DeBold- Taking the Luas to Dundrum

The Luas at St. Stephens Green

     According to Google Maps, the walk from Trinity College to St. Stephens Green Park is approximately twenty-minutes. I pushed my way through Grafton Street and in less then ten minutes I found myself facing the park’s gate. To the right of the gate is the Luas station. Dublin has a series of public transportation options, the Luas is like the T (for those of you that have been to Boston) or I guess you could just call it a cross between a New Orleans street car and a train.  The Luas green line takes you out to the suburbs of Dublin, and then some. My ticket is 1.60 Euro; I probably could have gotten away without buying a ticket though.

   
      I was headed for a small suburban town called Dundrum, the last stop of zone 1. I was invited to a house party by a bunch of Trinity college locals.  The Luas went faster than I had expected. I gripped the yellow poles in front of me to stop from being thrown from the seat. It did not take long to get outside of the city, we simply crossed a bridge and I suddenly felt like I could breath again. We stopped every six minutes or so, passing chimneys and quaint homes.  I sang Chim Chim Cher-ee under my breath.

      

 
      I was carrying a twelve pack of Heineken and wearing a big black leather jacket and fit-in just fine. This was for a couple of reasons, one being the fact that at 8:30pm, off-peak, it is mostly empty. The people on the train looked city sleek with purple hair, dark-red painted nails and tired faces. The Luas is comfortable with its carpet interior and cushions and with plenty of legroom between each seat . Stops are announced in both English and Gaelic. Most locals don’t even speak Gaelic, and those that do certainly do not only understand Gaelic over English. Even the map of stops is laid out in Gaelic on one side of the upper-wall and then in English on the other side.

     

Dundrum's Luas bridge

     Within thirty minutes, I could observe that Dundrum is ascetically similar to a nice American suburb. The grass is bright green and trimmed to a clean perfection. The redbrick homes are decorated with white trim windows and lovely flowers. We hiked up a steep hill towards the house party.
Dundrum reminded me very much so of my home town in Connecticut. A beautiful suburb with quick access to a large city and nothing todo other than throw house parties or go into the city.

( Oisin, pronounced “Osh-ee-n”, commutes from his home in Dundrum to Trinity every day during the school year. “The Luas stops running at 12am, so we just walk down the tracks. It’s always an adventure, we usually don’t get home on a Friday night until the sun has risen”)