A LegenDERRY Weekend--Part II

We began Day 2 of my amazing trip to Derry with a stop at this lovely castle. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the castle, but I know it has a long history of going back and forth between Scottish and Irish families, and it has been changed and rebuilt several times. It was really cool to see how much of it was still standing, and to get to walk around and see what the different rooms would have been, including a watch tower.

After a quick stop at the coffee shop, it was back on the bus, and off to the Giant's Causeway. This was my absolute favorite stop on the trip, and I'll tell you why after you have a look at some of my favorite pictures.

The legend of the Causeway is this. Finn McCool was the biggest and fiercest giant in all of Ireland, and he liked to stroll along the coast of Northern Ireland and watch Scottish giant Benandonner. Finn McCool would yell across the water at Benandonner and make fun of him because there was no way he was as big and as fierce as he. But Benandonner would just ignore him. Finn McCool was getting impatient, so he started building a pathway out of rocks over to Scotland to challenge Benandonner to a fight. But as Finn McCool was getting closer, he started to notice how big Benandonner really was. There was no way he could beat him! So Finn McCool ran in fear! But Benandonner was fed up, so he chased him. When Finn McCool got home to his wife, he didn't know what to do--Benandonner was chasing him and was going to kill him! His wife told him to quickly lay down in the corner with a baby bonnet on. So Finn McCool did as his wife told him, laying in the corner dressed as a baby. When Benandonner knocked on the door, and told the wife he was looking for Finn McCool, she said, "Oh I'm sorry, he's not here, but he'll be back soon. Why don't you come in for some tea and you can wait with me and the baby…" Well Benandonner looked inside at the big "baby" in the corner of the room, and was surprised. He thought to himself, "If the baby is this big, how big is the father!?" And he ran back home away from Finn McCool, tearing up the stone pathway in his fear and haste. And so, Finn McCool remained the biggest and fiercest giant in all of Ireland.

I absolutely love this bedtime story. It's fun to tell and funny to listen to, and I'm sure the children of Ireland are totally in love with it. It's one of the many reasons I'm so in love with the Causeway. Another thing I love is that I can climb the rocks. It made it so much more interesting to see all the different formations when you can get up close and personal with it all. And it is endless--there's so much to see and do, you tire out doing just the first half. But it's completely worth it.

When we were there, since we were with a group, we got free audio tours, which were great to hear about the different rock formations and the legends of each one. There's things like the camel, Benandonner's boot, Finn's organ, and the chimney stacks. In all actuality, all of these rock formations came about from several volcanic eruptions, combined with the intense weathering of the wind and sea. But I much prefer the fictional stories.

I think that's enough for now, I'll be back with more in a couple of days! Until then...