The bold Ms Google but first ...

We were booked for the ferry to Inis Mor and we made it on time despite the best efforts of Google Maps and the bossy Ms Google. She/it is inordinately fond of tertiary roads, preferably with a line of grass up the centre and hazardous bends around which we feared a large vehicle was always lurking and aiming to have a collision. Fortunately, those fears were not realized and although there were some rather hairy passing manoeuvers, with me always pulling over and yielding to oncoming traffic, not even scratches were incurred.

There was a fair-sized crowd on board the ferry and we found seats on the upper deck, unsheltered, for the journey. The seas were quite choppy but the boat was quite large so we didn't really have a lot of ups and downs. There were two stops before our destination - the first at Inisheer (spelling is phonetic) and Inishman. Most of the passengers disembarked at those locations. We went on to Inishmor which is the largest of the three Aran Islands. On the dock, we approached the first mini-van tour operator and it proved to be a good choice. Capacity was about 20 or so, and the van was full. Off we went - on more of those lovely narrow roads.

The Aran Islands are subject to the whims of the Atlantic and are very rocky. All fields, large and some very small, are surrounded by dry-stone walls. The stones were cleared from the field and piled carefully, as walls around the area that had been cleared, to withstand the weather, and they have been strong for well over a hundred years. The "fields" often have lovely-looking green grass (from all the rain) but the topsoil is only 6" deep so growing much of anything else is a challenge. There are very few sheep on the Aran Islands because when they dine on the grass they pull it up by the roots, so it's mainly beef cattle that you see chowing down on the available grass. 

Our first stop was at Dun Angus (anglicized version), which is an ancient fort. To get there you pass through a visitors' centre and pay a small admission fee. This grants you the privilege of walking for at least 20 minutes, first on a lovely gravel path, then on more rocky surfaces and often on very uneven steps. I found that sticking to the grass verges and using the chicken wire fence was helpful. Titanium knees are not fond of large high steps, going up or down. 

Eventually, you pass through an opening to a wide area inside a semi-circular "fort". From near the edge, well not TOO near, you see incredible cliffs and a huge drop to the ocean. We stayed well back. It was incredibly windy and we weren't about to take any chances. Oddly though the soil is scarce there are quite a few lovely little flowers growing along the way. 

Starting out it seemed easy - the destination is visible in the distance

Along the way up

Just arrived at the fort

Heading back down

View of the coast in the distance

Inis Mor landscape

We boarded the ferry for our return to Doolin and the mainland at 4 pm. Once at the dock in Doolin, those of us who had included a boat trip along the Cliffs of Moher stayed on board. This time we were glad it was a large boat and had moved to the interior cabin. It was an exciting trip because the swells were huge and it was a wonderful roller coaster ride. Unlike the previous time I made the trip, on a calm sunny day, this was a bit of a wild ride. I'm not certain if it was raining but it had rained en route back from the Island. Because of the wild waves, we couldn't get very close to the cliffs nor to the standalone rock formation that is home to the puffins. We did see a few chubby little puffins fly by our boat, their wings flapping faster than any other bird I've ever seen. They don't soar, they stayed low and just above the water and boy those little wings were working hard.

We found our way back to the B&B after a supper of vegetable soup and brown bread at a pub in Linnane. Google gave us quite a road trip and then she got quite hilarious.

We were talking in the car about breakfast in the morning. Then Ms Google intervened with "I've marked some suggestions on the map for where to have breakfast in the morning". We had not asked her for anything. Then we couldn't shut her up. She kept repeating that same thing so I told her we didn't need suggestions. So, she explained what a suggestion was. I thanked her and she replied in a rather self-effacing way. What was this? Conversing with Google? 

We told her that we were done and she could go to sleep. Her reply: "I see you have a new sleep routine, let's do it together." We were laughing so hard I could hardly drive. No matter what we said we couldn't shut her up. It was entertaining but not something we'd wanted or thought we'd asked for. Kind of spooky actually.

The forecast for Friday was grim so we planned to drive into Galway and take a bus tour of the city. The best-laid plans ... but this time, what went wrong turned out to be incredibly wonderful. 

There was no place to park near the bus stop and it was difficult to even leave the parking lot. People had parked in the places where there should have been a lane. So we decided that as it was raining very hard, we would head to Clifton where Judi's friend had recommended the Abbey Glen Castle hotel. That would be our destination for lunch.

We found the hotel to be quite lovely. Over the past week, we've been having our main meal at noon and soup for supper. There were only soup and sandwiches on offer. We ended up ordering seafood chowder and brown bread. Both were delicious. Nearby was a peat fire that fortunately was drawing well so it was not smoky or smelly in the room.

As we ate by the window it got brighter and brighter and dryer and dryer outside. By the time we'd finished eating it was sunny. We chatted with the waitress who recommended Sky Drive which would ultimately take us to Castlebar, our current location in a fabulous Airbnb cottage called "Mews". It's incredibly clean and has a lovely scent. Even better, it has a washer and a dryer. Clean pyjamas tonight! What a luxury.

Anyway, Sky Drive is part of the Wild Atlantic Way and it totally changed my opinion of Connemara. This was a route I had never taken. The views were spectacular and really only noticed when going from Clifden to Westport. Travelling in the other direction you would never notice the vistas unless you kept looking out the rear window. And this is some of what we saw: [to see a larger image just click on it.]

The road we travelled - bleak hillsides on one side and incredible vistas of lakes and then the coast on the other. The road is not as wide as it appears here. 

The peat fire at the Abbey Glen Hotel Bar

Ho hum - another lovely Connemara vista

We ended the day with dinner in Castlebar at a lovely little restaurant. We both ordered the pan-seared scallops with salad. The presentation made it ALMOST too pretty to eat. This was actually an appetizer, which we enjoyed with wine, and left room for dessert. 

Now we are back in our own lovely place and the first load of laundry seems to be ready for the dryer. We are more than happy to do laundry. Recent stays in hotels and B&B did not have this option. 

Tomorrow we will visit Achill Island. The forecast is for a dry but cloudy day - which is just fine with us.