, 'you' read correctly I decided to go the day she told us it was closed; 1st moral of the story: listen in class. Okay so Lyse and I are taking the trek out to the gallery (apparently she didn't listen either), and after an hour on the tube we got off at our stop, which was also the last stop on that line. We were then supposed to take the P4 bus another 20 minutes to the gallery. Since it was a new area to both of us, we weren't quite sure what we were doing or where the buses were. We came out of the tube stop and low and behold the P4 was right there; it was perfect timing so we ran to catch the bus, but right then the bus driver stared at us and started pulling away. We gave him a disgusted look, as we thought was deserved, and this kind man stopped and said, "where are you going?" to which we replied "The Dulwich Picture Gallery." He then smiled and said, "this is the last stop on the route, cross the street and I will loop around and pick you up where the route begins." We nodded said "thank you" and ran across the street. He then looped around and picked up about 20 people where the route began. As we were getting on the bus he gave us a thumbs up and was nodding and pleased that we made it on the right bus. Feeling a little embarrassed by our lack of navigation skills, we quickly sat down. About 15 minutes out we realized we weren't really sure which stop to get off at, so when it said Dulwich Village Stop we decided that it sounded about right and to get off there. As we got off the bus we looked at the map and decided to start walking up the street. BUT the bus driver recognized us as the girls who were going to the Dulwich Picture Gallery, and he stopped the bus. Lyse and I somewhat noticed out of the corner of our eyes but we just kept walking. He then proceeded to honk the horn, we sheepishly turned around and looked. He motioned us to come back, and with our heads down full of shame we walked back. He opened the door and said, "you're headed to the Dulwich Picture Gallery eh?" We nodded and he said "you got off on the wrong stop, get back on." About a 2 minute walk down the road was the right stop and over the speaker he said, "girls this is your stop." (As I'm typing this it doesn't sound too embarrassing, but mind you, he stopped a bus full of people, honked, and the whole bus waited for 2 stupid American girls to get back on the bus they had just gotten off). Feeling really dumb at that point we got off and he pointed and said, "the gallery is right there" we replied with thank yous and went on our way. When we crossed the street we saw a sign outside the gallery that said closed. REALLY?? After all that? You have to be kidding. Well I guess we should head back... We turn around to get on the bus and the next bus started approaching a few minutes later. Guess who it was... the same bus driver as before. He's like the omnipotent bus driver. Well there was no way in Hell we were going to get back on that bus and look like idiots, so we started walking down the street. Well we were trying to cross the street, but we had the stopping man and had to wait. Lyse ran across the street during the stop sign (it was a roundabout) and she almost died. Really though. Anyway, we were now separated and all of the sudden that same bus driver pulled up next to us and was stopped at the same red light. Mind you this is a small town and I'm 100% positive he recognized us. I started running the other way and hid from him. Seriously I needed to catch a break and not be humiliated. After the coast was clear, we walked to a near by store and went in while waiting for the next bus. BINGO, this store was golden, it was stocked full of laundry detergent (which we desperately needed), Reeses, Hershey's cookies and cream, and Stroop Waffles; 3 of the best foods known to man. At least Dulwich had that store to offer me. Anywho as we were coming out of the store, the bus we were supposed to get on drove by... 15 minutes later we caught the next bus, which luckily didn't have the same bus driver on it. As we got on the bus I finished off this humiliating day by biffing it on the bus in front of the rest of the bus. It's fine, nothing was bruised too badly, besides my ego.

Lyse in front of the closed gallery.

Oh and in case this story isn't embarrassing enough-- today I sneezed while we were at Hampton Court and it echoed REALLY REALLY loudly, and my professor turns around and says "was that Hagrid?" in front of everyone. I'll admit it was a bit funny. But mostly just embarrassing.