Giant's Causeway

We drove to the northern coast on Wednesday and enjoyed the spectacular Giant's Causeway.  This site is famous for its geology - thousands of hexagonally shaped columns of basalt line the coast.  The rock formations were created 50 million years ago by the pooling and cooling of lava.  Now it is a vast landscape of stone pillars.

Or... the legend goes that a giant named Finn MacCool created the hexagonal columns while making a causeway to a Scottish island where another giant resided.  When Finn realized that the giant across the sea was three times his size, he retreated to his home, where his wife disguised him as a baby.  The Scottish giant came across the causeway, saw how big "baby" Finn was, and ran away in terror.  On his way back, he destroyed the causeway between him and the Irish coast.

Either way, it's a phenomenal site and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We climbed around on the rocks and then hiked up the cliff to take in the views from above.  Luckily we were able to get there early and enjoy the beauty before it got too crowded.  The kids did well with all the hiking - the free audio guides helped keep them entertained!

Contemplation

The "giant's organ" ...

Find the people to get the size perspective

The causeway from above

Queen Elizabeth visited one year ago to the day!