Bee in my Bonnet

Off on the bus out of Belfast and up the gorgeous rugged coast of Ireland to the Giant’s Causeway.

The Giants Causeway is an amazing geologic formation of hexagonal stones that thrust themselves up from the ocean floor and are seen on a short stretch of very Northern Ireland. The hexagonal stones, 40,000 of them, are tightly packed and stand on end. Some appear mere inches tall and others are 20′ high, all uniform in shape being about one foot across.

There is an Irish legend about how and why the stones came to be. According to legend, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by a giant. The story goes that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn MacCool), of Gaelic mythology, was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet.  Fionn hides from Benandonner when he realises that his foe is much bigger than he is. Fionn’s wife, Oonagh, disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle. When Benandonner sees the size of the ‘baby’, he reckons that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants. He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn would be unable to chase him down. Across the sea, there are identical basalt columns (a part of the same ancient lava flow) on the Scottish isle of Staffa.

On another note, the British Open (golf) will begin in a few days near the same location in the North at Royal Portrush Golf Course. That little northern tip of Northern Ireland was very busy.

On our return we stopped by a very tiny memorial park to the famous author, C.S. Lewis. Dotted about the park were metal sculptures representing various characters from his book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Love his books!

The day was not finished yet. We tootled over to the incredible Titanic Experience in Belfast. Through architecture, displays, interactive experience, and displays, it tells the story of HMS Titanic. The Titanic was built right here in Belfast in the very spot where the ‘experience‘ is located.

The Titanic Experience was well worth the visit.