Day 8- Inisheer and the Cliffs of Moher

On Day 8, we decided that we were going to drive as little as possible. From the town we were staying in, Doolin, we were able to catch a ferry over to one of three small islands off the coast of Ireland. We went to Inisheer, the smallest of the three. Life on these islands reflects what life was like in Ireland's past. The people speak Gaelic and there are few cars. For the most part, what we were told was accurate. There were few cars and just a small bit of tourism industry.

One of the interesting sites on the island was an old church that was mostly buried under a sand dune. It was in the middle of a graveyard and was the first church on the island. The missionary's tomb was not far away buried under about 4 feet of sand. The doors of the church were only about 3 feet high.

We also came upon an old rusting ship wreck. You can walk right up to it and into it, if you want. We didn't get that brave, but it was impressive. It is just sitting on the beach rusting away.

Next, we took the same ferry to the Cliffs of Moher. They are 700 ft. above the ocean and an impressive sight. We met some other tourists on the boat. One couple was from Australia and their grown daughter was with them (she works in London). The conversation was nice and of course we had to inqure about their holiday (vacation). The rest of the world has it right, if you ask me. Europeans get about 5 weeks of vacation, 4 of which they have to take between June and August. Most take this time consecutively. In Australia, workers start with 5 weeks and after 10 years with a company you get 12 weeks a year. This couple had been out of Australia for 5 weeks when we met them.

Part of the tour of the cliffs took us to this rock which acted like a huge bird sanctuary. There were thousands of birds: sea gulls, penguin looking things, and huge black raven looking things. There was bird poop everywhere!

After dinner in town, we drove out to the cliffs again so we could see them from land and watch the sunset. It was an amazing view. The only issue of the day was the sunburn suffered by Jason, between the direct sun and the reflection off the water in the boat, his face was roasted. Go figure! There's not much sun in these parts, but Jason always manages to find it!

On to Galway...