Up at the ungodly hour of 4:30 am in order to travel by taxi to Edinburgh Airport at 5:30 for the one-hour flight to Dublin.

James and Angela woke to wish us safe travels. We cannot say enough about our accommodating, amicable, gracious and generous hosts. The 14 Hart Street B&B is definitely among the top 3 B&Bs we have stayed at in all of our travels. Terrific location, within walking distance of Old Town Center, immaculate, beautifully appointed; large room with comfortable bed and modern bath; ample and delicious breakfast – we highly recommend it. Five stars in our book. We were very sad to have to say goodbye to our wonderful host and hostess.

The taxi arrived at exactly 5:30 am as arranged and sped us through very light early-morning traffic to Edinburgh Airport.

Our Aer Lingus flight to Dublin was delayed by half an hour, but soon we were in the air over the Irish Sea and by 10:00 am we were clearing customs at Dublin Airport. We caught a cab driven by a very amicable and knowledgeable Dubliner, and we spent the next half-hour being entertained and educated. It is interesting how sometimes your first introduction to a new location is via a cab or a bus driver, and if first impressions truly are lasting ones, we won’t soon forget Dublin.

All too soon we were checking into the Trinity Capital Hotel and were very pleased with the spacious room with skylights. I have managed to come down with a cold so we fell into the king-sized bed and napped for a couple of hours.

At 3:00 pm we woke, showered, and ventured into the cool (55 degrees) and cloudy Dublin day.

We strolled up Grafton Street among thousands of folks window-shopping and enjoying the brisk afternoon.

Eventually we stopped at Yamamori on South St. George St. The ramen noodles seemed the perfect and healthy meal for our sore throats (Carol has started to come down with a cold as well. We do everything together.)

After the warm and welcome dinner we walked to the Temple Bar area, a lively, young, hip neighborhood of pubs, shops, galleries and street musicians.

Back to the Trinity Capital Hotel at 6:00 pm to catch up on much-needed sleep (we’ve been up since 4:30 am) We parked ourselves at the bar and enjoyed what has to be the very best pint of Guinness I have ever tasted. Caught up on our email and reminisced about the adventures of the past week.

At 8:00 pm we fell into the large comfy bed, drew the blinds down over the skylights, and caught up on some much-needed sleep.

Next Day