There is a story about the girl on my left in the picture above. She works in the photography department on the ship and when we went looking for our pictures taken at the ports she helped us once. She had asked if I was Australian. I smiled and said no. She thought I sounded like it. I got a kick out of that!
Our first stop of the day was the Monastery of Glendalough. When we arrive we all gathered in the meadow as we listened to our guide tell us the story of Saint Patrick and the history of the monastery. As the group followed the guide, I ventured off and walked the path to the upper and lower lake. I took the time to enjoy the nature and I got some good pictures of the monastery. I didn't make it to either of the lakes due to the time frame I had. I wanted to have some time to see the monastery as well.
As I was walking back on the trail a lady come up to me left side and said that she had been watching me use my cane. She made me jump since I didn't see her. She told me that she thought I was doing really well on the uneven, rocky path and that she was proud of me for exploring on my own. It made me smile and I told her thank you. I had surprised myself on the trip so far as well. I thought I would have a lot of anxiety being in unknown area since that is how I react back home. I don't know if it was the idea that there was 30 plus people who knew that I was part of the tour group and they would check on me as they passed me. I couldn't tell you, but I felt comfortable enough to go on my own and adventure out.
The monastery were more ruins since there was no one taking care of the area. All there was left of the chapel was run down walls with some headstones laying across the floor and the empty holes in the walls where stain glass once stood. As I walked through the cemetery I glazed upon the very old headstones and read them to see what the names were, years of their life and if anything else was placed on it. Some were so fragile looking from the years of weather, that they were crumbling at the corners. Some of the headstones had the Celtic cross on the top. I could feel the history that lived around there even though I only just learned a little bit. You can't go into a place like this and not see nor feel the history that is build in this ground. It has its importance, it has its part in history. Each headstone represents a life.
Below is the link to Monastery of Glendalough:
http://visitwicklow.ie/attractions/glendalough-monastic-city/
Trinity College
Trinity College is known for the home for the Book of Kells, which is the manuscript of the New Testament and Ireland's greatest treasure. The college is also well-known for the famous Old Library.
We had to wait in a long line to get the entrance for the Book of Kells. They only allow a certain number of people at once. When you enter it looks like a museum with the history and photograph of the Book of Kells on wall size displays. There was a display box that showed how earth elements were used to create the colors for pictures in the book. There was a separate room where the book was in a glass case where it laid open to a page. The patience and time that the person needed to create this book is not know to our generation now. Now-a-days people are constantly on their phones, being oblivious to the people and world around them. The book was accomplished because they didn't have all the distractions that we have now. I don't think I would have had the patience to slowly write the lettering perfectly without smearing the ink, waiting for the ink to dry to be able to continue, having to mix elements to create color ink and write it straight on the page. It is astonishing. I would love to see people try to recreate that now with all the distractions. I don't think it could be done. We would say it is pointless when we have technology. Even so, it is not the same. There is something remarkable about an old book, with pages that are crisp, lightly brown with man-made ink that makes it much more valuable than pages printed. The time, patience and skill to create this book is why it is apart of history.
The next part of our tour was my favorite, the Old Library also known as Long Room. This library was AMAZING! I'm not kidding, pictures don't do the justice and if you walked in you would be in awe. Just seeing the rows of old books that hold history, literature, biographies and so much more down a long two story room. Each section having a ladder to reach the top shelf, the smell of years worn on the books and the dark colors of the books eliminating the room. This gives you the deep appreciation of old books. I wanted to take a book off the shelf, feel and smell the pages. I wanted to wipe the layer of dust that had collected over the years and make the book feel alive in my hands. Yes, this may sound silly but these books are rare, one of a kind. This is not a typical library where the books are checked out. These books never leave the library and only Trinity students can use them when necessary in a room at the library. The bookshelves are roped off so not one can enter, you are only allowed to walk down the center of the long room. It was a beautiful sight.
After we completed our tour we had a choice of staying in Dublin and catching a taxi back to the ship since it was leaving in the evening or catch our coach back. I decided it wouldn't be good to stay behind alone so I went back with my family. We took the little time we had left and walked the streets of Dublin. We stopped at a bakery and I had the most delicious dessert ever! It had shortbread crust, thick layer of creamy caramel that melted in your mouth and a very thin layer of chocolate on top. It was YUMMY! Throughout the trip I would see places that had a similar dessert but it never was the same. It was disappointing, haha.
Below is the link about Book of Kells/Old Library:
https://www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/
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| Example of the delicious dessert |
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