January 14, 2014

Dublin Day 3: Trinity College, Books of Kells, National Museums


Saturday was a busy packed day as well, however, we felt more relaxed going about our day. We didn’t have to walk far to the outskirts of the city center like we did the day before; we planned it so that all of the major walking was yesterday and all of the close sites would be today. Our first stop was Trinity College where we arrived bright and early and got to explore the campus a bit before the library and The Book of Kells exhibit opened. We couldn’t take pictures in the exhibit, but it was pretty magnificent – the book is a colorful manuscript containing all four Gospels of the New Testament. It's written in Latin, beautifully decorated, and contains intricate details and pictures within the bold calligraphy.

Then there was the library. Oh, the library! It felt like my Belle fantasies from childhood had come true, albeit on a much smaller scale. I practically had to be dragged out. 

We strolled through Merrion Square Park on our way to the National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology, and Natural History. After that we crossed over O'Connell Bridge and explored some of the north side of Dublin.We crossed back over the Ha' Penny Bridge and went back to our hotel to rest before dinner. We ate a quiet dinner at Sussex, a restaurant near our hotel where there were only locals - the cozy fireplace definitely added to the ambiance. I ordered the fish and chips which turned out to be outstanding, despite my initial thought of ordering something so simple at a fairly high scale restaurant. After that we went to the Temple Bar area to grab a beer and listen to traditional Irish music in the pubs. The first stop was Merchant's Arch near River Liffy to hear our favorite band play (we went the night before, hence the word "favorite") and we split two different kinds of beer. After that we stopped by Gogarty and had another Guinness. I stole sips since I didn't want my own and after that we went back to the hotel to get ready for a super early and fun adventure the next day.

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