The Aran Islands

The Aran Islands - Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer - are located about 30 miles off the West coast of Ireland. Over St. Patrick's Day weekend we ventured to Inishmore. We took a 2 1/2 hour train ride from Dublin to Galway and then took an hour bus ride north to Roscommon. We then boarded the ferry for a 45 minute (wild) ride. We left Galway Bay with everyone laughing and taking pictures as we bounced and swayed in the huge waves. After about 15 minutes the boat became silent and the crew began quickly handing out plastic bags for the seasick. Luckily, we were fine, but the others didn't enjoy their trip too much. As we disembarked the ferry, our B&B was right at the end of the pier. We were the first guests of the season to check in. The islands are so isolated, that the season runs from St. Patrick's weekend to Halloween. Inishmore is 12 miles long and 3 miles wide and about 800 people live there. They have one mini-mart, two restaurants, and being Ireland...6 pubs! A very unique feature of the Aran Islands is that it is one of the few places in the country where Irish or Gaelic is still spoken.

Aran Islands Ferry

St. Patrick's Day

It was fun to be in a small village for St. Patrick's Day. Many of the locals gathered with their families at Ti Joe Watty's Pub. A big rugby match was on from 1-3pm and the parade was scheduled to start after the end of the match. The local school children made hats out of newspaper and decorated them with orange and green streamers. The parade consisted of the fire brigade, the school children, 3 musicians and 1 float. Despite the pouring rain and raging wind, the parade (all 15 minutes of it) walked through town. After the parade, the kids all came back to the pub for games and music. Two teenage boys provided the traditional music while the girls danced. It was really unique experience to celebrate with the locals. Craig and I along with one other couple were the only mainlanders in the place.

The locals celebrate St. Paddy's

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Walking Inishmore

History of the Aran Islands

The earliest ring forts on the island date from the Iron Age (c. 400 BC-500 AD) or even possibly from the Late Bronze Age (c. 700 BC). The limestone pavement and rock formations are incredible. Walking around the island you can imagine the lives of the early inhabitants. Hand built rock walls divide up almost every parcel of land. The tremendous cliffs run the entire length of the island. Farmers continue to bring seaweed up from the beach to lay on the ground to use as compost on the rocky soil. Cows, sheep, chickens and a few people and their dogs are the only things we saw when we hiked around the island. The permanent residents have cars, but mostly people walk, ride bikes, or take pony carts.

Dun Aengus Fort

Stone Fences

Today is Pancake Tuesday

Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it's the last day before Lent.
Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent.

Edinburgh, Scotland

We went to Edinburgh, Scotland for the weekend. It took less than an hour to fly there! It was sunny both days, and the locals said it was very unusual weather! I guess it is usually cloudier than either Seattle or Dublin. We found the people really friendly and welcoming. The city is beautiful! The Edinburgh Castle is right in the middle of the city. There is a lot of green space for walking right in the city, also. We went on a tour called The Real Mary King's Close...and underground area that existed in the 1800's, but was covered over after the plague and not reopened for 111 years. Very fascinating. There is a lot to see, and we barely scratched the surface. We would love to go back.

St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh

Scotland Bagpiper

Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle

Sci Italia/Ski Italy

Buongiorno!
We just returned from skiing in Italy...it was fabulous! We flew from Dublin to Innsbruck, Austria and then took a bus to Campitello, Italy. We skied at the Val Di Fassa resort and stayed at the Gran Chalet Soreghes. Europe has not had much snow this year, so we were a bit concerned in the months leading up to our trip, but fortunately, it snowed 3 metres the week before we arrived. During our stay it was blue sky and sunny every day!!! Between ski runs we would sit outside in the sun drinking cappuccino e birra e vino! Molto bene! The skiing was outstanding! The area resorts are all connected, so you ski from village to village with the same lift ticket. There are 205 impianti di risalita (lifts) e 510 km di piste (kilometres of runs). For any of you skiers or boarders out there...you have to ski Europe! It is absolutely the most amazing experience. Italians, Germans, Russians, Polish, Irish, English, and French are some of the people we met along the way. Not one American. We did pretty well speaking Italian, however most people wanted to practice their English, so we would speak in Italian and they would answer back in English. Very funny!

Skiing the Dolomites

Skiing Val Di Fassa

Italian, German, English spoken here

Gran Chalet Soreghes Hotel, Campitello, Italy