Dublin Weekend, part 2

The Hapenny Bridge was passed….at one time it was a halfpenny to cross. The Customs House was pointed out and the dome to Four Courts. On Meeting House Street we passed the Dublin Quaker Meetinghouse.  18^th century construction was in many parts of the close in downtown area. At one time Trinity College had been outside the city but now it is at City Centre.

Hapenny Bridge

Dublin Friends

There is a statue of Mollie Malone. She’s the topic of a ditty about a Tart with a Cart, A Dish with the Fish, etc.  You may want to Google Mollie to get the rest of the story!

With Mollie Malone

Marcus in his Trinity 'coat'

There were lots more stories and more walking. We finished up at about 1:30 and headed back toward Trinity for the walking tour of the college. We stopped at Fitzgerald’s for lunch. Back at the college we queued, paid our 10 Euros which also gave us admission to the library and the Book of Kells. Our guide for this was Marcus. He explained about his “coat” which has no sleeves. This is what the undergraduates wear. When they received their bachelor’s degree, they are given sleeves to the elbow. When they attain a master’s degree, sleeves to the wrist. He says that more education keeps you warmer! 

Our walk with him was just around the campus. He pointed out as had Peter that King Henry II had held banquets at Trinity. He explained the bell tower, pointed out the various schools (music, law, science), the dining hall (which is open to the public and reportedly a good meal at a good price). We passed the croquet court…and Trinity is the only university with a croquet team…at least in this area. Their only competition is a local nursing home.  The science building replicates the Hanging Gardens of Babylon sans vegetation. The plants were leeching into the concrete and growing inside the building so the concept was abandoned. He had stories of graduates including Sam Beckett and Oscar Wilde. He told about former deans. Then he left us at the entrance to the library.

We went first into the display of the Book of Kells….9^th century handwritten copies of the four Gospels…written in Latin with Gaelic script and illustrated rather creatively. This was done on vellum which was made from the hides of 185 calves. Our visit was timely; only a copy of the original will be on display from the 12^th to the 15^th! The Book of Kells was quite interesting but the most impressive sight was yet to come. The first floor library is the length of the building! The entire length of the library is open with stacks and stacks of books arranged by height! The room is mammoth and the shelves are lettered with “a” at the bottom. I couldn’t see all the way to the top but I know there are several shelves beyond “q”. Each section has two ladders and books on three sides. It is difficult to describe but I would heartily recommend that you Google “Trinity Library” to see pictures of this room. There are busts of literary giants between each roomette of books.

I had asked an attendant if the stairs in the room with the Book of Kells was the only way up to the library. She saw my walking stick and offered to get another attendant to take me up in the lift. So I accepted!!

After a while in the room with 200,000 books (only a portion of the five million in the Trinity Library collection, part of which is housed in buildings off campus), we descended to the bookstore for a few postcards and a lovely scarf with designs from the Book of Kells.

We walked back to the bus stop, waited for one heading our direction, and boarded. There were no seats available downstairs so we were all herded to the upper level. A couple of women noticed my walking stick and directed me to the handicapped seat…which I accepted! I’m beginning to see more benefits from my walking stick. It was most helpful when doing steps and for leaning as we did the walk/wait tours but it also gets me some perks!! We rode 40 minutes, walked back to the Holiday Inn Express and settled in at 6 pm. We ordered another pizza and Bebe reorganized some of her packing. She watched a movie and I fell asleep by 9 pm. Sightseeing is for the rugged!!

That's a brief overview of our weekend with about 10% of the photos. We had breakfast on Monday and Bebe was off to the airport and I was headed for the M1. It's been a grand time. I have another 9 days.