The Giant Probably Went to Majorca

Because it is freezing here! After we landed in Dublin we immediately caught a bus to Belfast. We had wanted to see a few places in some of the historical districts and the botanical gardens, but the weather seriously dampened our enthusiasm (and our luggage, our clothes, etc.) We ended up at the Lush (we are going to have to seek out some kind of treatment program to get over our addiction to that place!) where we grilled the staff about why they sell tote bags, but not t-shirts. We also were sad to see we had missed the Titanic Maritime Festival featuring tall ship racing! Who wouldn’t love to watch tall ships race? We felt like the festival name was a little iffy. Why would you name your maritime festival after one of the world’s most famous maritime disasters? I know the Titanic was made there – so were a lot of ships. Shipbuilding is one of their big claims to fame. Surely they made some other famous vessel; one that didn’t sink killing 1500+ people.

Anyway, the city was really not at its best in the rain; everything was looking pretty grim. Our guest house was next to the university, and those sad children were graduating in the torrential downpour. They were huddled under wholly inadequate umbrellas lined up outside the buildings their academic gowns sodden and colorful hoods dripping. Damp family clustered under every awning for blocks. We were having some fairly serious second thoughts about our trip out to Giant’s Causeway. The weather did not seem propitious for a cliff scramble along the North Sea.

In the morning we decided to go regardless. Who knows when we might be back in Northern Ireland again? The weather never did make a decision, which worked out enough. The moments when we were sure we’d be blown off the rocks and into the sea or slip in the rain and crash onto the hexagonal blocks below were interspersed with moments of glorious blue sky and sparkling sun.

So what is Giant’s Causeway? Well, it depends on who you ask. Legend says that Irish giant Finn MacCool was challenged to a fight by a Scottish giant. Finn built the causeway across the channel to Scotland so the two could do battle. When Finn realized that the Scottish giant was much larger than himself, he had his wife disguise him as a baby. When the Scottish giant, Benandonner, saw how big the “baby” was he decided he had zero interest in fighting the father. As he fled back to Scotland, he destroyed the causeway behind him.

Geologists will tell you the peculiar formations of Giant’s Causeway are the result of volcanic activity and are formally known as columnar basalt. An eruption of highly fluid lava 60 million years ago created a volcanic plateau. As the lava cooled, it contracted and created hexagonal columns that are nearly 100 feet thick in some places. This cooling and cracking is quite similar to the drying of mud. Weathering and erosion has broken the columns down to varying heights leaving a curious surface to be scrambled about and slipped on by visitors. The site was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986.