For as much as I love waking up early in Ireland for the beauty, quiet, and tranquility, there is something to be said for the joys of sleeping in, especially after a late night out. Instead of waking to the birdsong in the dark, I woke to bright sunlight bursting through the curtains and the sounds of breakfast dishes clanging from the kitchen. I was up a bit prior to the kitchen music but stared off into space for a bit to collect my thoughts. As I said, last night was a late one by my standards and although I am still a bit tired from all of the excitement, I am grateful for the additional rest and determined to join the gorgeous day; for, we do not have many days left here, and I do not want to miss a second of it.

Yesterday morning, we woke around half past four; an extremely early rising. The girls had readied themselves as best they could the night before, in preparation, and we were out the door in the dark and the heavy fog, to make the three hour journey up to Galway City to board our boat out across the Atlantic to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. This was the plan for last year but, by accident, we went to the smallest of the three islands, Inisheer. After an hour and forty minute journey by boat we arrived on the correct island of Inishmore, and immediately found a restaurant, the Bayview Restaurant, and ate an incredible lunch. The girls drank a fancy mocktail called a Lemonade Fizz and we took our time eating as it was pouring outside.

After we finished up our lunch and a quick visit with our delightfully friendly server, we embarked on a bit of shopping at the Aran Sweater Market where we picked up a handful of gifts to bring back home, and Ellery selected a gorgeous sweater for herself. We did a bit of walking and site seeing and eventually hopped in a horse buggy to take us around a bit of the Island. We made our way out to visit the seal colony to take pictures. Although we did not see any seals, we purchased hot cocoa from the coffee cart, also named the Seal Colony, for a delightful warm up against the cold and wind, and enjoyed the buggy ride back into town, dodging very aggressive tour vans along the way. We hopped in and out of a few more stores to catch a break from the rain and wind, boarded our boat and made the two hour and forty minute ride back to Galway, stopping at the Cliffs of Moher for people to photograph. Visibility was dismal, so the cliffs could barely be seen, and despite a twenty minute portion of the boat excursion that was extremely rough and a couple of upset stomachs, we all arrived safely back in Galway, unscathed around six.

Given that we had a three hour journey back to the cottage, we detoured into Shannon to stop at a McDonalds for a quick food stop. As much as we wanted to explore Shannon more, we were too tired from the days journey but have added it to the list for a future visit. We arrived home just shy of ten and immediately fell into bed for much needed rest. After visiting two of the three islands, we have picked our favorite between the two. While both islands have much to offer, full of history and beauty, Inisheer, the accidental trip from last year and the smallest of the three islands, came out on top. We hope to see the third island on a future trip to Ireland.

Unfortunately, we discovered a corruption to our SD card from the GoPro this morning, while uploading our pictures from yesterday’s adventure and we lost most of our images captured. More so, older previous pictures and videos, outside our Ireland journeys, have too, been lost. We still have the photos taken on our phones, but not many to share here. Such is life. While the pictures and videos may be gone, our memories are not. Today, we visit old friends from last year and maybe a few new ones and I cannot wait to see them, but only after I finish my cup of tea.