Going westward to county Clare showed me a whole other side to Ireland. It was alot more laid back and had that old traditional Irish feel. The town we stayed in , Lisdoonvarna, had very little to see and only had about a streets worth of shops and restaurants. But come September, that place is full of people for the annual Matchmaking Festival where singles come to find their one true love. So if your looking for love and are of an average age of 54, this could be the place for you.
Saturday, we made our way to the Aran Islands and went to Inis Mor Island, which is the "big island" of the Aran Islands. After a hour and a half boat ride across the sea, we made it to the land. There were plenty of attractions to see on the island like stone forts, light houses, churches,and shoppes that sell the famous wool sweats. Now, we had a choice to either take a travel bus to each stop or brave the elements on a bike. The bike was was my top choice.
How great would it feel to ride along the shore of the Aran Islands on a bike. So a group of us, took on the challenge and headed out to the old stone fort.. It actually turned out to quite the production. First, half the group split off on a different route, leaving Dan, Liz, Melissa and me on our own. Then, while we stopped to make sure we were headed in the right direction, a bird swooped down and decided to leave a present on Dan's shoulder. He stood there in complete discussed over the event and slowly began to take off his jacket to clean it off. Once we were on the road again we started to make great time as we road up and down the hills, gazing over the land of cows and horses. Next thing we know, Melissa had lost her sweater at some point on the ride so her and Dan turn back to find it. At this point we were all getting kind of tired and our time was starting to dwindle down. It was such a great feeling when we finally made it to the fort. We parked our bikes and with careful stepping started to climb to the top of the ruins. The fort was still in decent condition and stood on the edge of the cliffs. The wind was blowing so hard that I literally had to get on my hands and knees to crawl to the edge. The best part was looking down into the crashing water against the rocks. It had to be one of the coolest things I've ever looked at especially because it kind of scared me. 
After spending sometime looking out on the ocean, we headed back into town to catch the ferry home. The ride was great but we had to go really fast because we only had about twenty minutes to get back across the island. Once we were about half way back a few of us started to get phone calls from the other group, Lindsay, Joe and Ray, that Joe's bike chain broke and they would have to walk the rest of the way back. As soon as we got back we tried to send them out a car to pick them up but luckily someone had already done so. So we were all back and ready to head back when someone realized that Ray never came back. He had apparently left Joe and Lindsay to ride back for help. At this point the sky was even getting dark and it looked like rain. Everyone was getting really worried and the ferry to take everyone back to shore was almost ready to leave. We would have to leave without him, so the group got on the ferry and waited for departure when all of a sudden we heard someone yell "We found Ray". Out of breath he climbed aboard the boat and sat down. He had made it just in time. When we got back, we ordered tones of Chinese food and lots of conversation. It really ended the day off nicely.
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