The Aran Islands

The sun has been on our faces, the wind at our backs, and the road has risen up to meet us! We have spent the last two days on the Aran Islands and it feels like we have gone back in time! 

After we got off the ferry we rented bikes and checked our stuff into the hostel. We asked directions to our hostel and were told it was "back on the road and up the hill". We asked which road and the nice Irish man laughed and said, "There's only one road and the only way is back!" That settled it! Sure enough it was back and up the hill. Over the next eight glorious hours we cruised the island on our steeds... aka silver bikes.

All across the landscape, a maze of ancient hand-built rock walls stretched beside us in either side. We were in awe as we pushed our bikes up the hills and sped down the slopes. 

There's one part of the island that stands out: the cliffs and the fort, both of which have very fancy Gaelic names which we can't pronounce or spell. By the time we rode to the cliffs, the other tourists had gone back to Galway, which meant we were free to explore on our own! We poked our heads over the sides of the cliff, climbed around in the grass fields and took pictures close enough to the edge that our moms will probably gasp (sorry mom). 

 It was about six o clock in the evening and we almost decided to stay until sunset (which we realized later isn't until 11pm... that idea faded quickly), so we mounted our bikes and headed back to our hostel. 

As we were riding back, Twyla had a great idea: take a selfie while riding her bike. Here's what happened next: 

Twyla's note: I stayed in this position for probably 5 mins while the two other dim-wits laughed at me and wouldn't help me get up. 

We finally made it back: Olivia and Amanda's guts ached from laughing and Twyla's whole body hurt from the fall. 

Today we explored the middle of the three islands: Inish Maan. We boarded a smaller ferry to get there, which was filled with people. However when the ferry stopped, we were the only 3 to get off! We had the whole island and three and a half hours before the ferry returned. We were planning in hiking a big loop around the island by following the blue arrows. "Just follow the blue arrows" they said... "You'll see it all" they said............ (foreshadowing here)

We did follow the blue arrows. We followed them until the path pointed straight into the sea. We had walked along a breath-taking path, again with more rock walls and cottages that were empty but lovely. Now, instead of walking back the way we came, we decided to blaze our own trail. We needed to get up the hill, but rock walls created a bit of a situation. Amanda tried climbing over a shortish one, and got a good scrape in the process. We scanned the rock pen in which we were now trapped and decided this probably wouldn't end well for us. We had only seen 11 total people at this point and they were likely not doctors. Instead, we forged our way along the rocky coast and finally stopped to eat our ham and cheese sandwiches when we knew we weren't going farther without missing our ferry. In case you're wondering, we did make it back, bruised and a little sunburned, but we made it back just in time! If we had to sum up this island in three words, they would be "big stone fences". (We just had a big argument over the placement of the quotations and period in the previous sentence ... Things are getting a little heated...)  

Anyway, we have loved both of the islands and will always remember our adventures together here on the Emerald Isle! 

(More to come... Stay tuned :)