Tired, but happy
My friend Alexa and I arrived in Dublin about 11:30 in the morning. We caught a cab to our hotel, but since it was too early to check in, we dropped our luggage and headed out to do some sightseeing, check out the shops on Grafton Street and visit our first Irish pub. We had decided in advance we were going to power through jet lag the first day – no naps for us – so we had pre-booked tickets to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College.
Trinity College
After a lovely lunch we caught the DART and headed to the college. I highly recommend this excursion!
The Book of Kells, which is on display at Trinity, is a beautiful example of an illuminated religious manuscript. The book, created by Monks in the 9th century, contains the first four books of the New Testament written in Calligraphy and illustrated with beautiful Celtic art. The books itself is on display in a locked case, so you can only see one page, but the entire first floor of the library contains large pictures of the pages, plus some interesting facts about how the inks were made. It’s all very interesting from an historical standpoint.
For me, however, the highlight of the visit to Trinity was the old library. Before you even make it to the top of the stairs, the smell hits you. You know the one I mean – that robust scent of old books and dust, with just a hint of dampness and wood polish. This place is simply gorgeous. The ceiling alone is worth a trip, with its gleaming arched wood and towering bookshelves. There are carved marble busts of significant historic figures, complete with placards explaining their ties to Ireland and contributions to society.
The library also has a great display of fore edge painted books which date back hundreds of years. If you haven’t seen one of these, they are very cool. You can only see the painting from certain angles when the book is closed. The scenes depict everything from pastoral vistas to depictions of religious stories. It’s quite fascinating!
We rounded out our first day with a quiet evening at our hotel’s restaurant with the first of many delicious soups. Alexa chose wild mushroom, while I opted for seafood (the first of many bowls of seafood soup for me), and both were served with huge slabs of Irish brown bread. A light, delicious ending to our first day.
Glendalough
Since we only had three nights in Dublin, we decided to make the most of it without a car, so one day we opted to take a half-day tour through the Wicklow Mountains to Glendalough, the site of St. Kevin’s monastery.
What a beautiful place! If you enjoy light hiking, there are two lakes nearby that feature an abundance of wildlife. Alexa and I opted to spend most of our time there traipsing through the ruins and cemetery, photographing everything that caught our eye. We managed to tear ourselves away from the ruins long enough for a stroll through the marsh and alongside the pristine little river as we made our way back to meet up with the tour. The tour was a good choice for us, as it gave up plenty of time to explore central Dublin before and after the tour.
Temple Bar District
As a rule we tried to avoid things that were too touristy and overrun with people, but we knew that the Temple Bar district is kind of a thing, so after dinner we made our way across the McConnell St. bridge and into the Friday night crowds of revelers. We made it through the mazes of bars and restaurants, shops, and pedestrians, to Temple Bar Square, where we posed for a couple of selfies and waved to the live cam. Checked that one off our list!
After one last nightcap, we headed off to bed. Tomorrow the adventure would really begin!