Day 6

For day 6, we decided to venture off of the mainland of Ireland and take a Ferry to the Gaelic speaking island of Inis Mor. Unfortunately it was a three hour drive to the ferry Terminal so we had to way up far earlier than any of us were interested in. Because we left too early for hotel breakfast, we stopped at a SPAR (gas and convenience store) on the way to grab a breakfast snack. Sarah bought a Greek yogurt cup that traumatized us all by being the consistently of milk. After a failed attempt at breakfast and hours of narrow winding roads we made it to the terminal. The weather wasn't great and the swells were high which made for an eventual boat ride but also made Amanda sea sick. While on the ferry we met a man named Jacob from Tasmania who is walking his way around the coast of Ireland for 6 weeks. He is a part time boat captain so he was able to reassure Amanda that we were in fact not going to die .

When we arrived on Inis Mor, a lovely older gentleman by the name of Paddy Heron picked us up for a tour of the island. His family has lived on the island for generations and he was able to share a lot of history and fun facts with us. Our first stop was Dun Aonghasa. It is a 3000 year old stone fort perched on the edge of a 330 foot costal cliff. Natasha was very excited to hear that the proposal scene from on of her favourite movies (Leap Year) was filmed here! Amanda and Sarah adventured on an uphill walk to the top and Natasha combed over every inch of the 6 gift shops. We had lunch at Teach Nan Phaidi and then wandered off to Tempall Mic Duach, a 7th century church ruine.
We the loaded onto the bus again and headed to the site of the 7 churches which was first built in the 7th century. Despite its name, there are only two church's at this site and multiple monastic outbuilding. The site is famous for its historical gravestones and carved stones, including one bearing the inscription "VII ROMANI" (The Seven Romans) and another referencing "Tomas AP" (Thomas the Apostle). We then when on a scenic drive around the island where Paddy told us about the history of his town vs current state and showed us various filming locations of the movies Leap Year, A Man from Aran, and the Banshees of Inisherin.
After the tour we shopped around some more and then walked back to the pier to wait for our return ferry in the pouring rain. Amanda decided to recant her declaration that she would like to live on this island. The ride back was much gentler but poor Amanda felt much more sea sick than the way there. She manages to survive without making a scene and then we had a tasty supper at Gus O'Connor's Pub. Natasha FINALLY got to try Guinness beef stew and it was everything she dreamed it would be.

When we arrived at our air BnB for the night we were pleasantly surprised by the stunning view and back yard cows. Definitely our favourite accommodations so far. Sarah went for a nice sunset watching run and then we all headed to a local pub so Natasha could have a Guinness. Unfortunately there was no live music in town that night but Amanda did meet a nice old man friend named Jeff. He was a street sweeper from the UK and they got on quite well.

Overall day 6 was a unique and interesting experience. We wen to bed looking forward to getting to sleep in just a little bit the next morning!Read more