Aran Islands Trip to Inishmore

What a great Sunday!  Today was our first group excursion to Inishmore in the Aran Islands.  The forecast called for rainy and low 40's, but the weather gods were on our side and we got partly sunny with absolutely no rain! I had a lot of exciting firsts today that I'm so excited to share, so here goes:
1) Rode on my first double decker bus, and was afraid of oncoming traffic hitting us the entire time since the perspective is so different.
2) I saw a colony of seals! They were far away so the pictures aren't as great as it was in person.  Actually, most of the landscape of Inishmore was impossible to capture with my camera and still do it justice since it was all incredibly breathtaking. 
3) I watched my first Hurling match.  I think today was the national finals so it was Co. Clare vs. Co. Cork.  We stopped into a pub after our day on the island to catch the first half and it was such an interesting game-- kind of a cross between field hockey, ultimate frisbee, baseball, soccer, and the field-goal aspect of football.  Very bizarre but now I want to see a match in person!
If you don't know what hurling is it looks something like this:

 Not a full game but there's the basics!
4) On the ferry ride home a pod of dolphins/porpoises decided to swim alongside our boat and they were jumping and playing in the wake.  Couldn't get a picture fast enough but it was exciting.

So on top of the exciting firsts, today was probably the best I've had so far!  We took a bus from Galway to the Island Ferry dock, then we took the Ferry through Galway bay and out to Inishmore.  Upon arrival we hopped on bikes and pedaled up to Dun Angus which is a Bronze Age fort still standing on the island, and was only recently excavated in the mid-1990s.  They discovered evidence of small homes, viking-style executions, the unusual burial of a small child, and even proof that the inhabitants had a very similar diet to people in Ireland today.  The "newest" wall of the fort (which is 15ft thick!) was right on the edge of a 285ft cliff that went straight down to the ocean below and had no barriers keeping visitors from getting too close to the edge. 
We pedaled back, stopped by the seal colony, saw a ton of livestock, and then came back exhausted but thrilled to have seen the beautiful island of Inishmore.

The docks by the ferry

Leaving Galway Bay

Lighthouse in the distance

Tourism is the main industry on the islands so people wait with horse and buggies to drive tourists around the island.

Aran Sweater market-- handknit with Merino wool and feels so wonderful! I couldn't help but buy one.

The ascent to Dun Angus

Cliffs next to the fort

Dun Angus

Our tour guide pointing out where two men were found executed and buried in the Viking manner with their knees to their chins and heads removed.  Apparently the excavators were unable to tell if the men were Vikings, or the Vikings killed them.

Chevaux de frise-- The people who lived here set up this defense system of razor sharp rocks pointing up to fend off any attackers and their cavalries. 

Everyone sitting on the cliff!

It's a LOOOONG way down!

We tried to pretend like we fell over, but don't worry Sal! There was a big ledge to step down to.

Some of the girls down on the ledge!

My roommate (Lillie) and me!

Hard to see, but here are the seals! They look like rocks, but I tried to zoom in as best as I could!

A Celtic Cross memorial in the center of town

I had so many more pictures but I couldn't fit them all up here.  It was even more beautiful in person but I think you all get the gist.  Now to go to bed and get some sleep because classes officially start tomorrow!