Finn MacCool and Carrick-a-Rede

On Friday, after flying into Cork, Caitlin and I split from the group to begin our adventure up to Belfast to see the Giant's Causeway, the beautiful coastline, and cross Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Our journey began smoothly we picked up our train tickets at the Cork Rail Station and got on our train. This was my first train ride, and I was really excited. I was also excited because getting to Belfast was going to require us to take a plane, a train, and an automobile! Cliche I realize, but hey it's the little things in life, right? Our train was really nice, we both had window seats, and since we had pre-booked our tickets, our names were in a little marque above our seats! I realize taking a picture may have been a little unnecessary, but you may not have believed me otherwise! We had empty seats next to us to start with, but were joined by a grandmother travelling with her two grand daughters a few stops later. The younger girl was cute and very amusing, getting up every few moments to walk around the train, then come back and report what she saw. Everything was going smoothly until we were about twenty minutes outside of Dublin. We had stopped to pick up a few passengers, but then we weren't going again! It was announced that the train in front of us had broken down and we would be leaving in about a half hour. This was not good news for Caitlin and I! We had a connecting train to catch to take us up to Belfast! So we finally got to the train station, but had missed our connecting train at this point, so we headed to information to figure out what to do instead. The very nice lady who was on duty there helpfully informed us that there was a bus that left Dublin every hour for Belfast, we could catch the Luas, a shuttle, over to the bus station and they would honor our train tickets there. Which they did! So we caught the bus up to Belfast, and made our way over to the hostel.
Saturday morning we got up to catch our tour bus up to the Giant's Causeway. It was a beautiful day, warm, sunny, a little breeze - perfect for our drive up the coast. Although we would spend a good deal of our day on a tour bus, our bus driver was very entertaining and told us all about the lovely scenery and history of the places we passed. We had several stops so we could get out and take pictures and stretch a few moments. The drive up the coast was beautiful, the landscape is unlike anything we've seen down in Dungarvan, Cork, Waterford or Dublin. The coast line is huge, jagged rock or grassy cliffs that seem to drop straight down into the water. Everything had become very green in our absence over the past week, so it was nice to see the landscape beginning to really flourish. When we reached the Giant's Causeway, we quickly alighted from the bus and headed down the steep path to see these mythical rocks. Now the Causeway for me has a special place in my heart. Growing up my Grandfather would tell us stories about Finn Mac Cool, and other tall Irish tales. Now, I am finally getting to see these fabled far away places I was told about as a small child. If you don't know the legend of Finn Mac Cool, I've included a link to it here. The Causeway itself is a phenomenon. The rocks are so different. Before and after them there are round boulders sitting around the water, and then suddenly they change form to these hexagonal pillars protruding from the ground creating this bridge out into the ocean. It's sublime. The huge cliffs standing tall behind you, the North Atlantic lapping up against the rocks, as you stand on top of these strangely shaped rocks. It was great! There are a very few places in the world where theses rocks exist, and this is where there are the most of them in one place. It was neat how they formed this bridge and pathway for walking on, some of them were covered with lichen, while others closer to the water had sea weed growing on them. After climbing around for a while we headed back up to eat some lunch and then walk up the cliff over looking the Causeway. What a view! You could see the entire Causeway, as well as up and down the coast and the open farmland and rolling hills that were further inland. Not to mention the great weather that we were having made the view that much more incredible. The blue sky meeting the cliffs and the ocean was really something great. I'm really glad I went. After that we got back on the bus to head to our final stop of the day, the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Carrick-a-Rede originally functioned so that fishermen could cross from the mainland to a small island, or large rock - your preference - and fish for salmon! Now since salmon is no longer fished for on the coast because the North Atlantic Salmon is now almost extinct - the rope bridge remains up for daring tourists walk across. For about four pounds, you can test your fears as you walk across a twenty meter long rope bridge hung about thirty meters in the air above the very cold North Atlantic, and a good deal of unfriendly looking rocks. Luckily the day we were there the sun was shining and there was no wind, and the bridge was dry! Often times the bridge is wet and slippy, making crossing more of a challenge as well as more frightening. The view from the other side is definitely worth the thrill. You can look back on the coast, or out to Scotland, sitting happily on the horizon to the East. Some of the cliffs, both on the coast and on Scotland are brilliantly white, making them stand out even more. This is because they are limestone quarries! Around the area there have been sightings of seals, dolphins, stray migrating whales, as well as lots of sea birds. We saw a great deal of birds nesting on the side of the cliff, and on smaller rocks around the island. We did hear some seals barking, but we couldn't find where they were hiding. The seals reminded me of the Selkies, another legend I had heard from my Grandfather. The Selkies were seals that were able to change their form into that of a human. When I was little I watched a movie about the Selkies called, The Secret of Roan Inish.
So for me, the day was one filled with gorgeous new places, and some childhood nostalgia - a perfect combination.