Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Book of Kells & Dublin (Day 10)

On Sunday, we spent some more time exploring Dublin before getting on the train to head back to Limerick.
Alex with a statue of Molly Malone.
Alex's daddy had been teasing Alex about finding a leprachaun while in Ireland.
Well, we found one! He's pretty big, though.
We split into 2 groups for part of the day with my father-in-law and I heading to Trinity College for a tour of the college and do view the Book of Kells and a museum about illuminated manuscripts. The others went shopping and exploring Dublin. We got to go in the college's library... the largest single room library in the world! It was amazing. The books are almost all in Latin! And, students at the college can check them out for free, but they rarely do. Partly because they're in Latin, but also because it is hard to find the book you want - they are only arranged by SIZE!!! (The architecture was amazing, too.)


I was so sad that photos weren't allowed in either the museum or the library!!! The museum about the manuscripts was so interesting. There were even videos showing how they wrote in the books and how they bound them.

I actually saw this "statue" getting in position. Yes, it is actually a man! He would tap people with their umbrellas and startle them. He looked so real!

I really enjoyed listening to this group. The man on the left is playing a tin whistle or pennywhistle, in the middle is a hammered dulcimer, and on the right is a fiddle. (I think I identified these correctly.) I almost bought their CD and wish I would have!

3 comments:

  1. Awww the photo of Alex and the Leprechaun is so cute. Wow! He really is a big one. LOL! That statue is amazing! If you would have never said anything about it being a real man, I would have never guessed it!

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  2. Wow! Neat guy dressed as a statue! I would have loved to see the Book of Kells. Lucky you.

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  3. Very fun day! I love the pic with the leprechaun. It's a good picture for Daddy.

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