{"id":156,"date":"2008-10-07T20:30:55","date_gmt":"2008-10-07T20:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ireland.markciecior.com\/?p=156"},"modified":"2016-08-06T02:43:31","modified_gmt":"2016-08-06T02:43:31","slug":"a-day-in-paradise-almost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ireland.markciecior.com\/?p=156","title":{"rendered":"A Day in Paradise, Almost"},"content":{"rendered":"

You can follow our adventures on our map<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two weekends ago it was very nice and we stayed in Limerick, visiting the town centre and walking amongst the smokers.\u00a0 This past weekend we decided not to settle for the Limerick town centre but instead to venture to the Aran Islands.<\/p>\n

Several things stood in our way: rain, rumors of a hurricane heading toward the British Isles, and more rain.\u00a0 The forecast predicted a rainy Saturday all week and it was spot on.<\/p>\n

At 7:15 in the morning (on a Saturday!) we got on the bus to the Limerick bus station.\u00a0 We rode the next bus for two hours until we got to Galway.\u00a0 With an hour to kill before getting on the next bus I wanted to find a pub so we could try some Irish Stew once we got back.\u00a0 It started raining, of course, and we instead went to Galway’s underground Eyre Center Mall.\u00a0 The first two pictures below show one of the flower stores and a big wall.\u00a0 Apparently Galway used to have a big wall surrounding it.\u00a0 Like all good capitalist nations, they built a shopping center on top of it.<\/p>\n

We rode a third bus out to the ferry port before finally getting on the ferry.\u00a0 We walked over to the ferry, hopped on, and picked seats by the window.\u00a0 That’s when things got interesting.<\/p>\n

I should mention at this point in time that Katherine sometimes experiences motion sickness.\u00a0 By ‘sometimes’ I mean on every bus, every boat, and most van rides she’s been on.\u00a0 This was no different.<\/p>\n

Remember the rumors about the hurricane?\u00a0 There were no gale force winds, but the seas were a’rockin’ Saturday afternoon.\u00a0 Click here<\/a> to hear how Katherine was feeling.<\/p>\n

We got to Inis Mor, the big island, just in time.\u00a0 Katherine regrouped and we headed out into the rain.\u00a0 I had initially planned on walking around the island, or renting bikes, since it’s not a very big place.\u00a0 Due to the rain, however, we acted like most good tourists and let the first guy we saw sweep us into a van.\u00a0 A tour van.<\/p>\n

The tour guy took us to Dun Aonghasa, an iron age fort.\u00a0 In fact, it’s one of the best-preserved forts of its kind in Europe.\u00a0 The island inhabitants built these stone walls around 1500 B.C. next to the cliff edge and lived within its domain.\u00a0 Over time the walls were added to and expanded, and by Medieval times the forts were pretty extensive, but abandoned.<\/p>\n

Anyway, we trudged up the hill to see this fort.\u00a0 There are no railings of any kind a la Cliffs of Moher, and visitors are free to get the very best pictures they can.\u00a0 The really good pictures below are taken by me, Mr. Danger.\u00a0 The best views, however, were on the way down the hill when the ocean could be seen on both sides of the thin island.\u00a0 If it had been a clear day we could have seen the other two islands as well as the waves crashing against the shore.<\/p>\n

There were a few shops with Aran sweaters in them and an ‘Aran Sweater Market’ by the docks.\u00a0 These sweaters range in price from 30 euro to 150 euro.\u00a0 They were not for me.<\/p>\n

We saw the ‘Seven Churches,’ a cemetary where some of the headstones are more than 2000 years old.\u00a0 The van driver did eventually deliver us back to the port, unharmed.<\/p>\n

We got back on the ferry and I fell asleep.\u00a0 Katherine, though, was sitting right next to some Swiss wanna-be thugs (high-school students dresssed like rappers) who repeatedly acted out seasickness for everyone on the ferry to hear.\u00a0 They made this sound<\/a> frequently.\u00a0 Wonderful.<\/p>\n

Once the ferry got back to the main land there was no bus waiting for us, just one for the Swiss kids.\u00a0 30 rainy minutes later our bus arrived.\u00a0 When we got back to Galway we ate some Papa John’s pizza (there wasn’t enough time for Irish Stew) and got back on the bus to Limerick.<\/p>\n

We’ve seen most of the sights in southwest Ireland.\u00a0 Next week we’re going to London and Paris before Mom arrives.\u00a0 In November we’re going to Berlin, Dublin, Venice, and Belfast to see the Giant’s Causeway.\u00a0 The pictures will be wonderful.\u00a0 The adventures will be grand.\u00a0 We’ll have lots of craic.<\/p>\n\n\t\t