Bicycling inis mor

My second ferry ride was very different from my first in Doolin - the boat was huge, smooth-sailing and we sat indoors and listened to a pop radio station. Maybe this is the way hostels/tour groups make tourists more receptive to the traditional music; by playing terrible pop music so much that anything else is like a breath of fresh air. I think if I was listening to traditional irish jam session-type music all the time it would wear on me a bit, but so far I've found most of the street musicians - and especially the music in the pubs - to be really good so I don't feel like calibrating my standards is necessary. I'm glad I got the other, unpolished experience beforehand. 

Biked around with Nerida, Mark and Emily. They're pretty cool cats - all from Australia. We took the road along the coast to the prehistoric fort Dun Aengus (archaeologists have recently begun to think that the stone walls were first piled up around 1100 BCE).

  It was strategically placed on a hill at the coast so that Irish settlers could spot invaders coming from the sea. Some of the wall has since collapsed into the sea and now, once you pass through the four outer walls enclosing some 14 acres, you can walk right up to the cliff edge which is some 100 meters above the sea. Nerida would only army crawl up to the edge. 

We also saw some seals peaking their heads above the waves in what was marked as a seal colony an ate soup and bread at an insanely cute cottage/restaurant. 

The outside. So cozy. So inviting.

The inside. Wow. Fresh wild flower and candles everywhere. So homey. There was a sign over the serving counter that said, "when I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food they call me a communist." (Helder Comara) hmm.

Speaking of cool cats, I met so many friendly cats on the island. There was also a big fat white one named Odie, but I didn't get a picture of him. I was too blissed out by having a cat sit on my lap for a whole half hour.

Evening was free so I went out to the grocery store and cooked a meal for the first time in over two weeks. This hostel is very accommodating for people who want to cool their own meals. Unlike the others we've been at, a lot of people stay in and cook. Everyone sort of waited their turn for the kitchen and it worked out really well.