Captain Tight Pants

We are still in Dingle. The shops close at 6, and we learned from an Irishman here on holiday last night that it is unheard of to eat dinner before 8. So ashamed are we, that we loaded up on lattes and roamed to the cemetery and then the last place that's open.. the internet cafe. Hello!

Today was fantastic. We took the scary 10ft wide cliff road out to Slea Head Drive. Please note, we stopped to allow sheep to pass, and crossed over a section of the road that has a stream passing through it, with mountain on the right and a huge drop to the left. Exhilarating! We made our way to the ferry boat which takes passengers out to the Great Blasket, the most westerly island of Ireland. A steep windy road to the concrete pier below was the easy part. We watched for about an hour as our ferry boat bobbed in the water from side to side like a rubber ducky in a rowdy kid's tub. It finally became clear that the ferry boat wouldn't be picking us up.. it dropped anchor and the captain steered a motorized raft thing to come get us. I almost took a dive into the ocean after slipping down the concrete slab. The only thing keeping me from panicking was the fact that a 70 year old man was ahead of me and completed everything with ease. Transitioning from raft to boat was exciting, and riding the ferry boat was even better. At one point I thought we were going to tip and bear hugged Lauryn without realizing it until I noticed all the laughter on the boat was directed at me. Oops!

The Island was beautiful and haunting. Old structures still stood, minus their roofs, with flowers and grass growing in every corner. The inviting beach was off limits due to seal mating, so Lauryn and I hiked around, took photos, picnicked on the edge of a grassy cliff and enjoyed a view of Ireland in the distance. But that was about it, as there was nothing else on the Island but abandoned buildings, sheep, mules, and rabbits (but more rabbit poop than anything). No bathrooms!

So tomorrow we are off to The Burren, Lisdoonvarna to be exact. There we'll see the Cliffs of Moher and take another ferry out to the Aran Islands. There are also prehistoric sites and a cave we want to check out.

I hope your weekend has gotten off to a nice start!

<3
Colleen