(This was written on Tuesday night - just couldn't get the pictures to download until this a.m.)
Well, our luck is holding out so far .... blue skies again today. It looked a little "iffy" this a.m. but the sun came out late in the a.m. and it was a beautiful day again. We arrived last night in Doolin which is a small little coastal town. Not a lot of nightlife going on but there are a couple of pubs in the village. We had dinner in one of them last night and listened to some traditional Irish music - no singing, just instrumentals. After a few songs, one began to sound like the other. I did have my first Irish Coffee last night though!
Well, our luck is holding out so far .... blue skies again today. It looked a little "iffy" this a.m. but the sun came out late in the a.m. and it was a beautiful day again. We arrived last night in Doolin which is a small little coastal town. Not a lot of nightlife going on but there are a couple of pubs in the village. We had dinner in one of them last night and listened to some traditional Irish music - no singing, just instrumentals. After a few songs, one began to sound like the other. I did have my first Irish Coffee last night though!
We made a list today of how many pubs we've visited in our trip. So far, we are at 28! But you have to understand that all our meals (except breakfast) have been eaten in the pub except for 2-3 lunches. My sister thinks we'll need to attend AA when we return! You know, we have to get the full Irish experience!
Today we took a 40 minute ferry over to Inisheer Island which is the smallest of the Aran Islands. When we departed from the ferry, there were several locals offering tours around the island. Luckily, we didn't take the first one we saw - he wanted 10 euros each - but instead took the last one for 5 euros each!! It was absolutely fascinating! There are only 200 residents on the island with 1 primary and 1 secondary school and 1 doctor and 1 nurse on the island. The roads are super skinny with hand-built rock walls on either side. He took us by a 10th century church ruin where the patron saint is buried; a 15th century castle ruin, a shipwrecked boat from 1960; and a burial site from 1500 BC. The land is totally divided up and handed down through the generations to family members. The whole island is made of limestone. The Irish (Gaelic) language is the only language spoken on the islands. Of course our guide also spoke English. There was a young couple on the tour with us who were from Ireland and only knew a few words of Irish. Only about 9 % of the total Irish population speak Irish. Our guide stopped and spoke with another man on the tour and it was great to hear them converse in Irish. The other couple told us that was a rare treat for us.
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| In between those narrow stone walls are where you drive! The larger areas are for the residents - gardens, cows, etc. |
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| The inscription is in the Irish (Gaelic) language |
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