Ireland, part 2 - Aran Islands

So, as promised oh 6 months ago, here is the second part of my Ireland trip (but not my second trip to Ireland which I also just completed) - lazy, lazy me.

I took a train from Dublin across to county Galway. What a great town! (more on that after Aran stuff)

After some on foot exploration I went to the ferry and went to Inishmore, the larget of the Aran Isles. I stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast home on the island. Let me tell you, with the salt air and some seagulls, I slept like I hadn't slept in years.

The thing about this place is there are these rock walls everywhere and no one around to claim them. Apparently built over the past few centuries, these walls were used as a sheparding system - a means to allow cattle (sheep) to graze and then move them from pen to pen. I think they are there 'cuz everyone was bored.

I rented a bike and rode around the isle going from thing to see to sea (very pun-y today). The thing was, I was alone and no one knew where I was. Which is all well and good but my contacts were getting covered in sea air and after a while, I had trouble seeing. I covered about 20km on the bike round trip and the main thing to see on Inishmore is this old celtic fort....on a cliff side...where I almost fell:

















Now, seriously, to get a shot I crept up to the edge to hang over and take a picture. I bumped my knee on a rock jutting out and it was like hitting your funny bone. My knee crumbled and I fell to the ground. 2 more feet and someone else is blogging about this camera they found ...

The other thing that you come here for is the Aran Sweater. They have all these special patterns they weave in and they are suppose to be the warmest, longest lasting thing in the world. So I hit the local shop. I could have gotten these in Dublin and spared myself the trouble BUT then I would have paid triple and wouldn't have gotten to see this lovely, isolated place.


can you spot Charlie in the picture?

The old cross - with all the celtic carvings. Turns out that those 'lines' inside the cross are all snakes. In the middle and around these 'knots' their heads are clearly visible. Weird, I thought that there were no snakes in Ireland!

There a load of old churches here from centuries past and loads and loads of rocks. After a day, I was done.

Getting back to Galway was a bit of a relief although I enjoyed Inishmore quite a bit. Galway is like a much, much smaller Dublin with nicer people. In Dublin people were in a hurry (seriously, ladies past me walking, me, Mr. Fastwalker). Galway has come great shopping and wonderful pubs. My favorite was in this hotel, Skeffington Arms Hotel. Built in 1850 with the pub redone in 1910. If you go to Galway, pop in for a pint.