In the second half of day 1, we walked over to Trinity College.

*Sidenote: the Irish walk everywhere. And when they say something is a five-minute walk, just be prepared for at least a 20-minute walk. *

I was especially excited to visit Trinity College. In class prior to our trip, we were all assigned a museum in Dublin in which we had to research and present to the class. The Library at Trinity College was my assigned museum, so I couldn’t wait to see it all in person. Trinity College is a beautiful college that also dates back several hundred years. Queen Elizabeth I opened the college in 1592 during a time when many universities were being established across Western Europe. We only toured the library’s Long Room, which houses the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells is a manuscript of the four gospels written around 800 AD. The Long Room has over 200,000 of the library’s oldest books and is lined with marble busts. The busts are of great philosophers, writers, and men who supported the college. Trinity College Dublin was definitely a must-see while in Ireland. It was incredible to view so much history in one place. When we finished up there, we met the other groups for dinner on Temple Bar. Temple Bar is a street lined with restaurants and bars, similar to Beale Street in Memphis or Dickson Street in Fayetteville. Saint Patrick’s Day weekend was still in full swing when we arrived, so the street was full of tourists and locals in celebration. It was really an awesome experience.

The Long Room lined with books and marble busts.

A street decorated for Saint Patrick’s Day