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"Area
of Outstanding Natural Beauty" -- official designation of the Antrim Coast June 19th & 20th, 1999:
In the end we decided to stop at Ballycastle and save the rest of the coast for the next day.
The next day we were glad of our decision.
We hiked along the coast from Ballycastle to Corrymeela. They had a retreat going on led by Native American Indian chiefs and were preparing for 100 foreign students, some from Serbia and Kosovo.
The building to the left is their Crei (meaning 'heart' in the Irish language), of center of worship. The curved room inside has the magical property where one can clearly hear words whispered. from across the room.
We saddled up in our van and drove westward. On our way to the Giant's Causeway we found the lowly but lovely castle Kinbane.
Perhaps the view was worth the commute? These little castles litter the coastline. Every major family had to have one and had to try with all their might to tear down their rival's. Hence the ruined nature of them all.
Legend has it the giant Finn McCool built a bridge to Scotland to challenge his rival across the sea. But when his rival showed up, he was much bigger than Finn expected. So McCool dressed up as a baby and had his wife rock him in a giant cradle. When the rival saw how big the son was, he fled in terror of the father, smashing the bridge as he went to prevent pursuit.
Today the Causeway feels as if one is climbing on a giant set of petrified Lincoln logs laid on end.
We had to shelter from the brutal rainstorm that whipped inland while we were there. A half hour later and it was gone, blue sky returning.
We met some other Americans there who climbed up the 40 foot tall hexagonal stones. We're sure he felt like a giant on top.
Find us in Derry (Londonderry) and the Ring Fort of Grianan of Aileagh
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We've decided we need to
work on our touring timing. The weather in Belfast was
beautiful the day before we left and we spent it inside
working on our computer. The day we toured the Antrim
coast the weather was lousy.
Dark rain and whipping winds kept us
crawling in our green van as we struggled up 15% grades
and around hairpin turns.
The
locals appreciated the better weather too. We learned
that three of the Top Ten rated golf courses in the world
are on the tiny Isle of Ireland. (Look carefully and
you'll see the 15c friary ruin hazard in the background).
It's
a drop of almost two hundred feet straight down those
cliffs. We wondered how knights ever got their horses to
and from their castle.
Another
half hour and two weather changes down the road, we found
the Giant's Causeway.
The
UN designates sites of natural heritage throughout the
world. Things like the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall of
China get this distinction. The Giant's Causeway is the
only site in Ireland on this list.
