One of the first things I do when I am at a new place is wake up early and see how it feels. It’s not entirely by choice, as I am an early riser whether I want to be or not. One of the benefits is I typically get a place all to myself.
In the early morning of a group house I can enjoy the quiet with a cup of tea on a deck looking at mist rolling in, or enjoy a solitary walk on a cruise ship by myself with a cup of coffee under a starry early morning sky.
With cities it’s usually checking out a local coffee shop, chatting with a barista and just people watching and listening to how different people sound.
This was not the case in Dublin, because everything was closed until seven am.
I will admit, at first this annoyed me. Then I realized that this meant someone wasn’t commuting at three in the morning to get someplace by four in the morning to prepare a coffee shop to open at five in the morning.
Which is a roundabout way of saying that at that moment I realized my own entitlement. Travel really does open your eyes.
So I took a short walk around the neighborhood, noted places I wanted to visit and when they opened, went back to my room, put a kettle on, had a complimentary tea, and went back to bed for a few more hours.
It was vacation after all.