Friday – Belfast and The Giant’s Causeway

Today, we arrived in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

One of the first things we spotted, when we went out on deck to check what the weather was doing, was the unmistakable oddity of a building that is the Titanic Museum. It’s certainly an unusual design, and quite distinctive, with its ships-bow-like corners reflecting the bright morning sunlight. I have to confess, however, that my eye was scanning the area for something else; I knew it was there, but wasn’t exactly sure what it would look like, but experienced a thrill the moment I located it… there it was… over to the left of the Titanic Museum, nestling in amongst the giant cranes and dockyard warheouses; a large, yellow, grey and black building… In the top corner, a sign signifying that this was none other than… Titanic Studios – which is where they make ‘Game of Thrones’ (we’re huge fans…)

Tracey and I were on tour today, but it wasn’t to the Titanic Museum, as we’d expected. It was to the Giant’s Causeway. A grand total of five coaches were assigned to the task of carrying a large number of passengers north of Belfast, to the top north-eastern coast of Northern Ireland, to what is undoubtedly one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations.

It was a 90-minute drive, with a short photo-stop along the way to view a castle; and it really was short… I timed it… 5 minutes;; everyone piled off the bus, took their photos of the picturesque coastal castle remains, and dutifully piled back on… all in the space of 5 minutes.

Finally, we arrived at The Giant’s Causeway, which is managed by The National Trust; a large, turf-roofed visitor centre, newly-built within the last three years greeted us. It was here that we were all issued with entrance tickets and an electronic talking-guide (like a large mobile phone but without games) that I couldn’t get to work, and the guide explained that we had 3 hours to do as we liked; everybody had to be back at the coach (mine was coach 7) by 2:30pm. The walk down to the famous causeway stones would take approximately 20 minutes, or an optional shuttle bus would take us there in minutes. We chose the shuttle bus.

The Giant’s Causeway is a magnificent natural phenomenum, attributed, according to legend, to the work of a friendly neighbourhood giant who built it because he’d fallen in love with a lady giant who lived on the North-West coast of Scotland. This is the same giant, by the way, who had a fight with another, rival giant, and in the ensuing fracas picked up a massive chunk of land to use as a shield. The place where he picked up the land is now one of the largest lakes in Northern Ireland; he threw his makeshift shield at his opponent which landed in the Irish Sea, and is now known as the Isle of Man (apparently, the Isle of Man and the inland sea share roughly the same size and shape, so there must be something in it). The sad truth is, of course; the Giant’s Causeway is actually the work of extreme subterranean volcanic activity. The resulting rock formations are largely hexagonal in shape, and form an almost alien-like coastal landscape that really has to be seen to be believed. I caught up with Tracey (she was escorting bus 8), and we spent a wonderful hour roaming the rocks, taking photos and video, and eating the packed lunch that had been provided by the ship.

For some bizarre reason that was never satisfactorily explained, two of the coaches left early; 1:15pm instead of 2:30pm. As Tracey’s coach was one of those that left early, I spent the last remaining hour doing what any self-respecting visitor to Northern Ireland would, and should, do… I headed for the Giant’s Causeway Hotel and had a pint of Guiness (it’s the law, after all). I wasn’t the only one, of course. To be honest; 2 hours is plenty long enough for such a visit to the Giant’s Causeway; the exhibition in the visitor centre didn’t really grab my attention much (it mostly seemed aimed at a younger audience), so a Guiness seemed like a very good idea. Most people who did the same slept the whole way back to Belfast. Because Tracey’s coach got back earlier, they had the bonus of a drive through Belfast; by the time my coach had returned, there was only a half an hour to go before all-aboard time.

By 5pm, we were on our way. By 8:30pm, the deadlights were closed, and by 11:pm, the swell had returned. We only have one more sea-day to go, but the weather is, clearly, not going to let us off that easily…