The Wheels on the Bus

June 27, 2017

Since our flight landed in Dublin, we’ve been relying primarily on two forms of transportation to take us everywhere we need to go: bus and foot. Generally speaking, we’ve walked to get to class, and taken buses to travel longer distances (to other cities and towns). We’ve mostly been staying in very walkable areas, so transportation has not been a major issue. When we were in Dublin our first few days, we walked almost everywhere. We also rode around on a hop on off bus, but it was more for sightseeing than getting from point A to point B. We chartered a bus to drive to Ring. In Ring, we walked everywhere (we had class only a few minutes from where we were staying), though we did sometimes take small buses/vans for day trips to neighboring areas. We crammed ourselves into a small bus to get from Ring to Kilkenny, and walked everywhere for the weekend we were in Kilkenny. Finally, we chartered a bus to take us back to Dublin, where we’ll be for almost all of the remainder of the trip.
Now that we’re back in Dublin, we’re staying a bit outside of the city in dorms at University College Dublin. Because our classes are in the center of the city, we’ll need to take public transportation to get to class. The bus is the major form of public transportation in Dublin, so we’ve been issued bus passes. I’ve only just gotten back into Dublin, so I haven’t yet gotten a chance to ride the buses into the city, but I’m told that I have two options that can get me there, one of which is a bit faster and more regular than the others. I did ride the bus briefly from the grocery store back to my dorm today, and it seemed pretty simple and convenient. Even though I don’t have a lot of firsthand experience yet, If I had to venture a guess as to potential pros and cons of this form of public transportation, I would assume that advantages would be that the bus is relatively cheap (at least for us, as we have passes that grant us unlimited rides), can take us to most areas throughout the city (there are even two stops on campus, for maximum convenience), and is much faster than walking, but the main cons would be the unreliability and inconsistent timing of buses as a result of traffic.

Written By

Brendan Lewis

I’ve always loved traveling and exploring other cultures, so I knew I wanted to study abroad at some point during my time as a college student. When deciding on a program, I wanted to find an opportunity that would allow me to earn credit toward my major, English. I chose Ireland as my destination especially because of its rich literary tradition, which had great appeal for me as an avid reader and writer. I am thrilled to have the chance to study some of the English language’s greatest works of literature, both classic and contemporary, at the sites where they were written, as well as delving into other fascinating areas like film and culture. I’m particularly excited for the chance to get to meet and connect with local authors and filmmakers. I hope to come away from the program with a newfound knowledge of and appreciation for Irish literature, film, and culture, all while also having honed my reading and writing skills, as well as sightseeing, experiencing the culture hands-on, and having a lot of fun.