Travel Day 6 – Getting Learnt
The final day in Dublin already?! Time really does fly fast when you’re having fun. The last day was one that we initially had nothing planned for so we decided to head back to Dublin castle for a self guided tour after breakfast. Each and every day we were here, just walking around the city is the absolute best. The vibe and culture here reminds me of back home walking around Vancouver; just a little bit of everything and everyone in a bustling, hustling urban environment.
The castle was gorgeous, and really taking your time in each room to read what makes them all unique can easily fill the morning as it did for us. With a building that looks like a hodgepodge of medieval castle, mid 16th century brick stone and modern building apartments from the 1960’s it is quite a sight to see from both the outside and in. The multiple rooms to traverse through shines a light on the history that is Dublin Castle and give you sense of how people lived throughout the ages. One cool fact that stuck with me about the castle is that it is still used by the Irish president to accept international dignitaries and host social events. Once finished in the castle, we headed out to lunch (we tried to go to the Stag’s Head but they didn’t open on time and we were hungry) with Dean deciding flaffles and man were they good. Not gonna lie, all the meals have been amazing the trip so far, and we ain’t even in Italy yet!
Concluding lunch we went back to Dublin Castle to look at the garden in behind it. Then we overhearing a tour guide tell his group that the Chester Beatty Library is free entrance and on a whim decided to head in. Even though the title says “library” it’s all a ruse! In reality the so called “library” is a museum. This collection of literature is from Sir. Anthony Chester Beatty’s private collection of well over 33,000 items! I mean this guy had his own librarians working for him. Absolutely bonkers of how a man just starts to amass such a collection. Some of the relic pieces he obtained were very historic relics that have aided in historic research around the world. The major displays in the library include a full exhibit on works of art, calligraphy and book making from all eras (and I literally mean all eras from 2500BC – 1900+AD). After the exhibit on art pieces (Chinese, Islamic and European literature and art styles) the next floor holds an exhibit on religious relics and teachings. The exhibit explains the connection, and vast differences of most the worlds largest religions; including but not limited (as I forget exactly all. It was a lot of reading ok?) Bhuddism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism, Judaism, Jainism and others. The trip through time and the information on how all the religions differ and are connected is quite intense and prompts me to look into it more at a later date. Chester Beatty was the epitome of collectors if you haven’t figured this out already, being recognized by the Pope for his aid in religious cataloguing.
Unfortunately there are no cameras allowed so there were no pictures taken here.
This day easily hit the top of the list on favourite places in Dublin, and has giving a lot of insight into how he old world functioned and lived. I can’t wait to head out to Rome tomorrow, even with the 2:45 wake up call. Until tomorrow!
~Spencer
