Trinity College
My first stop on Saturday morning was to visit the Book of Kells. It's a gorgeous book written about 800 AD. It is an intricately decorated book of the four gospels with colorful Celtic art. They turn the page approximately every three months. (It sure would take quite some time to read the whole thing at the rate of 2 pages every 3 months.)
Temple Bar
After visiting Trinity College and the Book of Kells, I walked through the Temple Bar area. This area is usually hopping. It seems to be the place that all of the tourists want to be. Even as a tourist, I was stopped by several other tourists who wanted directions to Temple Bar. Fortunately, it was early when I made my way through the riverside walk and most of the crazy party-goers were still sleeping off their fun from the night before. I didn't know this when I booked my trip, but apparently Dublin is the place that people go to party shamelessly. I was able to avoid most of it though by paying close attention to where the tourists were congregating and choosing other pubs for dinner.
Christ Church Cathedral
Christ Church Cathedral was a beautiful Protestant Cathedral that is now open to the public when services are not ongoing. The tile work and stained glass windows are beautiful and not like anything that I have seen outside of Dublin. This is also the location where Strongbow is buried.
Town Hall
The Dublin Town Hall is a beautiful building, but there's not much to see. This picture is of the beautiful mural on the tile floor. In the basement of the Town Hall there is an exhibition about the history of Dublin. It's a multimedia display. Neat if you have a lot of time, but it wasn't one of my favorites.
Dublin Castle
After reading my Dublin pocket guide and listening to a Dublin travel podcast, I decided to check out the Dublin Castle which is only open by guided tour because it is still an official government building that is used for official meetings and events. It's a little bit expensive, but I thought the tour was well worth the money. There is quite a bit of history wrapped up in that building, all the way back to the Viking times. Our tour guide was very insightful and facilitated a tour that seemed to appeal to every one's interests.
Guinness Storehouse
The Guinness Storehouse was a little bit of a disappointment. I was hoping that I would have the opportunity to actually see the process of creating this Ruby-red Irish delight, but instead the self-guided tour takes you through the process by way of a few hands-on activities and a televised tour guide. Of course, they make up for it by providing free Guinness tasting during the middle of the tour and a free pint at the end of the tour.
Kilmainham Gaol
I took a tour of the old jail used for political prisoners. The jail is no longer in use. Now it's a full time museum. But it housed a number of famous political prisoners until it closed in 1924. The 14 Easter Rising leaders were held and executed in Kilmainham. This is a picture of the chapel where one of the 14 was married just hours before he was executed. They also had a letter from his bride describing the experience. It was really neat to read about the wedding and then to actually sit in the chapel.
St Patrick's Cathedral
