One thing that takes some getting used to over here is the fact that you can visit other countries as often as some Americans visit other states. The last weekend of August, we visited Ireland (and yes, it is a separate country), specifically Dublin.

We flew out of Heathrow Airport on a Friday evening. The first thing we saw after going through airport security was an official Harry Potter Store. Lizzy was in love.

After supper in a surprisingly good airport pub, we took the short hop across the Irish Sea. Did you know there’s actually an Irish language?

We stayed in a nice Air B&B with a pretty cool view.

The next morning we set out to explore. First stop? Cheap souvenir shop, of course. As we wondered through the aisles, Molly had a wise observation: “They sure do like that St. Leprechaun Day over here.” She then proceeded to show me her “Leprechaun Dance”.

After that important stop was out of the way, we took a bus tour to Malahide Castle, just out side Dublin. The castle dates back to the 12th century and was occupied by the same family, the Talbots from 1185 to 1976.

After the castle, the bus took us up to a beautiful seaside town called Howth. We had lunch there and walked along the ocean.

Before turning in that night, we found a cool little pub where I could have my first Irish Guinness. I swear it tasted better there.

We had to take a midday flight back to London, but we spent our final morning at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which is so Irish that even the organ bench is a keg of Guinness. It was a gorgeous building, and we got to spend some time in the gardens outside as well, watching people walk their dogs on a Sunday morning. A short flight and we’d gone from Ireland to back in a weekend. Can’t do that from southern Indiana