Ireland Day in Dublin

For our first full day in Dublin, Caleb and I headed out for a traditional Irish breakfast. We found one and a restaurant around the corner from the hostel. Caleb had a full Irish breakfast with sausage, eggs, toast, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans and black and white cakes. I tried the cakes and they were pretty good - I liked the white one the best. The black one tasted like Worcester sauce. I ordered a bacon butty and it was like a big McD's egg mcmuffin without the cheese. Very tasty!

Entrance to the Guinness Storehouse Tour

After breakfast we met up with the other gals and headed to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour. It was the furthest from the center of Dublin but not a bad walk at all! Luckily Dublin is not as big as London so walking from one end of the city to the other is not too bad. The Guinness brewery is huge! It sits within old brick buildings on cobbled roads. The tour was not a guided tour but more of a walk at your own pace tour. The tour took us through the ingredients in brewing, the history of Guinness, advertising, and finally taste testing and pouring class. I attended the pouring class and graduated! Haha! Everyone graduated that attended and we each received a certificate.  I did try the Guinness I poured but did not enjoy - I'm just not a beer drinker. At the very top of the tour there is a bar that overlooks all of Dublin and has great views for photos.

Official first beer poured by me and my certificate.

Next we headed towards St. Patrick's Cathedral but stopped a times along the way for food and antiques. We also spotted a few other cathedrals and took pictures. Only three of us visited St. Patrick's and the two others continued shopping. St. Patrick's was beautiful! Everything was in the main chapel - ticket sales, souvenirs and the church portion. I have not seen this before as most cathedrals want to preserve the main church portion. We walked around a but taking photos and taking in the beauty. These churches took hundreds of years to build - some longer then the US has been around - and they have lasted much much longer. It's pretty amazing!

St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland

Inside St. Patrick's Cathedral

After visiting the cathedral - we saw we were running out of time before things closed for the day. Courtney and I really wanted to see the book of Kells at Trinity College Library so we split again and power walked to Trinity. We entered campus through a stone arch and I felt like I was transported back in time. The campus has a large courtyard surrounded by huge old buildings that I presume still hold class. Each one was a different style architecture yet all "went" together with similar colors which I'm assuming are similar materials. We quickly found the exhibit for the book of Kells and purchased a ticket for only a few euros. The man that sold me my ticket asked where I was from and I told him the states. He asked which state and I told him Alabama. He had actually visited Alabama before because his sister worked at Troy University. He went in February and was glad to miss the heat. I told him that I kind of miss it. Never thought I'd run into someone familiar with Alabama in Ireland.

Trinity College Campus

We walked around the Book of Kells exhibit and at the end saw the book open to a few pages. The artistry involved in the book was beautiful - everything from the artwork, lettering and colors. Next we were able to visit and photograph the Long Room. 

Long Room in Trinity College Library

This is the room I've been wanting to see since reading the Fever series and learning about Dublin a bit. I started tearing up a bit when entering because of my sheer excitement. The long room is just that - a very long room but with smaller sections off to each side. Each section houses bookcases a through l. They continue to a second floor accessed by spiral staircases (unfortunately guests were not allowed to the second floor). In between each section of books sits a bust of famous writers. The ceiling is covered in the same deep rich wood that makes up the bookcases. The busts are white and stand out quite nicely among all the wood. Along the middle are glass display cases of books from the library dating back hundreds of years to more recently like Harry Potter. Most are books that have influenced generations, tell folkflore, or describe historical events. I wish I could have sat in there and looked at each bookshelf for neat priceless treasures. But as good things do - we had to leave. Kyle was flying in from the US and then we were going to head out to some pubs.