Greetings from Dublin!

Top o' the mornin to ya! Just kidding. But really, hello to all from Dublin!

I knew the trip was off to a good start when, on the way from Paris to Dublin, I met a chatty old Irish couple. On their way back home from a 4 day vacation in Paris, they were more than happy to talk to me about their 8 grown children (one could supposedly "fall into a sewer and walk out smelling like perfum"), how Ireland has changed in the last 15 years (dirtier and less safe, "now you have to lock your door at night") and their future vacation plans (Las Vegas in May, as the wife has "always wanted to go there").

I arrived at my hostel in Dublin, safe and sound, on Friday afternoon. After some much needed rest (I had started my day at 4am) I headed out to the Dublin Musical Pub Crawl. This was a lively (if touristy) tour of a few of Dublin's pubs, accompanied by two musicians who gave us a behind the scenes lesson on traditional Irish music, or "trad". Did you know the Irish drum (bohran) wasn't used in "trad" until the 1960's? The focus is supposed to be on the melody, not the beat. Anyway it was a good introduction to the history of trad and the pub scene.

The next morning I walked down to Trinity college for a tour of the campus as well as to see the book of Kells and the Long Room. The campus is be-u-tee-ful! The trees were in bloom and the main square of buildings are just lovely! The tour was led by a Trinity student with a voice like God himself. The college has 15,000 students, 60% of which are female and 84% of which are Irish (a percentage set by the government). College is free in Ireland for Irish students, while EU students pay around 5,000 euro and "foreign" students (i.e. me) would pay something like 30,000 euro for tuition per year! Wow.

The book of Kells, an ancient text of the four Gospels written and illustrated by Monks on the island of Iona around the year 800 and later transported (for safekeeping) to Ireland, is impressive in its craftsmanship and detail. The exhibit explaining the book is actually much more interesting than seeing the book itself, which is only open to four pages (two of pictures, two of text). But the most impressive sight of all is by far the " Long Room," the largest one-room library in the world (larger than Cambridge by 2 meters, the guide told us with considerable pride). It literally took my breath away when I ascended the stairs and turned to behold its splendor. Ancient tomes from floor to ceiling, framed by a rich dark wood and a curved ceiling, with soft yellow sunlight entering through the frosted windows. Down the center was a display of Gould's naturalist illustrations of birds, stunning in their lifelike detail and color. There is also a copy of the 1916 proclamation for Irish independence, which proudly opens with a call to both "Irishmen and Irishwomen". All in all, it was like a stunning cathedral built to worship knowledge.

There's much more from there but I'm afraid that's all I have time for now. Until next time-