The zippers held together, but boarding at Heathrow proved to be the most interesting. We arrived at the correct terminal (they have 5), passed through security and were ready to head to our gate. But, the airlines here don't give you a gate until 20 to 30 minutes before the flight, we waited with coffee and finally were notified to move to gate #8. No problem. We arrived to find that it really is "gate #8 area" and you have Gates #8 A - F. We waited well past boarding time until they announced that we needed to move to gate 77, a hardy jaunt down several walkways. We waited again and were finally able to board. We couldn't take off, however, until they took a suitcase out the baggage compartment belonging to someone who did not board the flight. (Frustrating, but a good idea.) A 50 minute flight to Dublin.
We arrived at our hotel to meet our tour group members. They seem like a really nice people. We had a great dinner together and Declan (deck lan), our guide, shepherded us around Dublin to start our history lesson with an explanation of the neighborhoods and a brief primer on Irish history. The politics of Ireland is going to be very interesting.
