Dublin to Galway

Tuesday was our last day in Dublin. We slept in a little later and then had a full Irish breakfast at the hotel before checking out. The hotel staff were kind enough to store our luggage so we could enjoy some more sightseeing in the city before we left. Sandy really wanted to see the Library at Trinity College so we headed there, while my mom went to Glasnevin Cemetery and my uncle and cousin went to Abbey Theater. When we arrived at Trinity College, there was a huge line to get into the library. I talked to a student tour guide and he said that the line looked a lot longer that it actually would be and suggested that we do a tour with him.  It was only an extra €2 more than the library entrance fee and the line would be shorter by then. So that’s what we did. Our tour guide was Ross and he did a great job telling us the history and stories of Trinity College.  We started off at Parliament Square near the Campanile and saw the statue of George Salmon, the provost at the turn of the 20th Century, who reluctantly withdrew his veto against the decision to allow women to attend the college. He died right after the first women attended, but the male students are forever grateful to him.

We walked through Library Square and saw the largest Oregon Maples in Europe and then headed to New Square and saw Berkeley Library and Museum Building.

Carvings of flowers around the building represent the native species of Ireland. He also pointed out the Pomodoro Sphere within a Sphere in front of the library. Today, students referred to it as the Golden Snitch, but in the past, students had referred to it as the Death Star. Neil said he was showing us his age with the Death Star reference.

When the tour was over, we headed to the library. Sure enough, the line was shorter and it only took us about five minutes to get in. First we saw the Book of Kells, a beautiful illuminated Gospel manuscript. It was absolutely beautiful and amazing that a manuscript could be kept in such perfect condition for such a long time. Then we headed upstairs to see the Long Room.

This room houses many of the college’s oldest books and rows of marble busts line the ends.

We saw the busts of some famous people including Shakespeare, Boyle, Newton, and Cicero, as well as many important people in the college’s history.

And the Long Room itself was absolutely beautiful with a high wooden arched ceiling.

When we were finished here, we headed down to the gift shop. I saw a nice Glendalough Celtic Cross, but unfortunately, it was out of stock. The cashier said I could probably find one online, since coming back in a week wasn’t feasible. As we left the college, we saw my mom on Grafton Street and she joined us as we walked down to see Christ Church Cathedral. We had spent a lot of time at Trinity College and would need to get back soon, but we wanted to at least see the cathedral from the outside.

It’s a truly gorgeous building and worth the walk down to see. And since we were so close, we also made a stop at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for a couple quick pictures.

Then we started making our way back to the hotel.

Along the way, we stopped quickly in Merrion Square Park for a picture of the Oscar Wilde statue and then headed back to the hotel.

After getting our luggage, we got a cab to the Heuston train station and boarded the train to Galway. It took about two hours to cross Ireland, but at least the ride was comfortable. They even have free WiFi on board, so we were able to get online during the trip. In Galway, we got a cab to our hotel - Salthill Hotel on the Salthill Promenade. It was a beautiful evening and the nearly-full moon was shining over Galway Bay as the sun began to set.

But like most of our evenings in Ireland, we went to sleep before it really became dark.