The grounds of Dublin's university are a delight for a stroll. Beautiful architecture, sportsfields lined with trees and benches, an inspiring environment... well, don't be fooled; Trinity is of course best known for possessing The Book of Kells and that's why we visit this place.
Just my cup of tea: the written word, illustrations, the library... Was I wrong; enter the Tourist-Trail!
To get to the exhibition-room (and the till) you must pass the tourist-cramped souvenirshop. From here you basically queue up for a neck-stretching-exercise.
In fact the introducing exhibition is pretty good. It goes into detail on the development of script and the purpose of illustration. There are just way too many visitors on a small space.
And it gets even worse; on to The Book itself, only a few pages are on display in a very dim-lighted room. With all of us visitors wanting to view the display, this feels like a pit for cockfights! Let me out!!!
On to the next level; The Long Room. This is the grand library. More crowds here and apart from the smell of old books I didn't enjoy this at all, so I ran off after having been through this whole experience in, say 1/2 an hour.
This place may be important to the history of the written word, but is NOT worth your money!
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At Least Do This: So, either be very very very patient, or just spend your entrance fee (a whopping €8!) on an illustrated guide. There are different ones on sale and you'll be able to enjoy many pages of the Book of Kells from the peace and quiet of your comfy-sofa!
Alternative: .
~Instead of visiting The Long Room: visit Marsh's Library for €2,50! See my tip on that one...
~Instead of visiting The Book of Kells: visit Chester Beatty's Library for FREE! See my tip...
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on Oct 1, 2007
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