The Giant's Causeway

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Pillars of hexagonal basalt

Giant's Causeway basalt formation

Sorry for the delay in posting. Sometimes Internet is not available...
The Giant’s Causeway was the main attraction today. It’s a ways from Belfast, so the bus tour took most of the day. Before we left for the day, we found a lovely bakery on Sandy Street, where we ordered sausage on soda (soda bread). They asked if we wanted brown or red with that, which turned out to mean catsup or steak sauce. We added beans to the menu, which nearly rounded out a traditional Irish breakfast. Then we strolled over to the youth hostel where we caught the tour bus. Our driver, Ray, was a talkative gent, who managed to keep us well informed about significant historical events that had taken place along the way. We stopped occasionally for photo ops. Lunch was at Bushmill’s distillery, which now is owned by an Italian chap who also owns Guinness. Nothing is sacred anymore. I had steak and Guinness pie with mashed potatoes and, of course, a wee dram of Bushmill’s finest. Then on to the Giant’s Causeway – a geological phenomenon which is Ireland's only world heritage site. The strange, six-sided stones formed through volcanic action into pillars, some standing 40 feet high. We were told there were 40,000 stones, although we didn't count to confirm this. The legend behind the stones is that two giants – one in Ireland and the other in Scotland across the water – were planning a fight. The Irish giant, Finn McCool (I didn’t make that up) threw stones across the water to make a path. When the Scottish giant approached, Finn could see he was much bigger, so Finn had Mrs. Finn dress him as a baby. The Scottish giant, seeing the baby, ran back, thinking if this is how big the babies are he sure didn’t want to fight the daddy. The scenery at this northernmost tip of Ireland was spectacular. Today – as has been every day so far – was warm, clear and sunny. We arrived back in Belfast about 7:30, stopped at a pub for dinner, and turned in early. Lots of walking today.

Deciding on breakfast

These are the hills where Patrick was forced to tend sheep after he was stolen from is bed as a child

Northern Ireland countryside

Country village on the way to the Giant's Causeway

The northern coast

Rope bridge that Chrissi crossed while we watched