"This chowder is AMAZING! SO GOOD! There's a chunk of scallop in here!"

Day 6: Today was quite possibly the day I was looking forward to the most and it didn’t disappoint. We took a ferry to the island of Inish Mor, which is the largest of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. Only 9 miles long and with a population of about 300, it reminded me a lot of Ocracoke Island. Even with the small population, there are over 7,000 miles of stone wall around the plots of land to distinguish property lines. Each family has approximately 20 acres of land to farm on. When the island was first settled, there was exposed limestone all over the ground (which obviously isn’t good for plowing). So in order to make the land arable, the farmers would bring up sand and seaweed from the shore. They’re extremely resourceful; their only means of water is collecting rain!

The main attraction of Inish Mor is the Dun Angeus fort. It’s possibly the oldest fort in Europe; 2,500 to be exact! It’s on the edge of a cliff a good ways up from the center of town. The fabled land of Tirnanog is said to be somewhere under the cliff. Legend has it that if you jump from the cliff toward the sea, you will land in Tirnanog and remain young forever. However, none of our group decided to take any chances today. We hung our feet over the edge and it was kind of scary… we had a blast taking pictures and peering over at the rocks below. I don’t know that I’ve seen a more beautiful view of the sea before. Mrs. Morrow was getting nervous because we were so close to the edge. Even though we weren’t too close most of the time, I’m sure I speak for everyone (especially all the moms at home) when I say that we appreciated her mom instinct.

Once we made our way back down from Dun Angeus, we hung around in some local shops where they crochet/knit everything by hand. We then made our way over to one of the few cafes to have lunch. I had a delicious bowl of soup and a fruit scone. After lunch, we took a bus tour of the rest of the island. We saw some seals and visited the 7 churches (which actually is an area with only 2 churches; the other 5 buildings were used as schools and other things). Famous religious figures came to study there between the 8^th-12^th centuries. When the tour was finished, we hung out on a wall near the shore and then explored the beach before riding the ferry back to the mainland.

After the ferry landed, we drove back to Galway. Along the way, we watched “Quiet Man” starring John Wayne. Back in town, Clay, Meghan, Mikaela, Jon, Dr. Whitley and I had dinner in a random restaurant; it took us a while to find one because Manchester United and Arsenal were playing futbol so all the pubs were crowded. We had a really sweet waitress and the food was delicious! Dr. Whitley wouldn’t stop raving about the chowder… apparently it was really good! On the way to the bus stop, we saw a guy playing a didgeridoo and a man who looked like Santa playing the accordion. Good times!

I cannot believe tomorrow is our last full day in Ireland. It seems like our time here has just flown by. The country and the people are all so beautiful; it will be sad to leave come Monday morning. Though I’ve really missed home this past week, visiting Ireland with some of my closest friends has been such an amazing experience. We were so blessed with good weather, a great tour guide and fabulous visits of unforgettable places. I couldn’t have asked for a better trip to the Emerald Isle.

See you all tomorrow for details of our last day!

PS Inish Mor didn’t have electricity until 1975: how crazy is that?!