Book of Kells

Today I met up with Mom and Dad after work. They had been out and about all day at the James Joyce Center and the National Writers Museum. We had a short walk over to Trinity College.

Our first stop was to see the Book of Kells, which is a Celtic text of gospels and the New Testament, written around the year 800. Before we saw it, I found a carved rock with Ogham carved into it. It's a language predating letters and words, where each hash mark along the side of the rock stood for a different letter.

Then we went into the room with the Book of Kells. There was an incident. Let me preface this by saying that most of the pictures shown on this blog are essentially illegal. Most were taken amidst several "no cameras" signs, but with the flash off, I do no damage to the art.

Well, I whipped out my camera to take a picture of the book, fully aware of the security guard in the corner, but the worst she can do is tell me to put it away. And I was right.

What I wasn't expecting was the tourist to my right to hit my arm and yell, "NO PICTURES IN HERE! NO NO NO!" I very politely thanked her for scolding me in public and walked away. Well, then Mom overheard her tell on me. That's right, she felt the need to tattle. Mom was then very afraid I was going to be arrested or something, but here I am, safe and sound. I was not hunted down by the Garda or a group of angry librarians. But both Mom and Dad agreed that it wasn't their proudest moment. All in the name of the blog, I say!

And here's the picture, where you can clearly see how my arm was hit by the tattletale.

We headed upstairs to the Long Room (another illegal picture), which was the coolest library I have ever seen. It reminded me of the one in Beauty and the Beast. I just wanted to climb the ladders to the two stories of bookcases. If I could build a dream house, this would be my study.

After we left Trinity, we walked around and stopped in a few different shops. I introduced Mom to Butler's hot chocolate and she loved it, of course.

Then we went into a store where I got an adorable Wedgwood china set of a tea pot and two cups and saucers. They are so dainty, I can't wait to have a tea party with them.

Our last stop of the day was dinner, where we had beef and Guinness pie at Madigan's Pub on O'Connell Street. It's easily the best pie around, and they even give you a shot of Guinness to pour over the top.

It was a wonderful ending to another fun day with the parents.