Last Full Day in Dublin

Greetings on this lovely wet and gloomy Monday. I've been having some Disqus issues so have taken that down temporarily. Hopefully you can comment using the Blogger commenting platform. We shall see won't we? 

These photos are from Sunday, Aug. 28 - our last full day in Dublin.  They are in no particular order as I take photos with my camera and with my phone which can get confusing when I try to organize my photos on my laptop with any precision. I'm just going to have to suck it up and buy a camera with wifi capability. Has anyone had any experience with one of those and/or knows a good brand?

Carrying on...Annie and I had another amazing breakfast at Ariel House - I had yogurt, homemade granola & fruit followed by oatmeal & coffee. That should keep me going for quite some time! (in more ways than one!) Sorry, colonoscopy still on my mind.

 First stop was to return to Trinity College and see the Long Room and the Book of Kells. I LOVED, ADORED, BONDED WITH this section of the library (called the Long Room) -I felt like I was in a Harry Potter movie!

Built between 1712 and 1732, the Long Room at Trinity College's Old Library holds the collection's 200,000 oldest books

WOW!  The medieval illustrated Book of Kells has been at the Trinity College library since the 1600's to protect it from Cromwell.

We did a bit more hopping on and off a tour bus - hopping off at the famous Dublin jail called Kilmainham Gaol - now a museum. Unfortunately the next available time for a tour was hours away so we hopped back on the next bus and got off near the National Museum. We grabbed some lunch and did some window shopping, then headed into the museum.

One of the not so nice sections of Dublin as seen from the bus...

Near (hey - I was bored!) Kilmainham Gaol Museum:

And what do you do when you are waiting for a bus?  Selfie time!

I am limiting my museum photos to three (see how nice I am)?

The swirls and spirals on this priceless bracelet are very inspiring (future tattoo?)

The next two pieces (not sure if they are buckles or were in early Christian churches as some sort of ornament, but both depict Jesus on the Cross with the added interest of Roman soldiers stabbing in the sides with their spears. Medieval clergy felt the best way to keep control of the population was by fear of what would happen to them in the afterlife if they sinned during their mortal life.

Fun times!

The Celts were masters of intricate designs of jewelry and religious icons.

Here we are at Ha'penny Bridge - selfie time :)

This bridge is suffering from the addition of many locks and graffiti: made me wonder who Lee Walker is and why he is a "gross __________"?  Actually "gross" is spelled "grass" which is quite puzzling. Perhaps that's an insult in some other country!?

Hey - you're a grass!! Do you feel insulted?

Two views of the Dublin Spire - also known as the Monument of Light. The spire was built as part of a project to spruce up O'Connell St.

Look up.....look WAY up.....!

And of course the requisite bridge photos :) 

We had a tough time finding a place to eat - every place was stacked full of people but eventually we landed at the noisy Slattery pub where I had some nachos (I've had better). But that's ok; after eating we went on a ghost tour!! It was great but I didn't get too many photos as it was getting dark. Then we cabbed it back to Ariel House and prepared to leave the next morning for the Aran Island of Inis Mor!  *Also spelled Inishmore, Arainn Mhor