Inis Mor

Today I took a boat out to Inis Mor. It's the biggest Island of the Aran Island chain. It was another spectacular sunny day. The boat ride was full, mostly of school kids on a day out. But I managed to find someone to talk to. This gentleman was heading over the Inis Mor for a date. He spoke mostly Irish, but I managed to understand a few words. We only spoke for a moment, but I think I will always remember him.

anticipation

I couldn't decide if I wanted to rent a bike, do a van tour, or ride in a horse drawn carriage. All sorts of folks are waiting for you to get off the boat and take you around the Island, for a price, of course. I felt a bit overwhelmed by these folks shoving brochures in my hand, and asking me to go with them, so I decided to walk. The short walk was about 5 miles and it took you along the coast, past a few sites, and ended at a cafe. I was the only one that took this option, and it was really, really nice to get away from all those kids! The only folks I saw on my walk were Islanders, and the occasional bicycler. 

 

room for thought

no stained glass necessary

I think I could fix this one up

There are so many old homes left to ruin. Makes me wonder who lived there, and why they left. I'm told there are presently only 700 people that live on Inis Mor. The Islanders I saw were mostly farmers, or drove the horse drawn carts. Some, of course, work in the pubs and B&B's.

urban sprawl

"hey, that girl is making me nervous"

"yeah, I'm outta here"

Along the road I came across another one of these:

gotta take it..

marsh

Have I mentioned yet, I think that I have, how infatuated I am with the dry stack walls. So cool!

must learn how to do this

genius!

I saw these watering troughs in almost every pasture. How smart is that for gathering water?! It took me about 2 hours to walk the road. By the time I got to the cafe, I was a little concerned I wouldn't make it back to the docks in time to catch the boat back. So, I took a horse drawn carriage. 

heading' back into town

The driver lived on the Island. He didn't have much to say, except to the horse, and was a bit on the rough and tumble side. I'm guessing he spends a lot of time at the pub. He had lived on the Island most of his life. He was really concerned that I was going back to Dublin. "Drug addicts are takin' over that place. You watch yer self there. People get killed!", he said to me. 

looks like people "get killed" on the island too..