The Wanderers

In the two days we were in Dublin, we managed to see a LOT. We combined walking, a "hop on, hop off" bus tour, and the tours inside places, we managed to see a fair amount of the sights this beautiful city has to offer. We walked around Viking/Medieval area which took us to all of the oldest buildings in Dublin. Walking away from Brazenhead Inn we came across St. Audden's Cathedral (12th century) and worked our way around to Christ Church Cathedral (1030), St. Audden's Gate (1275), Tailor's Hall (1706), St. Werburgh's (1715), and Dublin Castle (1204). After that we walked south to St. Patrick's Cathedral (1192) which is gorgeous inside. We arrived there rather late in the afternoon ist before closing which ended up being a really good mis-timing because they reduced the fee by a bit and, more importantly, we were able to sit and listen to the choir sing. I'm definitely not a catholic person, but I dare anyone to go into a cathedral with that much history and beauty while the choir is singing and the oregon is laying out the lows and not be in utter awe.

The second day in Dublin was fantastic as we took the Dublin city hop-on hop-off bus tour. This bus just drives in a big circle around the city stopping at 23 of the best areas for sight-seeing tourists. As a side note, one of James' friends from ASU was also in Dublin at the same time we were with a group of his awesome friends. So we get on this bus and we're taking some pictures, enjoying the bus drivers commentary, and I notice some random people in front of us for some odd reason. Then, after being on the bus for almost 30 minutes and watching these people change seats 8 times, because the poor babies couldn't take the cold, James says, "holy crap, I think that's my buddy Bobby". Of course it is. So we spent the majority of the rest of the day with them.

After meeting all of them, we headed to Trinity College (1592) where they house The Book of Kells (800) in the most amazing library I think I have ever been in. We took the €10 tour which was completely worth it as it was a really sweet 30 minute tour run by a student of the college and included price of admission to see the book exhibit. The entire experience is incredible, but it's the library that most impressed me. We learned that the books in it have no discernable organizational system. We were told that, rather than using something logical like th Dewey decimal system, they organize the books by size. Yes folks, that's right, to find a book you must know its exact dimensions. Strange as that is, entering the library is freaking jaw dropping, pants crappingly amazing. It is the largest single room library in the world. You walk in and the air is thick and filled with the smell of books; the smell of knowledge. Inside, there is also the harp. The harp is the symbol of Ireland and this specific one is said to be the original harp from the last high king. This is a place that all travelers should check out.