Day 9
This morning started bright and sunny (of course). After a very nice breakfast laid out by our proprietors Mike and Breda we boarded Sir James' golden steed and headed for Rossaveel.
Rossaveel is a port town and awaiting us there was a boat that would take us to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. This is obviously a very popular activity as there are several boats all leaving at about the same time, all packed with smiling passengers. The ship has comfortable seating inside but as it is such a beautiful morning Robin and I opt to stay out on deck for the trip over to Inishmore. There are quite a few locals on deck with us and it is obvious that they are reveling in this sunshine.
Headed to Inishmore
This portion of Ireland, including the Aran Islands is another of Ireland's Gaeltacht regions. This was fairly evident by the road signs in Irish and even the thatched roofs. My only prior experiences with thatched roofs was in amusement parks and early colonial settlement recreations in New England. It was interesting to see these roofs in daily use. We even got to see a thatch job in progress during our drive to Rossaveel. Very labor intensive!
We would be on Inishmore for the entire day and once onshore we had several modes of transportation available to us including touring the island via mini-bus, traveling in a horse-drawn carriage and bikes. With it being such a beautiful day, the Left Coast 4 + 2 decided that mountain bikes were more appropriate. There were several bike vendors renting very nice bikes in excellent shape. The bike shop recommended we take the "high road" as we headed out and return via the "low road" along the coast.
Transportation of Choice
We saddled up and headed out. Our goal was Dun Aenghus, a 2000 year old stone fortress perched on a 300 foot cliff. Dun Aenghus has been called "the most magnificent barbaric monument in Europe". The high road presented us with some pretty fierce hills to negotiate but that also meant we had some nice long downhill coasts. We discovered that not all the bike shops in town rented high quality equipment like ours. We came across quite a few examples of less than optimal bikes causing their riders great distress.
On the ride to the fort we were able to view small cottages formerly used by some of the inhabitants. For the most part these were built of stone, surrounded by stone walls which enclose, yep, you guessed it, ground covered with stones. Many of these cottages had thatched roofs. It was all very picturesque however and we constantly stopped to take pictures of the cottages and surrounding landscapes.
The foresight to know where you are going,
And the insight to know when you have gone too far.
This looks fun too!
Dun Aenghus is a spectacular setting. We parked our bikes at the bottom of the hill and made our way slowly up to the fort. With the fortress perched on the top of this hill and one side on the edge of a 300 foot cliff falling to the sea, it was in a perfect location for defense. The fortress was well worth the effort and the view from what may be the highest point on Inishmore was spectacular.
We followed the coast road back as advised and passed a little bay and beach that looked like it should have been in the Caribbean. It had beautiful white sand and breathtaking turquoise water. The low road was indeed flat and we were rewarded with a nice, leisurely ride with views of seals, young colts and baby calves.
At Dun Aenghus
We made it back to town in plenty of time to make our boat back to the mainland, so we rewarded ourselves with some cold liquid refreshment at Tí Joe Watty's Pub. It was a great way to finish our introduction to the Aran Islands.
On the way back to Galway on the coach, we passed several beaches and they were all packed. I guess everyone was enjoying the bank holiday as much as us.
Back in town, we were on our own for dinner and we felt like salmon trying to swim upstream through the torrents of partying revelers. We took the opportunity to exit the whitewater of humanity and stopped off for a delicious seafood dinner at McDonaghs, one of many good restaurants in Galway.
Inishmore was definitely a WOW moment for me, possibly the best. With the nice weather, biking allowed us to really see the island in a way not available had we opted for the mini-bus. We had the opportunity to smell the wildflowers (they were everywhere) and hear the waves crashing on the rocks. We were all in agreement that we had made the right choice for our day on Inishmore.
