A Giant Adventure

August 7, 2013

Giants Causeway, County Antrim , Northern Coast of Ireland

                        

Riding in the car while someone else drove was a nice change for Ross today. We were able to sit together in the back seat and chat about the beautiful landscape as we rode to Giants Causeway with Kevin and Trish. The drive should have only been 1 ½ hours but it had been 15 years since they had made the trip themselves. Trish started out driving but after making a few circles and thoroughly showing us Bangor, Ireland Kevin took the wheel. In her defense the coastal roads are not marked clearly or often so I don't blame her for the 6 hours it took just to get there; especially because the views were amazing and getting lost worked as a good icebreaker giving us something to laugh about.

We arrived at the Giants Causeway with plenty of time to explore because the park didn't close until 9 pm for summer hours. The cost of admission was 8.50 euro per person of which Kevin paid because he causally stopped Ross's hand holding cash from reaching the teller before his.

Ross, Trish, & Kevin listening to the audio guides

Grabbing our audio guides we began the downhill stroll to the causeway. We were blessed with a beautifully sunny day and a nice breeze that was a delight when walking back up the hill from the causeway. On our way down we learned all about the legend of how the giants steps were made.

Kevin, Trish, & Myself

The story goes:

Finn Mccool (Fionn mac Cumhail) an Irish Giant existed on an Antrim headland and one day when going about his day by day business a Scottish Giant named Fingal started to yell insults from over the channel. In fury Finn lifted a hunk of earth and tossed it at the monster as a test, the earth settled in the ocean.

Fingal countered with a rock tossed once again at Finn and yelled that Finn was lucky that he wasn't a skilled swimmer or he would have been beaten so badly he could never battle again.

                                 

                                        Right: Rocks look like the face of Finn laying down.
                                        Left: The rock look like an organ or chimney stacks

Finn was infuriated and started lifting colossal bunches of earth from the shore, tossing them in order to make a pathway for the Scottish titan to come and face him. However when he completed the process of making the pathway he had not slept for a week. So instead devised a cunning plan to fool the Scot.

Finn disguised himself as an infant in a bed and when his enemy came to face him Finn's wife told the Giant that Finn was away and showed him the child dozing in the cradle. The Scottish titan became apprehensive, for if the child was so big, what size might the father be?

In his scurry to getaway Fingal sped again along the pathway Finn had created, shredding it as he went. He is said to have fled to a hollow on Staffa which is right up 'til today named 'Fingal's Cave'.

                                               

Although the story was enchanting we learned more about the scientific explanation from the numerous helpful causeway employees. The causeway consist of 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns that were made about 60,000 years ago during a volcanic eruption. The eruption occurred when the continents still formed Pangaea so there is evidence of parts of the causeway that have been found in other countries no longer connected to Ireland.

The hexagonal shape of each column was created by rapid cooling of the basalt by the sea. The tallest columns reach about 40 feet tall and if you look closely thousands of tourist have wedged coins in between the pillars after making wishes. We emptied my change purse making wishes as well as decorating the columns.

Ross just wedged our coins in between the layers of basalt

                                                

We worked up quiet an appetite climbing on the giant steps. Next to the causeway is a historical hotel and restaurant were we ate an early dinner and quenched our thirst at the bar. Ross and I took notes from the legendary Finn Mccool on trickery and devised a plan to pay the bill before Kevin could. As I dug in my purse for my chap stick I cleverly grabbed our wallet and passed it to Ross under the table. He excused himself to the restroom and sneakily paid the bill on his return.

See how tall the columns are!