Valparaiso

Quickly...

I went to see the Book of Kells with Elizabeth and her friend from home, Stephanie. It was beautiful. I was not allowed to take photos, but it is a completely illustrated manuscript transcirbed by Celtic Monks of the four Gospels and the New Testament. Ireland considers this book its finest national treasure. Here is an example of what the entire book looks like...

And, upstairs is the Long Room in the Old Library at Trinity College. The library houses many first editions of books including Gulliver's Travels among many others (that one stuck out to me because I read it in high school). This photo is taken from the internet, you were also unable to take photos of the library.

We ended up talking to the guard at the library for quite some time. He showed us the original and oldest harp in Ireland of which is one of the only three surviving medieval Gaelic harps. And, we walked past some original notes written by Charles Darwin. I saw the word 'Valparaiso', and told him that I was from one of the two Valparaisos I know of (not the one in Chile), and he said, "Well, if I turn my back here, and you just happened to whip out a camera and turn off the flash, maybe you could take a picture?" I gleefully smiled, and did as he said. And, here is the photo of Charles Darwin's original notes on the species of Valparaiso.