This past weekend, we took a field trip to the Aran Islands.  The voyage to the miraculous floating land in the Atlantic ocean was taken on a Ferry, or a boat to be more specific.  Before arriving, the locals were saying things like good luck, or I hope the weather is good.  However, me being the optimist that I am, I was determined to experience the island in the sunshine and light jacket type of weather.  Lesson learned, listen to the locals.  We arrived on the island and my two layers of pants were already soaked through from the ferry ride.  While sitting on the tour bus in damp clothing, we stopped at one of the local shops.  I bought water proof pants that were four sizes to big to wear over my pants.  Turns out, these were the best inventions ever, despite how much of a parachute I looked like.  The shop we stopped at was next to the spot where the movie "Leap Year" was filmed.  We stopped at a cemetery with the tomb stones shaped as crosses with a circle behind them to represent the sun.  It is said that if you hug one of these crosses and your fingers touch, then you will find true love in Ireland. I tried, but my fingers, didn't touch.  We then continued to walk on the beautiful broken grassy roads, with an occasional puddle here and there. My favorite part of strolling along this island, is the hours and months and years of work of stone walls.  These stone walls are not made for decoration.  They are created as a way to get all the natural rock off the little grass they have, so they can have livestock.  However, it adds a beautiful aesthetic and creates a quilt like pattern when looking at the whole landscape as a whole.  The Irish use everything and do not waste.  I respect this.  We went into a sweater shop, and as we walked in, you were suddenly in a whole new world filled with extravagant sweaters that took hours to create.  The wool was from the island and when you slipped a sweater on, you suddenly felt warm and cozy while the soft wool hugged your arms.  When leaving the shop, we walked around a little.  Being on an island of 800 simple people, you felt as though you were in a place of peace and simplicity and you didn't have to be anyone but yourself. The buildings had wear and tear, but character.  My favorite part of this experience were the dogs.  There were two-four stray dogs that were Boarder Collies.  Very well trained, they would waltz up to you to give you a hug, a kiss, or receive a petting for themselves. At one point, I was in the back of the group making sure I got the perfect shot with my camera.  The dog stayed by me until I was moving along, as though it was almost herding me.   One of the most amazing things we did, was walk about 6 miles to see these beautiful cliffs that stood higher than the earth.  While standing at the edge, the waves came roaring at your feet below, and crashed upon the rock making a thunderous, booming, echo.  Atop these cliffs, were limestone rock lining the ground on which we walked the 6 miles.  At one point, we looked over the giant cliffs at the powerful water, and below was a natural, perfect rock rectangle.  The water breathed in and out of the rectangle, creating a circular pattern.  The waves crashed upon the cliffs hundreds of feet as though it wanted to reach out and pull you in.  The experience in which I had here was quite amazing, even though the weather was poor, the people were quiet, but the nature was mysterious and captivating.