Finally we are back from the much anticipated road trip – the Giant Causeway Road Trip. It was just amazing. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the beautiful scenic beauties. Through the entire road trip we saw amazing natural landscapes, bubbling stream and breathtaking waterfalls.
As we started our road trip, mumma said it is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Northern Ireland. When I asked her, what is a world heritage site, she explained that a world heritage site is place – a building, monument, desert, mountain or anything that has some physical or cultural significance and is marked important by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
It was about a hundred miles and as full of spectacular sceneries. It is centred around the nine gorgeous glens (valleys) of Antrim and is considered to be the most scenic drives in the world.
The drive starts from Belfast and ends in city of Derry-Londonderry. We started from Belfast quite early and then drive through the Gobbins Cliff Path to reach the famous Giant Causeway. On the way to the Giant Causeway, there are many spectacles that include the 12th-century Carrickfergus Castle in Antrim (it is the oldest in the Northern Ireland), the Gobbins, the amazing Mussenden Temple which stands on the edge of the sheer drop overlooking the Downhill Beach and many more.
One thing that I liked the most was the long stretches of beach, almost 6 miles (mumma said). I had a lot of fun on the beach making sand castles, playing in the water with mumma and dadda.
But the centre of attraction was surely the Giant’s Causeway. The name sounds quite weird, so I asked dadda why it is called so. He said there is a small legend behind the name – there were two giants Finn Mac Cool and Benandonner. Finn Mac Cool was challenged by Benandonner to fight him; Finn accepted the challenge and made built the causeway so that they can meet to fight each other.
But then Finn realises that Benandonner was much bigger and stronger than him. So to scare away Benandonner, Finn’s wife disguised him as a baby and tells that it is Finn’s baby. Seeing the size of the baby Benandonner gets scared thinking that his father must be a huge giant and he runs away destroying the causeway, so that Finn couldn’t follow him. The huge columns of Basalt protruding from the ocean are the remains of the Giant’s Causeway.
This was the best road trip ever. We had a lot of fun clicking pictures, eating at local restaurants and playing. We also saw a variety of sea birds at the Gobbins Cliffs. One thing that I want to share with you all is that we were staying in a cottage in the countryside and it was excellent. The view was amazing and cottages looked very nice. I liked everything about the trip. I told dadda that I want to visit the Giant Causeway one more time.