I got up early to get breakfast at McDonald’s on Shop Street in Galway. On my way there a drunk was walking along asking “Where you going? Where you going?” I ignored him. I found my way to the McDonald’s and proceeded to place my and Sharon’s order on the Kiosk. The Kiosk wouldn’t take 2 of my credit cards before finally taking my debit card. Ahead of me the drunk had proceeded to try to place his order at the counter. He seemed to be surprised that they wouldn’t be serving hamburgers and reluctantly opted for breakfast instead. It is at this point that I really question by some people decide to get drunk and make fools of themselves. Is it really worth it?

With an Egg McMuffin and Coke for Sharon and a Ham and Cheese Toastie and OJ for me I went on my to our room. After breakfast we got our stuff together with me carrying our laundry bag of dirty clothes and sharon carrying the clean clothes.

Sharon and I walked to Eyre Square. I left Sharon at the Square while I was off to get her a Mt. Dew (yes I found Mt. Dew here!) and Subs from Subway. We then went to the bus stop for the Rossaveal ferry transfer. A bus came along and we got on but was told to get off as the bus was needed elsewhere. A second bus came along a few minutes later and we squeezed on. The bus’ seats did not have enough room between the rows. I’m not sure it would have passed US standards. The drive seemed to take an hour, but maybe it was because it felt longer as I was holding a heavy suitcase while Sharon was holding both of our backpacks.

We found the ferry to Inis Mor. We found some seats underneath and parked ourselves there. In front of us they rolled up a metal window revealing a snack stand. Sharon is prone to car sickness, and in this case sea sickness therefore she closed her eyes the entire time. I took some video and photos at various parts of the ship.


After a while we arrived in Inis Mor. As we were walking to our B&B we were asked twice if we wanted a pony cart tour. I suspected this would be the case so I didn’t prebook any tour for fear of arriving late and them charging us for a no show.

Past the bars and sweater shop was our B&B – Seacrest. Our host Geraldine was moping the floor. She gave us tickets to Dun Aonghasa, an ancient fort at the other end of the island. Sharon asked about a pony cart tour. Geraldine’s husband runs a pony cart tour business and she was happy to call him to schedule a tour at 4:30PM.


As our room was not ready we sat and ate our Subway sandwiches for lunch. I saw 2 cats which I tried to pet, but they were a little skidish.



Since our ponycart tour was not until 4:30PM, we decided to explore the island. We stopped at a sweater shop for Sharon to get gifts for herself and loved ones. In the harbor there is a old ship which ran aground. I went on the beach and snapped a few pictures of it and collected shells for Sharon.


We then went by the Spar – the only store on the island. As it caters to both islanders and tourists, the prices didn’t seem too over-exhorbant. There was a little of everything there including a deli which I would utilize later on for our trip back on the ferry.



After the Spar we ventured further into the island, walking past a ruined Protestant church and abandoned bar – The Lucky Star Bar. I love taking photos of abandoned buildings and urban decay so I snapped quite a few.


 

Sharon and I saw a cat behind a gate in the nearby woods and we tried to coax it into coming to us but we had no luck. We went as far as Joe Watty’s Bar and Restaurant before heading back but not before stopping at another more modern church in the area. The sexton appeared to be there so we decided not to bother going inside the church.


We went back to our B&B. I took a nap while Sharon surfed the web. Right before our scheduled pony cart tour, I got hungry and got Sharon and myself “Smooches” (like DQ Blizzards) at the local Spar.


We met Geraldine’s daughter who gave us a tour during the first portion of the tour. Geraldine and Thomas’ daughter had been born in Rhode Island but moved back to Inis Mor when she was 3, so this is the only life she remembers. She showed us the ruined Protestant church and stopped at an art shop near Joe Watty’s Bar. Afterwards we went to a 9th century church while Geraldine’s daughter went back to the horse shed and Thomas continued our tour.
Throughout the tour we saw rock walls seemingly separating property lines or fields. Thomas was kind enough to stop at the beach area where seals congregate.
We made it to the foot of Dun Aonghasa where there were some shops and snack stands. We went through the vistor’s center and gave the tickets Geraldine had given us to the attendant before hiking up.
It was a rough hike. I was worried that Sharon was having trouble, but like a true soldier she pushed through and made it.



Dun Aonghasa is at the top of a cliff with no barrier between the visitor and falling off the cliff. Sharon was very nervous when I got near the edge with my GoPro, but I was able to stay just far enough away to give myself a thrill and still be safe.


We headed back down where Thomas picked us up again and took us back to our B&B while pointing out churches and abandoned ruins along the way. It was a different way back than the way we came. We did see a new stone wall being put up by a 4th generation resident. Thomas said this was very unusual as new rock walls are not usually put up.


We came back to the B&B and paid Thomas 60 EURO (30 EURO Each) for the tour – a real bargain for the experience.
We then headed to “The Bar.” We researched places to eat beforehand and “The Bar” had food that both of us would eat. It was wall to wall people inside so we grabbed a table outside. It was a bit chilly, but we had a good time eating the burger for me and chicken with spinach and cheese for Sharon. We had a short walk back to the B&B before finally turning in for the night.


Tomorrow we catch a ferry to Doolin to see the Cliffs of Moher.