Ireland Part 2: The Aran Islands

With everyone adjusted we could finally experience Ireland properly. Chris and I got back to Oranmore, unpacked, and re-packed to head out the next morning. We went from car to train, train to bus, bus to ferry, and ferry to Inis Mor, one of the Aran Islands. We stayed in a bed and breakfast at the end of the pier. I was expecting a couple of rooms, not unlike a hotel. What we actually had was a three bedroom apartment nearly the size of our house. Just for the four of us. Chris's parents had a one bedroom apartment next door. Truly, it made me wish we were staying longer. After we dropped off our bags we headed back out on a pony and trap (a cart being pulled by a horse). The weather was amazing - clear, sunny, and totally unheard of for October. We had lunch and then headed up to Dún Aonghasa, an iron age fort on a cliff with an amazing view, particularly on a day like we had with clear weather.

When I say the fort is on a cliff I am not exaggerating: there is no guard  rail, no wall, no indication really of the edge. The ground just...stops. It is windy and rocky and breath-takingly beautiful. And also terrifying if you are in charge of two young children who like to run. Suffice it to say, I never got very close to the edge though I was close enough to take in the view. There were three levels of wall that made up the fort itself and once we were out of the top layer I breathed a lot easier! On the ride back into town, Alex fell asleep and at one point Chris and his parents had to get out of the cart and walk because the poor horse couldn't make it up the steep hill with all of us in the cart. We finished the day with a trip to the sweater shop (where we each got a sweater) and dinner at one of the restaurants on the island.

At the top of Dún Aonghasa, but back from the edge of the cliff

The next morning we were very glad to have the sweaters - in addition to our rain jackets. It was cold, foggy, and rainy. But our ferry didn't leave until five that evening and we didn't want to miss out so we bundled up and went hiking up to The Black Fort. I'm not going to lie - the hike up was not the most pleasant experience. It rained off and on and the boys took much more encouragement than usual. But by the time we got to the top the rain had stopped. We had a snack and took in another incredible view. Chris's mom stayed with Alex while the rest of us explored a little further. We did not go all the way to the fort structure (neither fort was actually a building) but we got wonderful views of the cliffs - including one that is rather dramatically preparing to fall. We headed back for lunch, stopping occasionally to sample the wild blackberries that were everywhere along the path. We had lunch at the same restaurant where we had had dinner and by the time we were done it was just about time to head back to the pier. We spent a little bit of time in the sitting room of the bed and breakfast where we played a couple card games while waiting for the ferry. We took the ferry to the bus to the train to the car and back to Oranmore in time for a late dinner. 

My crazy guys

This might be a good time to talk about how proud I was of the boys on this trip. As I just said we hiked in the rain. I took over 10000 steps every day on this trip and for most of them the boys were right with me. They also spent time riding on shoulders and there were definitely times they drove me crazy but they rolled with the punches like pros. With delayed meals, different food offerings, and changing plans there were plenty of opportunities for meltdowns but not very many meltdowns. I was concerned about the flights because there was just so much time on planes - so much more than they have ever spent before and much longer days than they've ever experienced - but again they they did better than I dared to hope for. We tried to prepare them as much as possible but if you have ever done any traveling you know that you can't prepare for everything. Overall they just did wonderfully.