As we noted previously, it was a bit more difficult than usual to get up and go this morning since we were leaving a castle. Still, the promise of Northern Ireland pulled us away from heated bathroom floors and the like.
After a few hours on the road this morning, we made it to the Giant’s Causeway Visitors’ Center. We drove through rain the whole time so we knew we could face some on the hike to the actual formations. Eschewing the “nearby” on-site parking, we parked 0.1 miles away at the train station and saved over $42. No joke. To her credit, even the kind woman at the Center could not, in good conscience, recommend that we park on-site.
Feeling smart, our smug faces then spent the rest of the hike to the causeway feeling extra proud of ourselves since the rain appeared to have subsided. We reached the unique formations and started climbing on them and taking pictures.
There are two stories for how the unique geological site was formed. Science argues that the stacks were volcanic expulsions formed millions of years ago. Legend, though, tells that the Irish giant built the causeway to chase the Scottish giant back to Scotland, and then the Scottish giant destroyed the causeway on his retreat to Scotland to keep the Irish giant from taking over Scotland. Indeed, the giant legend is supported by the fact that Scotland has some similar hexagonal formations off of its west coast.
After seeing the uncanny hexagonal precision and surprisingly uniform size and spacing of most of the individual causeway stones, I’m in the giant story camp. Still, while pondering the legend, the rain and wind returned with a vengeance and wiped the smug off our faces. Erika still rebelled in her own way as we kept climbing around.
After some time with the sideways rain, we resolved to retreat to our car and hiked back to the train station before driving into town and warming up with a tasty lunch and hot beverages inside the warm (important above all things) Copper Kettle restaurant.
Having successfully thawed our toes and fingers and dried our butts, we hopped back in the car for our drive to Belfast. There, we dropped our things at our hotel and then were picked up by our taxi driver, Mark, for a fascinating and sobering tour of the Peace Wall murals located around Belfast that were first built fifty years ago during the Troubles to separate and/or protect the Irish Republican and Protestant Loyalist neighborhoods and residents from violence against one another. Mark gave us a frank, moving, and chilling account of Northern Ireland’s history and the women, men, and communities that have suffered along the way. History is a misnomer, really, because although the violence has gone down considerably since the Good Friday Agreement 21 years ago, there is still clear tension between the Catholic and Protestant factions. Even more tellingly, the peace walls, which were first erected in some regions fifty years ago as temporary efforts to make violence more difficult, remain standing, have increased in size, and more and more miles of wall continue to go up as recently as March of this year. The city and region sit in delicate limbo with the pending Brexit. Efforts at compromise and co-government in Northern Ireland, which had been contemplated by and realized since the Good Friday Agreement, have collapsed. The region has had no parliament or formal government since 2016 due to rising factionalism by the rival leading parties.
In the end, Mark expressed optimism that peace would come to the region and we joined others in signing the original “peace” wall, hoping for the same. Still, candidly, Mark could not say how or when that peace could best be achieved. We are hopeful for all involved that permanent peace comes with no further violence.
We talked Mark’s ear off and asked so many questions that our tour ran over by 45 minutes. We’re grateful for his insight and time!
We kept the conversation going among our traveling party as we enjoyed dinner, all while under the careful watch of this strange, strange picture. What did the waiter on the right do to upset EVERYONE ELSE in the picture??
Finally, at Jenna’s recommendation, we visited one of the city’s oldest and certainly its best decorated pub, the Crowne, and took in its extreme Victorian style.
Check back soon as we learn more in Belfast and then head back to Dublin tomorrow.
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