Tea and cake promises to be a lot more exotic than it sounds at this morning’s Silk Road-themed cake buffet at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin.

The event starts at 11am. If you’re not out and about early enough for the buffet, there will be speciality cakes on sale in the Silk Road Café all day. Fresh mint tea and Arabian coffee will be accompanied by a selection of exotic treats, including Chinese mooncakes, coconut barfi from Pakistan, nutmeg cake from Syria, yoghurt cake from Turkey and baklava from Lebanon. Next Friday night the library will be open late (6pm-9pm) for a talk by Ian McKeever on his adventures climbing the highest peaks on the seven continents, followed by Lebanese food, wine, live music and dancing. For further details and to book, telephone Mary Dowling on 01-4070759, or see cbl.ie.