Dublin Day 2

After 12 hours or sleep or so we were feeling a bit more energetic.  Harry even agreed to try out some breakfast.  Robert was still on a bit of a food strike, but he will never refuse milk so he started his day with that.  Kevin and I enjoyed a full Irish breakfast.  Good thing we are at least a year away from any cholesterol tests.

It is always nice to have happy faces at the breakfast table.

After a relaxed stop we figured out the Dublin bus schedule enough to jump on a bus to Christchurch Cathedral.  It is a beautiful building and we took a leisurely walk through.  We lit candles for our parents, requested prayers for parishioners who are struggling with health issues and then settled in to watch a video.  On the video it had a shot of Archbishop Carey's visit to the Cathedral.  Harry was almost impressed that somebody we knew and worked for was important enough in the church world to be mentioned on the video.  

After lunch we went to Dublinia which is a little museum connected with the cathedral about the history of Dublin starting in Viking times.  There were lots of hands on things and so that was a good fit and the boys had things they could touch and put on.  Here they are with Viking helmuts.

Harry wanted to try this one on but it was too heavy and big, so Kevin did and it was still too big!

Here is Robert sitting in the bed of a model Viking home.   A nice gentleman took a full family picture but it was a bit dark, so I'll have to try to photo edit it and add it when we get home.

Harry in his medieval mail helmut.  

One thing that I have found very interesting so far, is that I am consistently being mistaken for an Irish woman here, that is until I open my mouth.  It has happened a few places when I am off on my own a bit away from the family or when I am simply with Robert and Harry.  I find it interesting because in most of my travels abroad, I have been easily pegged as American because of my dress, even before I open my mouth.  I think it has to do with a couple of things.  The most obvious being that my Irish heritage is clear on my face.  The other is that clothing has become less of a marker than it was even 30 years ago when I first came to the UK.  There is less regional style.  It is still there, but just not as obvious, especially not in a big city like Dublin.

I have also been somewhat pleased (because of my picky eaters), that we have easily found fast food, Subways and foods that are somewhat familiar to the boys.  I know this will change when we are not in the city anymore, but when I am cooking in a kitchen that will be easier as well because my forays into markets here show me that aside from snack foods the foods are similar and the boys are usually willing to try different snack foods to find the things that they like.  What they are craving is goldfish and cheese its.  I wonder if we'll find an equivalent.