Aran Islands

Today we went on a group trip to the Aran Islands. There are three islands: Inis Mór, Inis Meáin and Inis Óirr. They are located about 9 miles off the coast of Galway. A double decker tour bus picked us up at our apartments this morning and took us to the ferry port. We went to the largest of the three islands, Inis Mor. The ferry ride is about 45 minutes. It was cloudy and rainy, so the views were not that of a clear day, but it was so beautiful. Once on the island, you could rent bikes, horses, or little buses to tour the island. We opted for a mini bus to protect us from the rain. When my dad comes in a few weeks, I am hoping to go back and if the weather is nice, I would LOVE to rent bikes.
The main island is about 5 miles long and we had a bus waiting to take us to various locations on the island. Irish (Gaelic) is the primary language used on the islands. The Aran Islands are where the Fisherman's sweater originated. Wives handmade sweaters for their husbands and sons to keep them warm and dry while fishing. Each family had their own unique pattern on their sweaters, which was used to identify victims who capsized or drown at sea. There were a few shops on the island that sold sweaters, they were all so beautiful. We stopped at a light house, a cemetery where two saints are buried, and a fort. We saw a beatiful beach, where our guide informed us that children take swimming lessons at. We saw a few seals off shore too!
There are 14 "villages" on the big island and about 800 total residents. There are two primary schools, one doctor and two nurses on the island. If there is a medical emergecy, planes fly out to the island. There is only one supermarket on the island but 9 or so pubs :)
The island is covered in stone fences, sheep, horses, and cows, and cottages. Since I arrived in Ireland, I have been wondering why there are stone fences EVERYWHERE. Today I asked our tour guide and discovered that the land was covered in rock and there was no open grass. Hundreds of years ago, there wasn't any where to transport the rock to, so farmers simply made fences and walls out of the rock so they had places for gardens and their animals. On the island, there are over 4,000 miles of stone fences. In Ireland, there are enough stone fences to go around the world 8 times.
We had to climb up a rock path to get to the fort and to look out over the cliffs of the island. My heart skiped a few beats as I neared the edge of the cliffs, it is a shear DROP down to the sea. My pictures explain all of this better than I can...but since I'm leaving for London tomorrow I don't have too much time to edit or upload pictures. I'll just put a few up for now.
Mom and Dad- if I dont answer emails for a while...its because I wont have a computer in London. I'll be home Sunday night :)