Ireland, Day 1: UBER MASS

Kati and I have successfully entered Irish territory. The plane ride from Chicago to Dublin was uneventful, if uncomfortable. Decent chow (dinner and breakfast on a seven hour flight) and got to watch 17 Again...not great, but not bad. Zach Efron is a pretty good dancer. Didn't get much sleep. Rolled into Dublin at 8:30 am local time (Dublin is 6 hours ahead of Central) half asleep and a bit chilled. A partly cloudy day of 65, with a howling wind. And I'm in shorts and a t-shirt. Kati's in a sweater and jeans, at least...poor planning on my part. Our room at the hotel wasn't ready yet (come on, only 4 hours early?), so we stashed our luggage and looked for a church. The one next door to the hotel is Christ Church Dublin, a hulking Norman Gothic structure. Of course, it's not Catholic. Cause why would the biggest churches be Catholic? But, as I was cold, tired, and cold, we sat through the Anglican service. Didn't see much difference, except for the odd feller with a stick that escorted people around. However, great choir and a huge organ. The CCD choir teamed up with the choir from St. Patrick's Cathedral (Church of Ireland, if you're scoring at home) for the first production of Handel's Messiah (which took place down the street from our hotel as well). The CCD also has a pretty neat crypt with a some nice treasures (William III was a fan, as was James II). Also, the tomb of Strongbow, one of the Anglo-Norman fellers that needed more land so he conquered Ireland, is there as well.
After getting our room, taking a nap (running on two hours of sleep at this point), we wandered off in search of food. Per one of our travel guides, we went to Brasserie Sixty 6, a fine establishment with dencent chow...however, and maybe I need this explained to me, but why in the hell do you need to pay for a refill on a soda. Are you getting the syrup from Coke by FedEx??? Come on folks...
Finally, we found ourselves a Fransican Friary that had an evening service, so went to that...cause it's good to have a warm-up before the real deal. Again, not much difference, except for the prayers of the faithful when they switched to Gaelic. Nice language, but kinda sing-songy...well, more like gibberish...whatever.

Sleep now. END OF LINE