Inishmore, Aran Islands....
Our travel bug not being exhausted with Connemara, Tania and I took our bikes and hopped on a ferry to the Aran Islands, 9 miles off of the western coast of Ireland. It's the most western point of Europe, I believe. 
The highlight of our trek was the ancient cliffside ruin of a Celtic fort dating to 2000 BC... after a short hike up a steep hill and through triple walls, the land simply ends. It's a sheer drop to the booming waves and a breathtaking view!
They say you can see clear to the Statue of Liberty on a clear day, but more realistically, you can see all the way south to Kerry... we had to be satisfied with the ocean horizon.
Yes, life is good in Ireland!
We biked a leisurely 13 miles around the largest island, Inishmor (literally, "great island")... through spring rain and clouds...
If you ever wondered why there are such small pastures and so many walls and ruins- well, who wants to carry all that rock very far? And believe me, there's a lot of rock to be cleared out!
I was pleasantly suprised to discover that Irish (not Gaelic, which is a sport here) is taught and spoken all the way through secondary school in Ireland. However, the Western counties and the Aran Islands Irish is more commonly spoken than elsewhere, on all signs - sometimes to the exclusion of English and the confusion of these two ramblers!
The highlight of our trek was the ancient cliffside ruin of a Celtic fort dating to 2000 BC... after a short hike up a steep hill and through triple walls, the land simply ends. It's a sheer drop to the booming waves and a breathtaking view!
They say you can see clear to the Statue of Liberty on a clear day, but more realistically, you can see all the way south to Kerry... we had to be satisfied with the ocean horizon.
Yes, life is good in Ireland!
2 comments:
Hey Teresa! Great pictures. Be safe and happy travels.
-Drizzle
great blog teresa! (easier than opening all the photos over email ;) I can't wait to join you there!!
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