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There’s not much to say about last Saturday ( July 4). I spend the day inside studying for my exam on Tuesday. Not very fun. That the bad part of a study abroad – the study. I did figure out the gas station about 5 minutes walking distance from my house is open 24/7. Which is great if I just want a quick bite to eat, even though the cashier didn’t sound as happy about the hours.
Sunday (July 5) I went to the Aran Islands. That was quite the journey. I was on a double decker bus for about an hour or so. Double deckers are super cool because they are way more bouncy than a normal bus and you can sit in the front on the top- which means there are HUGE windows.
There are some pictures taken from the bus ride.
Notice the cows front and center. There are cattle all over Ireland.
This is a two lane road. Some of the cars pull off into the shrubs to avoid the bus.
Then I got on a ferry. The ferry ride was an hour long. Downstairs there were nice sitting arrangements so you could stay warm and sleep or look out the window. I was on the top deck hanging on to the rail. I had water splash in my face. The wind was so strong it was making my eyes water. My sunscreen ended up getting in my eyes. Overall the trip was AWESOME.
This is the downstairs seating on the ferry.
The upstairs seating on the ferry
These are some pictures from the ferry ride.
Then I got on a bike, yes a bike, its like the never ending journey. I’m not even sure how far we biked but it was several miles. The first two hills divided our group pretty well so we weren’t all knocking in to each other. After that it was all down hill. I was going so fast I was screaming- great fun! There were of course lots of cattle, some goats and horses. At one point an older gentleman was walking his donkey on the side of the road. There was also horse carriages. We stopped at a beach to explore and also at an old grave yard. Then we continued on to “town”
Some of the bike ride pictures
“Town” was really one café and a few small shops. BTW a chicken salad sandwich here means a sandwich with chicken and lettuce and tomato. I guess the lettuce and the tomato are the “salad” parts. Some way for any sort of “salad” sandwich you would order in Ireland.
I got a soda. If you order a soda here you are often asked if you mean “soda water”. It is best just to say coke. Sodas are served in sizes that would be appropriate for children in America. Now if you order anything with alcohol you will get a good sized drink but water and pop is something they are conservative with. I seriously considered ordering three sodas after biking all that way, instead I got a bottled water too.
The shops were lovely. I wish I had more time to look in them. Everything was handmade and more affordable than it is in Galway. Did fine some nifty things though. Also, the horse carriages stop there, and the drivers speak Gaelic. So I got to overhear some Gaelic which was pretty cool.
Then I walked (again this is the journey that just keeps going) up to this huge ruins of a city. The ruins we walked to are at the top of the hill in the picture below. You can see the path we had to walk to get there.
I tried to film all of the tour guide’s lecture. I have compiled them all into one compilation.
I really have no idea how to describe the absolute beauty of this place.
Ok I have a ton more pictures, I'll upload those a little later but at least you can see some of the trip now.
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