What would a visit to Dublin be without going to see Trinity College?
Trinity College was founded in 1592. It is Ireland's oldest university.
The Campanile is Trinity's Bell Tower. It was completed in 1853.
If you were Catholic, you were forbidden from attending Trinity from 1871 to 1970.
If you were Catholic, you were forbidden from attending Trinity from 1871 to 1970.
The blonde guy was our tour guide around Trinity. This door is important for reasons.
Giant Tree!
It's a Pomodoro Sphere! These things are everywhere!
But honestly, the reason we came to visit Trinity was to see the Library.
It's the largest library in Ireland.
It's the largest library in Ireland.
Books are shelved by height. Tall books on the bottom, short books on the top.
The Library is also home to Brian Boru's harp and the symbol of Ireland.
It's from the 14th or 15th century, but not Brian Boru's. It was probably made for a nobleman.
Details of the harp.
The Library is a copyright library and receives a free copy of any publication published in Ireland. It's also the home to the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the Gospels around 800 AD. Important to note, is that the Book of Kells probably came to Ireland from Scotland to avoid being taken in a Viking raid.
After visiting Trinity, we wandered around town a little bit and saw things.
Like this cute pub!
And some weird street art.
And this cute street!
And this cool street art.
We found Dublin Castle.
This is the archway for the door to get into the old Dublin Castle.
I'm not sure who this is.
A king of some sort....after some digging it's Brian Boru - whose harp they don't have.
This one is St. Patrick.
The gardens are open to the public, so we wandered a bit.
The gardens had paths in the shapes of sea serpents bricked into the ground.
New castle and old castle in one!
Colorful buildings with various couples. Also a green vine-y wall.
More garden plus castle bits. The thing to know is that the Beatty Library is over here. It has an AMAZING collection of illuminated manuscripts from all over the world. No photos were allowed, but if you get the chance and are mildly interested in books, YOU HAVE TO GO.
We left Dublin and started our way out to Galway, which means drive-by photos:
And then we got to Galway!
This is the Fisheries Watchtower. It was built in 1852 on the river Corrib.
River Corrib and Bridge Street.
We had a quick downpour, but it cleared up.
Dan under the Spanish Arch - "one of four arches built in 1584."
Out there is the North Atlantic Sea.
Out there are lots of waterfowl.
These too were having a grand time hanging out and watching the water.
Galway had cool old streets that had flags and lights and flowers all along them.
Street art about the street!
Flowers!
This might be the same street as before, but from the other direction.
Michael, we found your bar!
We found a Busker. He did not have a fire safety person with him.
What's a little street performance without an ambulance?
FIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrreee!
The new age of sandwich board wearers.
I really liked Galway.
There were so many birds on those wires.
A statue of two Wildes, and Dan in the background.
On the left, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) and on the right Eduard Wilde (1865-1933).
There is a duplicate statue in Tartu, Estonia.
Street art!
Sally Longs mural. Sally Longs is a hardrock live music pub.
We wandered outside of town and got a little lost.
But I got to see more of the Corrib River near the Galway Cathedral.
This concludes our adventures for today.
