We have arrived in Dublin, finally! We got off the plane and quickly walked to the bus. The bus then took us to our hotel where we placed our bags in holding and got our train/bus pass. We got on the bus and made our way to Trinity College where we jumped into a tour group. Out tour guide was a history major, so she had lots of information to share about the campus. The first picture is of the masters building and it is all student run. The next is of the medical school. The third picture is of the rugby pitch with a cool building behind. Moving on is the museum building, personally my favorite behind the library. The museum building was built after the famine as a way to try and being hope and pride back to Ireland. Each carving was handmade by two brothers over a course of four years. They would go to the botanical garden in Dublin for inspiration and carve from there. All plant and wildlife carvings are from species native to the land. Each flower on the bottom sconce is different. The large circles are different pieces of stone native to Ireland. The green one, at the time people didn’t know was extremely rare so they put it everywhere. We walked inside to be met with a male and female reindeer. They were both impressive, but when achieologist were looking for the bones, they got rid of all females except five while keeping all males because they were deemed more important. The columns found in the next picture feature two of the stones. The green one is Connemara Marble which is very rare, the one behind it is Cork Red Marble. I then took a picture of the pretty tiled ceiling. I’ve also added a picture of the builiten board in the building that features a piece of each stone used to make the building and it’s name. After going on the Trinity School Tour, we made our way to the old library to see the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells tour was super cool, we got to see the actual book, but could not take pictures. Fun fact, they turn the pages every few months so people won’t see the same pages, it takes about five years to get through the whole book on this rotation. This book is the first written version of the four gospels in Latin for the Scottish and it was given to Ireland for safe keeping. I’ve pictured some of the Celtic artwork that was on the posters outside and what the symbols mean. The next is a view of the old library itself. Some of the shelves are empty due to future remodeling starting in November. They are working to keep the historic appeal but make it fire safe, they said they needed to get there butt in gear after Notre Dame. Featured next is the Irish Republic Declaration of Freedom from Britain. I’ve also added some pictures of a coin book, a plant identification book, and a map. The final picture is of the harp known to Dublin.
In the afternoon, we first went to an academic lecture over mindfulness. This lecture was about how to quiet your mind and focus on being present in your environment and body. We then left to go to dinner, we were a little late so could not enjoy our full three course meal. I enjoyed Grilled Iberico Pork Pressa, sweet corn, chorizo, crispy polenta, and hispi cabbage. For desert I enjoyed, a solmai cake, with strawberries, lemon curd, whip cream, and mint ice cream. After our very good dinner we parted ways with our teachers and went to the bar.
We saw lots of cool buildings on our way to the Temple bar, a popular tourist location. Once there we waited in the long line and listened to the live music while trying to decide what to get. I ended up getting a whiskey sour, which was the best I’ve ever had. I watched the make the sweet and sour mix step by step before adding it to the whiskey. We then went to Alfies bar, where I had a disappointing strawberry daiquiri. After that me and some of the friends I’ve made headed back to the hotel for the night.
Cool buildings in Dublin that I don’t know what they are. I think the first might be city hall?