The Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland

The Giant's Causeway: A natural wonder of the world created by volcanoes? Or built by giants?

Built by giants.

Obviously.

My visit

A month ago I found myself with my friend E in Dublin, exploring the city, the Irish country and even popping back in to the UK's Northern Ireland to see the Giant's Causeway.

Walking on the hexagonal basalt columns was like walking on a brutalist loving giant bee's honeycomb. Weird. Surreal. Awesome. The photos dont do the place justice nor does it really show the differing levels of the columns. But it is incredible. All I could do was stare and try to imagine how the heck this happened. Like I said, must have been giants ;)

The Legend

Located on the northern tip of Northern Ireland, the Giant's Causeway gets its name from an old legend. The story goes that there used to be a giant called Finn MacCool that lived on the Irish coast with his giantess wife, Oonagh. He was the biggest and strongest in all the land. But one day he heard that, actually, there was a Scottish giant called Benandonner across the sea who was bigger and stronger.

Boys being boys, one thing led to another and they challenged each other to a fight. However, there was the slight problem of crossing the sea between them, so Finn built a causeway to get to the other side. When he got closer to Scotland he saw that, yeah, Benadonner was bigger...and in a panic he ran home to his wife...but not before Benandonner had spotted him in the distance...

Back at home, Finns clever giantess wife dressed her husband in baby clothing, put him in a cradle and waited. When Benandonner arrived looking for Finn, the giantess welcomed him into their house  to wait for Finn who was off on a small errand and would be back soon. Taking a seat Benandonner noticed the 'baby' and thought…if that’s the size of the baby then Finn must be huge.

Making some feeble excuse he ran back across the causeway home, but not before he destroying a good part of it so the other giant could not follow.

And thats how we ended up with the causeway as we see it today. Its quite a trip from Dublin so if you do find yourself interested in seeing the Giants Causeway yourself, be prepared for a long day, or, you can always visit from Belfast.

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The Loch Ness Monster has been Spotted!

Spotted! The shy Nessie, known around the world as the Loch Ness Monster was spotted by Globetrotter Postcards blogger, Sam, on a recent trip to the famous Loch Ness in Scotland. Not much has been seen of Nessie recently and it has led to rumours that the monster has died, although, a sighting in Australia has led others to believe she is simply on holiday. The Three Sisters of Glen Coe As part of a tour that took her through some beautiful Scottish Highlands, glens and castles, she boarded the Jacobite Queen boat to cruise along the silent loch when the sighting is said to have occurred. "It was amazing!" She said. "I was sitting on the upper deck listening to how John Cobb was killed trying to break water speed record on the loch and watching Urquhart Castle recede into the distance. All of a sudden, I had the overwhelming urge to have my photo taken against a particularly serene view." She grins with excitement.  Jacobite Queen on Loch Ness "I asked a particularly bored looking girl if she could take my photo and she must have not been paying attention because when I looked at it moments later I saw it! I saw her! Nessie! I couldn't believe it, I glanced up just in time to see her head dip back down into the water and her tail quickly follow! I was so shocked I couldn't speak!" Urquhart Castle Sam goes on to say that it no one else in her tour group seemed to have sighted the mysterious creature of the loch but the photographic evidence of the loch Ness monster takes pride of place on her desk. "Every time I look at it I remember that moment and how the world is full of wonder, mystery and magic." Urquhart Castle is along the banks of Loch Ness its history steeped in bloody conflict and noble families. Sam has granted us exclusive permission to print a copy of this image of Nessie for our to share the secrets of Loch Ness. So, obviously I didn't see the Loch Ness monster, but I hope you enjoyed the spoof article anyway. I visited Loch Ness as part of the Original Loch Ness Tour. It was a different company to the one I went with for the West Highland Lochs Mountains and Castles, and although the guides were informative, they weren't as great. Be warned that this tour is long so check where you actually stop off as we only did two scenic stops during the whole day! Have you ever travelled in search of myths or legends?

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