Dublin - Day One

We wake up bright and early for our first full day in Dublin. Beginning with a coffee and a pastry at Ann's Bakery, we walk around our neighborhood to see what is near, making our way down O'Connell Street to the River Liffey, crossing bridges back and forth, until we reach the Irish Famine Memorial and the Jeanie Johnston, a replica of an emigrant ship. Our walk continued to Trinity College, where we purchased advanced tickets for entry later in the day. Explored the campus, and then realized that we were very close to J.P. Mooney's Bar, which was on our list of things we had to do. The bartender there, Sean, was a very friendly, talkative young man, and we stayed there until it was time for our tour.
The Trinity College library started off with a very good exhibit about the Book of Kells, and how illuminated manuscripts were made throughout history. The displays were interesting, even with the huge crowds in the building. Leaving the exhibit room, we made our way through the gift shop to a wide, unassuming switch-back staircase on the far end. Climbing the stairs, looking at the plain white walls, you are totally unprepared for what comes next. The emotion that came over us both was almost overwhelming. To see the Long Room in person, to take in the ceilings, the two floors of stacks, the busts of famous authors and thinkers. It was truly

the best part of our trip, by far, and something that neither pictures nor words will ever be able to convey. Unfortunately, the real Book of Kells was not on display at the time, but the facsimile was good, too.
After going from end to end of the room for an hour, we took our time meandering back to our area, and chose O'Shea's Pub for dinner, which consisted of a large ham hock for Jolene, which we couldn't even begin to finish in one sitting. Then it was back to the room for a nap.
Our evening plan was to walk through the city to a bar/venue called Whelan's, where we had tickets to see a band perform. We had never heard the guy before, but months before we had looked for some sort of music activity, aside from the type that plays in every pub in town, and Mat Kearney was who we picked. The venue was a little over a mile away, and it was raining, and we couldn't find the email with our tickets, but we decided to go anyway. The walk was

fun, the rain wasn't horrible, and the bar was huge. We talked to a bartender about our missing ticket situation, and then to a bouncer by the door, and they assured us we would be allowed in. As we stood in line, we learned that the performer was from Eugene, OR, and his opening act was a local boy from Dublin. We got in with no problem, grabbed an out of the way table, and enjoyed the show a lot. The walk back was nice after being so hot inside, and we were home in bed by 11PM.