"The children still had their hearts, minds and voices, but they were trapped in the bodies of swans"

{side note: ASHES. Did you listen to it? (see post below) Tell me you did...and really loud? It has emotion busting from its seams, don't you think? A song that pulls you down to the roots of life, is a song worth listening to. A song that catches your attention for 5 minutes and 18 seconds, makes your heart pound, causes tears to well up in your eyes, cracks a smile across your face as the song grows and when the song finally trails off, you carefully let out a breathe you didn't realized was being held...Well maybe I'm the only one who has such experiences with music. If you allow yourself to, music can take you to great places.}

Day trip to Dublin included sneaking into Trinity College Library (otherwise it's 9 euros to get in if you're not a student) and it was completely worth it! Unfortunately I got yelled at before I could sneak a photo. If you ever come to Dublin (which you really should) make sure to visit Trinity College. The library was huge! The ambiance was like something out of a Harry Potter book; dim, dark brown wood, vaulted ceilings, thousands of old books and the overwhelming scent of must, leather, stale candles, and intelligence. Descriptive for a 30 second observation, don't you think? Yeah it's that charming of a place!

The rest of the day was spent moseying around Grafton street, sipping on a chai tea latte, listening to street performers jam and photographing the city. The most exciting part of the day (besides sneaking into Trinity Library, of course) was Brown Thomas Christmas window displays! AH-MAY-ZING. Brown Thomas is a high end department store in Ireland and they're famous for their Christmas window displays. Extravagant and over the top, the displays had people passing by at a stand still, getting lost in the glitter, beauty and adventure. What a piece of art!

This year's inspirations came from Irish mythology and iconic Celtic symbols. Pulling illustrations from favorite Irish childhood stories such as, The Children of Lir, Tir na n-Og, The Claddagh Ring and The Faery Harp. (click here to read the stories) It's the perfect artistic combination of whimsical fairy tales, culture and fashion.