European Adventures: Dublin | Trinity College, National Library and Oscar Wilde's Memorial

These photo posts will go roughly in chronological order over the course of our month in Europe, broken up over multiple posts for load time and file size purposes.

Our first stop in Europe took us to Dublin, for two reasons: first, we've always wanted to go to Ireland (and Dublin particularly) and second, it was the cheapest flight option for our departure.

We stayed in Dublin for a week--which, about two days in, we realized was far too long for a city like Dublin, which is actually fairly small. But we were slightly jetlagged, so let ourselves sleep in when possible to adjust to the time change, and we packed as much as possible into our first few days in Europe.

We took a redeye flight from Philadelphia, so we landed in Dublin early in the morning. Plenty of time to locate our AirBnB apartment, get settled, and head out for a tour of Trinity College:

Not pictured: the smell of old books.

And in case that wasn't enough books in one day, we then ventured over to the National Library. Unfortunately, photography's not allowed inside, but trust me when I say this is one of the prettiest reading rooms I've seen, and the library boasted one of the most impressive free library exhibits I've ever visited, centering on Yeats and the history of Irish poetry. Seriously amazing.

A quick stop at the Oscar Wilde memorial in St. Stephen's Green, dinner in a pub... and early to bed for our poor jetlagged souls.