Our first stop in Dublin was Trinity College, founded in 1592, which has an absolutely beautiful campus that is open to the public. You can see its influence on American universitites, but it has a complimentary feeling about the architecture and layout which makes it feel very unified and intimate. It's hard to believe that it takes up 40 acres of city space.
We were able to get to the Old Library just in time to take a quick look at the Book of Kells, a Celtic manuscript that dates from the Middle Ages and contains ornate drawings. It was interesting for me to learn what they used to create ink - oak tree bark, lapis lazuli, etc.
I absolutely loved the Long Room, in the Old Library. It looks like something straight out of Harry Potter, with high vaulted ceilings and volume after volume of ancient books. There are ladders leading to high shelves, winding staircases going up to other floors, and marble busts of famous people lining the hallway. It's the kind of place you want to get locked into by mistake, and spend the night pouring through books and wandering around. It feels like you are in a cathedral, where books are worshipped as deities.
