Our first stop will be Trinity College. You can see here the iconic Bell Tower standing tall in the backdrops of Parliament Square.
Our journey begins with a nice stroll towards the bus stop. There's approximately 15 minutes left before the bus arrives so no biggie, no need to rush at all.
We had some nice bread for breakfast. Croissant and Apple Pie. A lady said hello to us while jogging with her dog, and we passed by an old couple who seemed to enjoy the nice weather.
5 minutes left until the bus arrives. I can't stress enough the importance of downloading the Dublin Bus apps.
4 days left with the Rambler. Just one day using the bus service and I can say that it is lightyears ahead of the system we had in Malaysia. I wish that someday we can improve our public transport system up to a point where we can live without a car.
This crow landed right in front of me which caused me to fright out a bit. "The bird is bigger than I thought", I mubled to myself. Anyway the bus arrived soon after and we hopped in.
The thing is since winter is near, you have to check the weather everyday to make sure rain doesn't fall. I checked before we we went out and it's sunshine all the way throughout the day.
The mist from the glass makes for a very cool miniature like effect.
This is the station where I'm supposed to drop off yesterday. The bus is almost empty after this stop since almost everyone dropped off at this station - I should have gotten the clue yesterday.
The next station is Trinity College.
We hopped off the bus and let's go!
We're at the gate.
The patch of grass really stood out amongst the grey and white buildings on the rights and lefts.
The place is packed.
This is Parliament Square, the heart of Trinity College.
One of the main attraction here is the Book of Kells. It is regarded as Ireland's finest national treasure.
A very long line of people wanting to get inside. It is not free though, we have to pay 5 Euros ( I think) per person for entry. And since we aren't allowed to take any picture inside anyway, I passed.
There seems to be a graduation ceremony coming up.
The statue of provost George Salmon. When he was administrator he said that there would never ever be any female students in the college. He must be rolling in his grave a thousand times over by now.
Somehow I'm taking a liking to taking pictures of bicycles. Just a random story, when I was 9 my English teacher whose name is Mr Barrett once told me that one of the most difficult word that Irishmen finds difficult to spell is the word bicycle.
Here's another view of the Bell Tower again.
More and more people are coming in, and the line for the Book of Kells just keeps on getting longer and longer.
It's noon now.
I love the design of these buildings. Being from a country where most buildings considered modern, it is breath taking to see all these several hundred years building standing tall over these years.
The guards are making sure that everything went on smoothly. Here, policeman and guards are called "Garda". You may know by now that the Irish has their own languange called Gaelic. But most youngsters nowadays seemed to not know much about it. They prefer to speak and learn English.
Let's move on.
Again, I must stress that Trinners is absolutely beautiful.
Put Trinity College in you must visit list if you are to travel to Dublin.
Now I'm wondering where to go to next. After a quick though I decided that we should visit the National Library.
It was at this time that my phone automatically shuts off by itself. It was weird. I had around 70% of battery life remaining so it can't be due to battery. The phone automatically turns on again after 10-15 minutes after. This happened several times on this trip that one can't help but wonder why.
We took a picture with this Leprachaun. He seems to be collecting money for some sort of charity event.
Yet another picture of bicycles. It's just that I find them to be such a prominent part of this city that I had to include them. Walking and cycling is something that they love. Of course walking is a distant first place for them.
We're going to the National Library next. People nearby says the walk will take approximately 10 minutes.
We walked at a leisurely pace. Better let all of this sink in I thought. I noticed my sister, whose walking a bit slower than me, her head focusing on her phone and her hand non-stop typing on the screen. "Must be twitting non-stop, she must be". As for me I'm walking while reading and looking at the maps from the book that I bought a day earlier.
And we passed by a goofy looking yellow coloured boat-like truck.
Turns out the company is quite famous in Dublin. And the boat-like design is not just for show - it can both travel in land and water. Check out their website, these guys have a good sense of humor. Their write ups got a good chuckle out of me.
We're here. In the end it took us 20 minutes to get here since somehow, I got the name of the street mixed up. Asked a nice 30-something year old man, whose strolling with her 2 daughters the way to go. "Just walk straight up to the traffic, turn left, walk straight and there ya' go".
As always Dubliners are a nice bunch.
We went inside, asked the guard if we can take pictures inside the place and he said sure. But first we must put our bags in the locker provided. We did just that. This picture is taken near the stairs towards the reading chamber.
It's beautiful.
Since this library is an archive of many first edition books, lending is prohibited. Many people use this place as a reference centre.
There are also many personal notes and worksheets of famous Irish writers most notably James Joyce. Ever heard the science particle name "quark"? Well that term was taken from his novel entitled Finnegans Wake. I'd say Finnegans Wake is one of the most bizarre novel ever written. Many can't even make it past the first page.
Here's the reading chamber.
The room is eerily quite. This is a public library after all.
I think we only spent 15 minutes inside the place. But I'm content with it. Took our bags, which took longer than it should be due to me forgetting the locker's password.
We'll be going to St Stephen's Green next. What a unique looking building.
A tour bus.
We're quite near the entrance. There a lots of tourist at the entrance. Around 15-20 people. The tour guide I suppose was briefing them near the statue of Sir Arthur Edward Guinness.
We're inside the park. It is second in size next to Phoenix Park (in Dublin atleast).
This scenery is so soothing to the mind.
The grass is a bit wet, maybe that's why no people are picnicking on it. Most are taking pictures by the lake and fountain up front.
Cute.
Many people are feeding the pigeons and swans and ducks with bread crumbs. Shame I didn't have any.
This scene caught my eyes. It is really cool how the animals flock around him, as if waiting to be feeded by the old man.
I absolutely love this picture.
