Our last day in Ireland!
Trip Start
Mar 05, 2008
1
105
107
Trip End
Jan 11, 2009
Dublin,
County Dublin,
Ireland
Friday, January 9, 2009
In just under four hours we managed to fit in 3 very interesting sights - the Chester Beatty Library, The Book of Kells (at Trinity College), and the National Museum.
The Chester Beatty Library had an amazing collection of extraordinary old books. There were old copies of the Bible & the Qu'ran, as well as information on how these sorts of books were written and illustrated. There was also heaps about the different types of religion in the world.
The Book of Kells continued our book theme. It was a display in the library of Trinity College of a variety of books dating back to about 800AD, telling stories of Irish history and the Gospel. The books were also illuminated - generally with gold. There was also a video presentation showing exactly how the books would have been written & bound at the time. Upstairs there was another really impressive library. Unfortunately, you weren't actually allowed to get anywhere near the books!
Our final stop of the afternoon was the National Museum. We had been hanging out to see the 'bog bodies' since we arrived, and we finally got the chance. The bog bodies are, just as their name suggests, well preserved bodies of people who had been killed (often brutally) and then placed in the Irish bogs throughout the country. (It brought back memories of Juanita from South America). Other interesting sights at the museum included, a Viking exhibit, old croziers (hooked staffs) from Irish monasteries and graveslabs from various tomb sites.
We got booted out of the museum at 5pm, then headed back to Nathan & Jayde's. Tonight we went out for a slap up meal to celebrate our final night in Dublin. Brian came along as well. We went to a place called Dobbins and it was very posh and very nice.
Tomorrow we catch the bus back to Dublin airport, then fly back to London. The Trayler Travels are almost over ...
