Galway doesn’t have a ton in the way of tourist attractions and we covered most of them yesterday, so we slept in this morning since our ferry to Inis Mor wasn’t until 1 pm. Charles went out to forage breakfast while I lazed in our tiny hotel room, aptly named “The Snug Townhouse”. We headed to the Galway Cathedral mid-morning, knowing that it would likely be closed for mass and intending to take some pictures of the exterior. But when we got there, there was a sign at the door inviting us to come in and join them for the liturgy, so we joined them for the last few minutes and then lingered a bit after to get a closer look at the beautiful interior.

We strolled back through the touristy high road, now much less crowded than the night before, picked up our luggage from the hotel, and headed on toward Rossaveel to catch our ferry to Inis Mor (literally “big island”), the largest of the Aran Islands. We stopped on the way in Salt Hill for a quick beach stroll and then at a grocery for some sandwiches to eat on the ferry. Cars are impractical for tourists on Inis Mor, so we parked in the car park and boarded on foot with our luggage.

The tour took us first to the trail that leads up to Dun Aengus, the ruins of a ring fort perched on top of the cliffs on the southwestern side of the island. We hiked 20 minutes up the hill to the ring fort, which was similar to the others we’ve visited on this trip, with the exception of its location. I had worried that with the clouds and rain that there might not be much to see, but visibility was better than I expected and we were both delighted with the view of the dramatic cliffs surrounding the old fort. Unlike the Kerry Cliffs and Cliffs of Moher that we visited earlier in the trip, these had very little in the way of railings or walls preventing tourists from walking right up (and off) of the edge of the cliffs. Once again I suffered through horrible imaginings of my husband’s gruesome death as he trotted right up to the edge to take pictures. Thankfully here again my worrying came to nothing and I took a big sigh of relief when he moved back from the edge.

We’ve been on a number of ferries in our travels, but never one like this before. The beginning and end of the ferry ride were smooth and calm, just like in most of our other voyages. But in the middle, once we left the shelter of the bay, the ferry tossed around on the waves. Charles had gotten up while it was still relatively calm to take pictures outside and was out of my sight when the sea turned wild, leaving me to imagine that he had been launched overboard into the open sea. He as good as confirmed my fears for a long 20 minutes by not answering my texts asking if he was still on board, but eventually as we pulled into the harbor on Inis Mor, he waltzed back in looking unfazed and exhilarated by his adventures.

We found our B&B easily enough and got checked in. We initially had planned to rent bikes to explore the island, but the weather was not our friend today. We would have been up against 25 mph headwinds as we made our way to Dun Aengus, the main sightseeing attraction on the island. The tailwinds would have made the return trip a breeze, but we opted for the mini bus tour instead. The receptionist at our B&B called one of the local minibus drivers and helped us arrange a tour for later in the afternoon, which gave us almost 2 hours for a hot cup of tea in our room overlooking the water and then an excursion to the Aran Sweater Market for the one souvenir I told myself I would purchase for myself on this trip: an Irish wool sweater. (Note that I already broke this rule that I set for myself on day 2, so this sweater was, in truth, not the first and only souvenir for the trip. In fact, it wasn’t even the only souvenir I purchased for myself today. Oops.) I knew this would be a pricier souvenir and expected that I would hem and haw as I tried to choose the right color and pattern. My deliberation was made worse by my knowledge that, living in Texas, I will likely only wear this sweater 2-3 times per year. Nevertheless, with Charles’ encouragement, I managed to choose one and we made it back to our B&B just in time to meet our tour bus driver for the tour.

The tour took us first to the trail that leads up to Dun Aengus, the ruins of a ring fort perched on top of the cliffs on the southwestern side of the island. We hiked 20 minutes up the hill to the ring fort, which was similar to the others we’ve visited on this trip, with the exception of its location. I had worried that with the clouds and rain that there might not be much to see, but visibility was better than I expected and we were both delighted with the view of the dramatic cliffs surrounding the old fort. Unlike the Kerry Cliffs and Cliffs of Moher that we visited earlier in the trip, these had very little in the way of railings or walls preventing tourists from walking right up (and off) of the edge of the cliffs. Once again I suffered through horrible imaginings of my husband’s gruesome death as he trotted right up to the edge to take pictures. Thankfully here again my worrying came to nothing and I took a big sigh of relief when he moved back from the edge.

We took a few minutes to watch and listen to the waves breaking on the cliffs around us before slowly making the trek back down the hill. The island of Inis Mor was once part of the Burren we traveled through yesterday but broke away during the ice age. The bare limestone rocks are smooth from centuries of erosion and can be very slippery in the rain. I watched my husband trotting down the hill in front of me and occasionally sliding and catching himself before tumbling down the hill. Fortunately, we made it back to the mini bus with no broken ankles or tailbones and were able to continue on with our tour, making just a couple more stops at an old cemetery and a couple of beaches before returning to the village of Kilronan where we’re staying. Our driver dropped us off at one of the four pubs in this tiny village where we grabbed some comfort food to warm up after our adventure. The sun came out after dinner and we enjoyed a nice sunset-ish walk as we made our way back to our B&B for the night.

Today’s Highlights

• A leisurely morning
• Not being widowed
• An expensive but cozy sweater that I will wear maybe twice a year
• Some fingerless wool mittens that did a surprisingly good job at keeping my hands warm during our tour
• Breathtaking views from the cliffs of Inis Mor
• A friendly local tour guide who supplied us with facts about the island
• Hot soup and brown bread
• More fish and chips and probably the best mushy peas we’ve had so far on the trip (served in an oyster shell)

Tomorrow’s Proposed Adventures

• A full Irish breakfast in our B&B
• More exploration on Inis Mor
• Ferry ride back to our car on the main island
• Scenic drive through Connemara
• Arrival in Westport