June 20th-Aran, Day Two

Today, our bicycle adventure took us to the beach! The water was pretty cold, though Murphy and Joe jumped right in. The sand was nice and soft, and the sun was excellent. After lounging there, we went up to Dun Aonghasa. This fort was a very easy walk, unlike the Black Fort. This fort was also much more complete than the Black Fort. We had a great tour guide take us through the history of the place, since each of the walls were built at different times. The only time it was ever a place of year-round residence was 1000-800 BC, though it was used for other purposes throughout history. The highlight of the fort was the fact that it was located on the top of a huge cliff and we all lay on our stomachs and peered down at the crashing waves below. It was kind of intense. We rode back to our guesthouses at our own paces, which meant that I was able to be distracted by three seals lounging around in the bay. They were fun to watch, just flopping around out on a sand bar. When we finally got back, we had a great home cooked dinner at the guesthouse and then we all headed to the bar to hear the music and enjoy the craic (Irish for "fun times"). And by all, I mean all, including Murph and Joe. Murph is fun to sit with; he knows all the songs and made us all sing with him. The Mulkerrin brothers were back, as well as a new band with traditional Irish instruments like the bodhran drum and the ulin pipe (like a bagpipe, but you use your elbow: ulin=elbow, though I'm not sure on that spelling). It was an awesome night.