Flew Ryan Air and Mark got stopped at security for carrying an aerosol in his hand luggage. The coach from the airport stopped right outside the Gresham Hotel on O'Connell Street http://www.gresham-hotels.com/htm/Dublin/ . We dumped our bags with the concierge and set off to explore on foot.
Trinity College tour very entertaining. Led by a terribly camp professor (graduate in chemistry now lecturing in philosophy - it has that kind of effect on you). Bypassed the queue for tickets to see the Book of Kells (dimly lit for reasons of preservation but beautifully illustrated) and the fabulous wood-panelled Long Room of the College Library with books arranged over two storeys in alcoves under a vaulted ceiling.
Released "Everything is Illuminated" - our first attempt at book-crossing http://www.bookcrossing.com/ , havng been introduced to it by Heather.
Confused by Dublin's street naming conventions we turned up at South Great Georges Street in search of the Joyce Centre only to be told that this was on North Great Georges Street nearly a mile away on the other side of the River Liffey. So we missed the guided walk we'd intended to take from there and had to devise our own itenary.
St Patrick's Cathedral housed an interesting exhibition about Jonathan Swift who was dean of the cathedral fom 1713 to 1745. He is buried in the cathedral with the epitaph "Go, traveller, and imitate, if you can, one who strove with all his strength to champion liberty."
The pretty gardens of St Stephen's Green include a bust of James Joyce.
The General Post Office on O'Connell Street houses a memorial to the Easter Rising of 1916 during which the buidling was occupied by the republicans.
We finally found the Joyce Centre which is in a seedy area just off Parnell Square - somehow appropriate for a writer banned for his "pornographic" writing.
Afternoon tea at the Gresham to re-charge batteries then out again. Drinks at the Clarence Hotel (owned by U2) then dinner at Bewley's Oriental Cafe on Grafton Street.
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