Monday was the beginning of a very busy day as we had to pack just one suitcase for our trip to Dublin. We packed and we weighed and we weighed and repacked and finally we were comfortable our bags would meet Ryan Airs strict weight limits. Doug Miller was nice enough to store our bags in his van as he and Mary are going to Scotland for the next few days. We will meet them in Edinburgh on Thursday but they are going to the Scottish Highlands and exploring until we get there.

We made it to Manchester about three hours early and decided to go to see the Cathedral in Manchester to fill our time. The Cathedral was really nice and they had done an excellent job of restoring the building as it had been damaged by German bombs during World War II. The first church was thought to have been built on the site in the year 700 AD and the current Cathedral began construction in the 1200's. We had lunch at Wellington and Emma and Matt went to Selfridge's (from the PSB show Mr. Selfridge) and we all met back at the car park to depart for the Manchester Airport. We had to fill the rental car with gas withing 5 mile of the rental company and we were worried about this until we discovered the airport has several gas station on the premises. I dropped everyone off and then returned the rental car. When I made it back to the airport Matt had waited at the door to help me with my luggage and we proceeded to go to the security checkpoint. When we arrived at security I was surprised to see Lynn, Emma, Doug and Virginia just finishing passing through security. Lynn and Emma were "Patted down" and they all had extra scrutiny ion their carry on bags. Matt and I were lucky and they just waved he and I through the auxiliary metal detectors (I always worry the metal in my AFO braces will trip the metal detectors) and my braces cleared security. We all cleared security at the same time even though Matt and I were 30 minutes later. We then went and sat in the lounge waiting for our gate assignment (Ryan Air announces Gate Assignments about 30 - 45 minutes before boarding). We hurried to the gate and only had to wait a few minutes before boarding. We had the six seats on the front row of the plane and this was nice as we had leg room to stretch out and relax for the short flight to Dublin. The flight was calm but the clouds obscured the view of the Irish Sea. Luggage and car rental went well and we arrived at our Air B&B house we had rented. It was a wonderful place to stay.

Our place was over the top gorgeous! The rooms were even nicer than the pictures on the website depicted. The kitchen had all modern appliances and came lightly stocked with bread, milk, juice, cereal and tea & coffee. We did not have to make run to Tesco immediately because the basics were provided - this allowed our group of weary travelers to rest for the day. The beds were the most comfortable we have slept in on our trip and the bathrooms and bedrooms were wonderful and spacious! The patio in back was nice to sit and have tea and the parking was very nice as your vehicle is in an enclosed space overnight and protected from the street parking. The location was also fantastic as it was just a short walk into the city center and we did not have to drive there and park. We hope to be able to return to Dublin someday and we definitely would love to stay @ Desmond's B& in Dublin. We did go to the Chophouse down the street for dinner and we had a very nice dinner. The appetizer bread was so good we talked the manager into giving us a loaf to go (we offer to pay but he wanted to be generous to us). We returned to the B&B and collapsed into our nice comfy and warm beds. (I actually slept until 11:00am Tuesday) We had a great day and God has been good to us today!!!