Alright... on to the good stuff.
We had BEAUTIFUL weather. We picked up our two rentacars and began at the giants causeway. This was the primary reason for coming up to this portion of Ireland! And we weren't disappointed. We parked, saw a quick movie and then began with a walk along the headlands. The sky was a beautiful blue along the coast. Clouds seem to pick up over the land mass area, but along the coast they were a gorgeous blue that shone through the coastal waters. The wind was strong but not blustery. The cliff edges made Jeanne a little nervous (typical mom who is scared of heights) but the kids were respectful of her cautiousness. Well sort of (view video below).
The walk then came to a steep staircase down. The walkway was still in the shade due to the season, so though slightly mossy and slippery, we all made it down the cliffside to the lower trail.
Next came the organ pipes. These are the hexagon shaped rock formations up the edge of the cliff. Since they are all lined up they appear to be pipes of a church organ. The kids...well all of us found them fascinating. We continued on the trail loop overlooking the chimneys. Again, the views were just breathtaking. All along the way we kept looking down to the seaside area of these special rocks. But we were saving the best for last!The Giants Causeway
It was absolutely the BEST vacation destination for our family so far. Climbing rocks, beautiful coastline, intriguing shapes...what more could my family ask for? We spent hours there. Bryce loved the lure of the sea and leaping/climbing over the rocks.
The orange dot is Bryce!
Scientists still debate how the rocks were formed. They theorize that it might be a slow gradual cooling of molten lava. But however they occurred, they are fascinating. Most of the rock shapes are hexagonal columns, though some are like squares or even circles when worn down. But the fascinating thing is that the columns break off at various heights that mimic stairs! It was so fun climbing all over, up and down.
The shadows across the rocks make for impressive photos! It's almost like sitting inside an Escher drawing. So cool! Jeanne just wishes that she had swapped with Jordan for a good family photo... sigh.
One area appears to climb up to the mountains!
According to one of the most well-known legends, Giant’s Causeway was formed by Finn Mac Cool, an Irish giant. One day Finn Mac Cool was enraged by the ranting of the Scottish giant named Finn Gall from across the Channel. So, Finn Mac Cool tore large pieces of rock from the cliff and pushed them into the ocean floor making a land bridge across the Channel. However, when he was finished, he was too exhausted to fight Finn Gall. He built a large crib, disguised himself like a child, crawled in and fell asleep. Seeing the completed causeway, Finn Gall crossed the Channel to fight. When he found Mac Cool’s house, he walked in and saw the crib. Looking into the crib, Finn Gall saw a massive “child.” Thinking that this was Finn Mac Cool’s child, he quickly reasoned that Mac Cool must be massive and fully capable of handily whipping him. So, Finn Gall turned and retreated to Scotland, breaking up the causeway behind him as he went.
This is supposedly the Giant's shoe that he lost as he ran quickly away.
Jordan decided he wanted to challenge the waves (not very smart). After he got a little wet he decided to retreat... just in time! Along came a series of waves that could have swept him off the rock in which he had been seated.
Madison loved her tide pools. This one is called the pink pool, her favorite.
Reluctantly, we left to ride the bus back up the hill (thankful we didn't have to walk back up!)
We had heard that the hotel at the top had a good pub that served good food so we went and ordered. We haven't recommended restaurants in the past, but this place was incredible! The food was really good and the portions were enormous. Our family was quite hungry after all that rock climbing but we all left food at the table. We actually fed our whole family of 6 for 45 GBP!
Bryce actually was able to get a bite of this giant sized burger. He was quite happy with the portions!We then were in a bit of a time crunch and hurried back to Dunluce Castle.
Dunluce Castle
This castle was once enormous. Its history is long with its prominent outlook of the coastline, its easily defended positioning, and its easy emergency escape with a cave tunnel below the castle!
But one very memorable event took place here...part of the castle fell into the ocean! It was part of the kitchen and during a storm it just fell off the cliff! A few servants were killed and after that the lady of the castle refused to live there any more.
The views of the coastline are what was the most absolutely breathtaking! There can't be any coastline as beautiful...now we understand why the U.K. doesn't want to relinquish this area of land!
They also had a ventilation system with the air flowing up off the rock face. The girls enjoyed having their hair blown!
After we explored the castle ruins we then decided to go down to the mysterious escape cave. Bryce tossed some rocks of good size into the waves for some really good sound effects.
Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge
Here you can see the island and (small) bridge from about 1 km away. You park and have to walk there and back
Bryce seemed to absolutely delight in the thought of his mother walking across a high narrow bridge over to an island cliff. But he was surprised when Jeanne made it (whispering like the donkey in Shrek..."don't look down, don't look down").
Christina didn't have any trouble at all crossing over the rope bridge. She is amazing! For a five year old she is such a willing participant. She can hike, climb and walk long distances over a full day without much complaint. Most wonderful is her excitement over what she is seeing!Our timing was perfect in getting there because just after we got across, a HUGE mass of people arrived. We made it across and back with little wait!
We then drove along the coast toward Belfast. The coastal road was beautiful and wound in and out along the sea coast. We arrived at our hotel hungry and tired. This time we tried the Premier Inn hotel chain and we give them a hearty two thumbs up! Reasonably priced and it includes a good hot breakfast!
This however gets us to the other half of our trip that wasn't so perfect. Sunday morning was mothers day and it looked to be great with this wonderful restaurant breakfast...but Christina got sick. Yes, the U.K. definition of sick. Jeanne thought she was hungry because she fell asleep before the pizza arrived and should have been very hungry. BIG Mistake. So Jeanne stayed in the hotel while Christina slept and the rest of the family drove to a museum in Belfast. Fortunately, Christina popped up after 3 hours of intermittent sleep and was bright, happy and energetic...and hungry. We were able to make our flight back home without incident. Whew.
Still it was one FANTASTIC trip...one that all three kids said they would like to repeat.
