Galway and the Aran Islands

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My last stop on my Easter break was Galway. Galway was a great city and was super busy that last weekend of everyone's holiday. The city's medieval streets are easy to get lost in, but offer a different view of the city. The bars and pubs seem endless in Galway and the nightly entertainment was great. While I was in Galway, I visited the new Cathedral, only 50 years old, and St. Nicholas Cathedral. The new cathedral, looks much older and it is hard to believe that in recent times, people would build such an enormous cathedral, especially in the old stone style. St. Nicholas is a large very old, from the 14th century, church that serves the Church of Ireland. My second day in Galway, I actually left the city and took the ferry to the Aran Island of Inishmor, the largest of the islands. These islands are like stepping back in time a bit. The farmers that live on the island have their fields divided up with stone walls and no gates. The gates are created by taking down the stones, moving the animals, and then putting the stones back in place. Sarah and I rented bikes to explore the island and little did we know, how out of shape we were. We started off down the road that follows on coastline of the island and took in the beauty and simplicity of the island. We also passed by the seal colony on the island, although I only saw one seal. We continued our journey and made it to our final destination Dun Aengus, a prehistoric fort dating from as early as 2000 BC. The fort sits on the edge of a 100m high cliff looking out over the beautiful sea. These cliffs were just as beautiful as the Cliffs of Moher and far less crowded. This is one of the places, people could sit for eternity and simply look out over the water. Peaceful, tranquil, and beautiful can barely do it justice. Seeing as there was only one ferry back to Galway, eternity could not be spent here, so began the tough bike ride back to the main town, consisting of maybe 5 buildings. Once in town, some brief shopping and back on the ferry to Galway. The Aran Islands are one of the last places in Ireland where traditional Irish is king. They still speak Irish as the main language here and the land seems as though it is farmed and used in the same manner as it was hundreds of years ago. A trip to Ireland should consist of a trip to the Aran Islands.

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