July 6, 2009

Wahoo! We have access to internet again so I've posted the "bit" from the 4th of July and now have a couple of days of catching up to do.



I guess the biggest news is that now we are four. Rob and Jenna have given up on the biking idea after a couple of events that left them thinking they'd had enough. They're both fine though and have had a wonderful experience that they'll carry with them forever. They've met up with us at our B & B in Galway City this afternoon and so the four of us will have a couple of days to explore and have a little adventure in this corner of Ireland.



We've had a lot of rain the past couple of days. Yesterday, mom and I spent the day on the smallest of the Aran Islands, Inis Oirr (pronounced Inisheer). The population of that quaint little island is approximately 300 and although they have a few cars....for the most part it is like taking a big step back in time. We took a pony and cart ride to tour the island and our driver, Joe, has been on the island his whole life. His parents and his grandparents too....hard to imagine what kind of a life they must have lived. We learned quite a lot from Joe - it was a really interesting tour. One of the big things we learned was that all of the rock fences (4 feet to 6 feet high) were built by hand....the builders having carried most of them from the edge of the sea. Back in the day that they were built...there were no gates put into the fenced areas so any time that you wanted to take your cows out of your pasture you had to disassemble the section of the fence that is less stable (a planned section for just this purpose),take the cows out, rebuild the fence....drive your cows to another pasture you want them to spend the day in....do the same thing with the fence at the new location and then at the end of the day....go to where your cows are...disassemble the fence, take the cows out, rebuild the fence, drive the cows home and then take the fence down there, put the cows in and rebuild that fence. Whew....just telling about it makes me tired!!

We had a great lunch in the pub on the island and mingled with the combination of locals and tourists that had travelled to the island on the boat with us. Our boat ride over to Inisheer was longer than most as we added on the Cliffs of Mohr tour first. On our tour to the Cliffs we saw countless sea birds including lots of puffins. The Cliffs are massive - they range from 300-700 feet high with towers perched at strategic locations with a view of the sea in all directions. The Cliffs span an 8 km stretch of coastline and so when you combine their vast size with the contrasting colours of the sea, the sky, and the cliffs from an ocean perspective it's something to remember.

By the time we had finished our hour tour of the Cliffs, it was time to head out again for the trip to Inisheer...almost another hour on the boat. By this point I was beginning to remember why I don't get on boats very often and that the Atlantic Ocean is a little rougher than the lake. We finally arrived at the island and I was glad for dry land. The land didn't stay dry for long though as the rain that was beginning to fall in Doolin as we pulled out an hour before caught up with us on Inisheer.

So....we walked, we admired the white sand beach where kids were playing in the waves, we had tea in a tea room, enjoyed lunch in a pub, rode the horse and buggy, and admired the beautiful scenery. All too soon it was time to board the boat again and this time...the rain followed us right back to Doolin...in fact....it poured buckets most of the way back. By the time we pulled into the queue waiting to disembark their passengers (we were 4th in line) in Doolin - I had seen enough of boats for a very long time.

By the time we were able to disembark, the pouring rain had turned into torrential rains and we were 100% soaked by the time that we back in our car. What an adventure!

Back at our room we took some time to dry off and warm up and then we were off to McDermott's Pub where we had possibly the best meal of our entire trip. After dinner it was back to the room and an early night after a day full of fresh air with sun and wind burn.

This morning we said good bye to Mary Jo at Seaside B & B in Doolin and were off into the Burren where we found ourselves on some of the narrowest roads in all of Ireland. Some of them even had grass growing through the pavement in the middle of the road!

We located the oldest and largest dolmen (a 6000 year old burial stone that is shaped like a table) and got caught in the rain again. Next stop was the Burren Perfumerie where once again we were caught in a downpour - there is a lot of rain in Ireland!

Leaving the Burren brought us back past the castle where we had dinner a couple of nights before and within an hour we were rolling into Galway where we located the Periwinkle B & B and found Rob and Jenna already checked into their room. We were able to make arrangements for accomodations for them at our B & B in the north too so all is good and everyone will have a place to sleep until we make our way to the farm where a whole new adventure will begin.

After a walk into Galway City tonight for dinner....we're all pretty beat so it will likely be a pretty early night tonight.

Till next time,
L x 2