Tag: Campanile

Heart & Soul of Ireland- Day 3

Wednesday, May 13th, 2026

Our day started meeting our guide for a tour of Trinity College. She was a student who had finished her studies and was getting ready to graduate. We met her in front of Library Square. She was full of energy and information.

Trinity College is the home to the Book of Kells and the Old Library (Long Room). It was founded in 1592 by royal charter from Queen Elizabeth 1. It is the oldest Ireland university with continuous operation. Some of its famous alumni are Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, and Samuel Beckett.

At the juction of Library Square and Parliament Square was a monument to William Edward Hartpole Lecky. It was erected in 1906 and the bronze cast was by Sir William Gascombe. Lecky was a prominent English language historian of his time.

William Edward Hartpole Lecky Monument

Near Lecky’s monument is the college’s Campanile (bell tower). It stands 100 feet and is located in the center of the Parliament Square. It was constructed in 1853 and the corner statues represent Divinity, Science, Medicine, and Law.

Trinity College’s Campanile (Bell tower)
The Graduates Memorial Building

The Debating Chamber is located in this building. The Hist (College Historical Society) was founded in 1770 and The Phil (University Philosophical Society) was founded in 1683. The Phil meets weekly and values free speech. The Hist also meets weekly and debates political and controversial issues. It would have been quite an experience to attend one of the debates.

Below are pictures from the Trinity College Dublin Museum building. It is home to the Geology Discipline.

TCD Museum Building
Ceiling in the Museum Building
Entrance staircase of the Museum Building
Entryway of the Museum Building
College Park is a cricket field on the grounds of Trinity College.
Samuel Beckett theater on the Trinity College Campus

We visited the Book of Kells which was located in the Old Library. It is a 9th century gospel manuscript written in Latin at a Columban monastery in Scotland. It includes the four Gospels of the new testament. It began with an exhibition entitled “Turning Darkness into Light”. It explains the history and symbolism of the Book of Kells manuscript as well as how the vellum and pigments were made. It was a great introduction.

The pictures below were taken in the exhibition. No photos were allowed when we visited the Book of Kells which was open to pages from the Gospel of Luke. The pages are turned several times per year for conservation purposes.

After our visit to the Book of Kells we went upstairs to the Long Room. It housed over 200,000 of the library’s oldest books in oak bookcases. Due to the redevelopment project of the Old Library the books were removed, cleaned, tagged digitally and relocated to an off-site, climate controlled storage facility to stop the deterioration of the ancient paper and leather. Once the redevelopment project has been completed, the collections will be returned to the library shelves.

A gem in the Long Room was the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic which was read outside the General Post Office on April 24, 1916 by Patrick Pearse at the start of the Easter Rising.

Installed in the Old Library is an illuminated artwork called Gaia. It features NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface. It floats in 3 dimensions as it might be viewed from space.

After our tour of Trinity College we decided to get some lunch before heading for our Guinness Brewery tour. On the way we passed the Oscar Wilde Memorial Sculpture. It is a life-sized statue. He stood 6′ 3″ and was depicted at age 40. He was dressed in his famous smoking jacket and is carved from solid jade. His face is happy on the left side and sad on the right side. He is sitting on a 35 ton quartz boulder.

Oscar Wilde Memorial Sculpture

We checked in at the St. James Gate at Guinness to begin our tour! Guinness beer began in 1759 by Arthur Guinness. The Storehouse tour covers 7 floors and ends at the Gravity Bar.

Below are some of the views from the Gravity Bar looking out at Dublin.

The Gravity Bar gives 360˚ views of the city and the tour includes a pint of Guinness!

Arthur Guinness’ home

When we finished our Guinness tour we headed back to our hotel because we needed to get ready for our Celtic Nights Show & 3 course Traditional Irish Dinner at the Arlington Hotel.

The eleven of us getting ready for food and Irish entertainment!

A short example of one of the dance numbers with the band. The dancers and the band were very good.

After the show we walked back to our hotel.

Tomorrow morning we meet our driver/guide and say goodbye to Dublin!

Italy- Vino, Views & Vacation Vibes: Day 16

Thursday, September 11th, 2025

This morning as we walked down the steps to the restaurant we passed one of the sitting rooms and discovered an exhibition of glass birds. We stopped to admire them and found out that in a few days the Venice Glass Week would begin. It’s held in September and this was the 9th edition of this international festival. The glass week was established to promote the art of glassmaking. It attracted 165,000 visitors and was held in 130 venues around Venice, Murano, and Mestre.

In our hotel was the exhibition of Anna Paola Cibin called “From Glass to Silk”. It would display her tapestries and her Funny Birds glass sculptures. Only the Funny Birds had been displayed so far.

After breakfast we walked from our hotel to the Grand Canal to catch a ferry to visit the island Torcello.

Island of Torcello

Torcello had a population of about 10 permanent residents. It was one of the earliest settlements in the Venetian lagoon and was first settled in 452 AD. When we arrived to Torcello we followed the walking path into the historic center.

We passed the Devil’s Bridge (Ponte del Diavolo). It was a 15th century stone footbridge with no railings and it crossed over the island’s many canals. It was restored in 2009.

Devil’s Bridge

The bridge’s name came from a local legend. There were variations but basically a young girl from Venice fell in love with an Austrian soldier during the Austrian occupation in Venice. Her parents didn’t approve so they sent the girl from Venice. She heard news that her soldier had been murdered. She was lost in despair and a family friend told her to go visit a witch he knew who could help her. The witch was happy to help her and she made a pact with the devil. The witch was to get the devil 7 souls of 7 Christian children who died prematurely for the Austrian’s life! They agreed to meet at the Devil’s Bridge on Torcello Island. Long story short, the girl met her love and the witch died so the devil never got any children’s souls!

The Byzantine cathedral of Santa Maria dell Assunta was built in 639 AD. It was the oldest surviving building in the Venetian lagoon.

Exterior of St Maria Assunta with ruined Baptistry.

The Campanile or bell tower that belonged to the Cathedral of Santa Maria dell Assunta was built in 1008. It was free-standing, square bell tower that stood 180 feet. The bells, from the 15th century, were still used today.

The Campanile of Santa Maria dell Assunta

Ernest Hemingway lived on Torcello in 1948 to write and hunt birds. He was in Venice but wanted to leave its party scene. It was said that he climbed the bell tower with his binoculars to look around the island and to figure out where he would live next.

The Church of Santa Fosca was located next to the cathedral. It was built in the 12th century.

The church was domed with a portico that was built on a Greek cross plan. It had marble Greek style Corinthian columns that supported the slanting wood roof.

Church of Santa Fosca

The Museo Provinciale di Torcello (museum) had archaeological artifacts and medieval art. It was in the original Council Chamber and Archives called the Palazzo del Consiglio (14th century).

Museo Provinciale di Torcello

Unfortunately it was closed the day we were there but we did explore all of the artifacts outside the building. The museum and the outside display were not all from the island of Torcello. Some items were donated.

There also was an ancient stone chair, known as Attila’s Throne. It was more likely the podestà’s (the highest civil office holder) or bishop’s chair/seat where these magistrates were inaugurated.

Attila’s Throne

After our exploration of the island we took the ferry back to Venice. We decided to go up to the solarium of our hotel and drink our last bottle of Verona wine!

It was such a good evening we stayed up there and watched the sunset over Venice!

It was another great day in Italy.