On May 29th, we headed further north to visit Carrick-a-Rede, Giant's Causeway and Londonderry (Derry).
Carrick-a-Rede
Carrick-a-Rede is a rope bridge that is suspended between two giant rocks over the Atlantic Ocean. Matt and I weren't interested in paying to cross the rope bridge that looked very secure - I'd rather save my $ to skydive! Nonetheless, crossing the rope bridge would have been somewhat adventurous given the wind we were experiencing. The wind was approaching 40 m.p.h., the limit at which the bridge is shut down. Just standing on the edge of the cliff to take photos was a little nerve wracking as the wind was so strong. Here are some photos of the walk towards the Bridge and of the bridge itself:
Isn't Ireland just beautiful? I think so!
Giant's Causeway
Our next stop was the Giant's Causeway. The scenery was spectacular once again. Waves pounding against rocks on the walk down to the Causeway and the formation of the Causeway itself was cool! The Giants Causeway was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 due to the unique nature of its geology. The site is composed of 40,000 rectangular shaped basalt columns packed closely together, as if to form stepping stones. Geologists thing that the columns were formed by the cooling and shrinking of molten lava from an ancient volcanic eruption over 60 million years ago (so says the pamphlet). The tallest columns are almost 12 meters high.
There is also a local legend about the mighty giant, Finn MacCool. Local legend tells us that it was actually the Giant Finn MacCool who created the Giant's Causeway to challenge his Scottish rival, Benandonner. Ehh, whatever!
Here are some pics from the walk up to the Giant's Causeway and the Causeway itself:
Derry
Derry is a city north of Belfast with its own troubled and bloody history. The city is surrounded by walls (like York). We started off walking along some of the walls that outline the city and then made our way down to view some murals painted on the sides of buildings. While walking, we also came across the site of Bloody Sunday (U2's song "Bloody Sunday" is about the events that happened on January 30, 1972 in Derry - correct me if I am wrong). Here are some pics:
Question - Does anyone know how to post photos on blogspot with higher quality?
Carrick-a-Rede
Carrick-a-Rede is a rope bridge that is suspended between two giant rocks over the Atlantic Ocean. Matt and I weren't interested in paying to cross the rope bridge that looked very secure - I'd rather save my $ to skydive! Nonetheless, crossing the rope bridge would have been somewhat adventurous given the wind we were experiencing. The wind was approaching 40 m.p.h., the limit at which the bridge is shut down. Just standing on the edge of the cliff to take photos was a little nerve wracking as the wind was so strong. Here are some photos of the walk towards the Bridge and of the bridge itself:
Giant's Causeway
Our next stop was the Giant's Causeway. The scenery was spectacular once again. Waves pounding against rocks on the walk down to the Causeway and the formation of the Causeway itself was cool! The Giants Causeway was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 due to the unique nature of its geology. The site is composed of 40,000 rectangular shaped basalt columns packed closely together, as if to form stepping stones. Geologists thing that the columns were formed by the cooling and shrinking of molten lava from an ancient volcanic eruption over 60 million years ago (so says the pamphlet). The tallest columns are almost 12 meters high.
There is also a local legend about the mighty giant, Finn MacCool. Local legend tells us that it was actually the Giant Finn MacCool who created the Giant's Causeway to challenge his Scottish rival, Benandonner. Ehh, whatever!
Here are some pics from the walk up to the Giant's Causeway and the Causeway itself:
Derry
Derry is a city north of Belfast with its own troubled and bloody history. The city is surrounded by walls (like York). We started off walking along some of the walls that outline the city and then made our way down to view some murals painted on the sides of buildings. While walking, we also came across the site of Bloody Sunday (U2's song "Bloody Sunday" is about the events that happened on January 30, 1972 in Derry - correct me if I am wrong). Here are some pics:
Site of Bloody Sunday
Question - Does anyone know how to post photos on blogspot with higher quality?
Haha Erin and Joel, you know thay bloody sunday comment was for you! Rope bridge oooooo! BC has bigger and higher! Haha if it was hotter in Ireland would confuse it with Maui surfing, clear water and green all around with white sandy beaches. Who knew?
ReplyDeleteGiants causeway! It has been considered to be one of the wonders of the world! Giants Causeway its a rock formation formed by lava hitting the ocean. Although the myth is the a giant name finn mccool from ireland was look over at scotland and saw a giant there when. He started to swear and curse at this giant but nothing came of it. Finn decided that he would build a walkway to scotland to fight this giant. When he got there he saw that the scotish giant was 3 times his size. He ran back and asked his wife what he should do. She dressed him as a baby and placed him in a bed. When the scotish giant showed up she invited him in for tea. He saw how big their baby was and wondered if thats the size of the baby how big must the father be. He ran back over the causeway and destroyed it so fin mccool could not follow him. I hope the myth is true makes for better story i think! Beside as the tour guide said look around! What volcanos!
Londonderry. Well it reminded me of York and Belfast. I do perfer the murals in londonderry over the ones in belfast. But belfast does have more of them. The ones in derry just seem to be more artistic than just some kid with a spray can.