Aran Island Excursion

It's Sunday morning here in Ireland, and to say I'm exhausted from the weekend would be an understatement! I apologize for how poorly this post will probably be written, because my brain is scattered and I'm too tired to be to clever or witty :)
This weekend we went on our first excursion to the Aran Islands, and I am absolutely in love with them! Friday morning we all piled on the bus and took about a 30 minute bus ride to port where we got on our ferry.....
As we all got on the ferry I was extremely excited, as I love boats and beaches and anything of the sort, so I thought it was going to be an amazing time. We quickly found out, though, that the waters were quite rough that day and it was going to be a long 45 minute ride to the islands. We also chose to sit in the front of the ferry, so we felt the full impact of every wave and rocking of the ship. Eventually the ride ended, and while most of us didn't feel the greatest, no one got seriously sick before we got to the islands. When we got off the ferry we were given some time to just walk around the city for awhile and relax before we had to meet up and go on our tour buses. The city on the island is gorgeous and full of character and history, and I loved walking around and seeing all of the little shops and restaurants. We eventually decided on a restaurant/pub call Ti Joe Watty's for lunch, which was an amazing place to eat with a great atmosphere. We noticed on the menu that they advertised their fish and chips, which many of us hadn't tried yet since we've been here, so I decided to try that for the first time! It was amazing and you could tell the fish was extremely fresh, so it was definitely the perfect place to try it for the first time! After that we walked around the island for a little longer, making sure to stop at the Aran sweater shop where they make amazing wool sweaters, socks, and scarves that are a staple of the island. I ended up just getting an adorable little sweater for my god-daughter and a scarf for myself, because the adult sweaters could run you anywhere from 85 to 180 euros which is not exactly in my budget.......
Then it was time to meet up with our group and go sight seeing around the island. We stopped at several amazing historic landmarks, like the Seven Churches, and some other amazing forts and monuments. It was definitely a lot of walking, which made me extremely grateful that I invested in some really nice hiking boots before coming on this trip. The highlight of the day for me was when we visited Dun Aengus. It was quite a hike to get up to the top of this massive hill, but when we did it was well worth the work. The sight puts you at the edge of a 300 foot cliff over looking the ocean, and it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. But at the same time it was also one of the scariest things I have ever seen..... The cliffs are so tall and are not roped off at all along the edge, so if you want to get close and look over, they had us lay down on our stomachs and look over the edge. Even laying down I felt uneasy, so I looked for as long as I could and took some pictures and then quickly moved a safe distance back. The fort itself on the cliff was also amazing and full of culture and history, and the sight was one of the most amazing things I've seen on the trip. We kept saying that it felt like we were on the edge of the world, and that's definitely something I will never forget.
That night we had our first hostile stay in an adorable little place with an amazing view of the island! By the time we got there we were exhausted and hungry, so we just laid in our beds and snacked and relaxed for well over an hour. Later that evening, the hostile made an amazing dinner for us that was more than we could have asked for. I think that dinner gave everyone a second wind, because even though we were all exhausted, we all decided to head out and check out the pub scene since it would be our only night on the island! We went back to the same place where we had lunch earlier in the day, and I am so very glad we did! The pub was packed, especially after 25 of us piled in, and there was amazing live music and lots of people our age. We got to meet lots of friendly locals from the island, listen to music, dance, and really soak up the Irish culture. It was an amazing night out, and I'm very glad we took that opportunity while we were there!
The next day we got up and did lots of hiking to see the other forts and ruins around the island. It was a lot of hiking, which I am definitely feeling today, but we got to see some amazing things and gorgeous views, and I think it was a perfect way to get a sense of the island. After having a picnic lunch and hiking around for most of the afternoon, we went back down into the city to shop a little bit more and wait for our 5 o'clock ferry. While waiting, the group I was with went to the beach for awhile and I'm so glad we got to spend some time there. The sand was white and incredibly soft, and the water was clear and blue, so it was amazing place to relax and take it all in for awhile. Then we went and got on our ferry which, luckily for us, wasn't quite as rough as the last one so it was a much more enjoyable ride back to the mainland.
Overall it was an amazing first excursion, and I couldn't have asked for a better weekend! The islands are gorgeous and definitely such an amazing part of the Irish culture. Sorry for the kind of dry account of this weekend, but hopefully my next one will be written with a little more wit when I'm a little less tired :)