It was 2 in the morning when we approached passport control in Dublin airport after flhing in from Napoli airport.
The two passport control workers were smiling at the new and old arrivals in Ireland.
I was proud that this was the first experience of the Irish welcome the Italian couple in front of us would experience.
And it contrasted sharply with the human interactions we had experienced in our week in and around Sorrento, Italy.
Especially with the guy in our hotel reception who did not bat an eyelid or ask us had we enjoyed our stay when we had fixed up the hotel bill for the week. Not a word of acknowledgement, no wonder about our leaving a review or suggesting something they could do better.
Or ‘have you had a pleasant stay?’ Not a dickie bird.
It was good to be home.