There was a steady breeze off the water that kept us company. If the sun had not been shining it would have been very cool. We strolled along the road enjoying the scenery. As we past the goat cheese store, I told Maureen of my adventures and purchases. We past houses and farms and we finally saw cows, possibly the ones that Archie had warned us of but they were in a different field.
We saw a tower down the road and out on a point. I was hoping that we could get out to it. There was a considerable amount of car traffic on the island considering that only 120 people lived on the island and I was pretty sure that not all of them had cars. Most of the cars that we saw were in an interesting state of repair. Lots had dings and bangs on them and most were older models.
We thought that they must bring only so many to the island by barge and then recycle them until they die.
Our walk brought us to a road that seemed to disappear in front of us as we walked. We realized that the road had turned onto a hill that was unbelievably steep and long. It was amazing. It was actually scary because
if anybody was driving that road while someone was walking on it.
I think that there would be victims on both sides.
The road comes down just behind the social center and gift shops. Maureen stayed for a little break at the picnic tables and I went exploring to the other side of the dock.
There were two natural caves in the walls opposite of the dock and just past the dock was a wildish kind of area with quite a few water channels running up to where I decided was a great place to take a few photos.
With only a little effort I got a few photos. went exploring around the dock area. then came back and searched out the Church of St Cieran.
It was more than a little overgrown and made walking around difficult. I was never sure exactly where I was putting me feet. At one point I realized that I was walking through the graveyard. Maureen came over as it was not very far from the cafe, and we poked around there for awhile.
I was actually surprised to find that the outside of the little church with no roof was all gravestones
. I walked slowly, a little worried I might fall into a grave because the grass was so high I could not see where I was putting my feet. There were a lot O’Driscalls buried there. I did not see even one O’Brien. I guess it might be the only part of Ireland where we are not from.
We then went back to the little store and picked up some bread, potatoes, wine, crisps and orange juice. We thought we got a great deal, all that for only 11.92 euros.
We walked back to the hostel. Maureen went onto the computer and I cooked up a quick snack of potatoes. This place was so clean and quiet. Archie said it was because it was not a weekend and it was not summer. They had taken over the ownership of the hostel about 6 years previous and had put a lot of work into it. When they got it, it was in sad shape, all falling down and moldy. But to look at it now you’ld never know. Our room had bunks but we were the only ones in there so we each took a bottom bunk and enjoyed the space.
The layout of the building was interesting too, lots of stairs and hallways. The guys wing was separate from the girls. We met one of the other hostelers, Michael from Cork. We talked about Cork and where we were going next. The Skelligs and he said that you pronounce Skellig Micheal as Skellig Veheel an old irish name for Michael.(the spelling of veheel is most assuredly wrong, I'm using my phonetic interpretation of his pronunciation)
We had our snack of potatoes and goat cheese and wine. It was good
Tonight we are going to the social club for a storyteller. How exciting.
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