<Giant's Causeway>

The Giant's Causeway is Northern Ireland's most famous attraction. It is composed of more than 40,000 high and low hexagonal basalt columns, forming a unique landscape similar to a stone walkway. In addition to its special appearance, it was also listed as a World Heritage Site as early as 1986 because of its importance to scientists in understanding the past history of the earth. After years of research by scientists, the cause of the formation of the Giant's Causeway is currently believed to be the result of intense volcanic activity 50-60 million years ago. Molten basalt magma erupted on the white evil bed and formed a magma lake about 90 meters deep on the surface. It is this magma lake that created this wonder. Due to the properties of basalt magma, it will shrink during the cooling process and produce almost hexagonal fracture surfaces. The fracture surfaces on the surface will extend downward to form hexagonal columnar basalt. 📜According to ancient Celtic legend, the Giant's Causeway was built by the Irish giant Finn Mac Cool in order to compete with his enemy, the Scottish giant Fionn Mac Cumhaill. However, when the Irish giant arrived in Scotland, he found that the Scottish giant was extremely huge, so he fled back to Ireland in a hurry. The giant who fled back to Ireland faced the Scottish giant who was chasing him, so he hid in a cradle and pretended to be a baby. The Scottish giant who arrived in Ireland believed the words of the Irish giant's wife, and thought that the baby in the cradle was the Irish giant's son. The Scottish giant therefore thought that if the baby was so big, then the Irish giant, as a father, must be someone he could not defeat. So he fled back to Scotland in a panic and destroyed the causeway, making it impossible for the Irish giant to chase him through the causeway. Therefore, the Giant's Causeway today has one end that does not enter the sea. Interestingly, on the Scottish island across the sea from the Giant's Causeway, there happens to be basalt rock pillars similar to the Giant's Causeway, which seems to correspond to the legend! The Giant's Causeway was the attraction I had been looking forward to the most when I visited Northern Ireland. It is quite a distance away from Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. I was looking forward to encountering it on the way, but... I was actually a little disappointed (maybe my expectations were too high). When I walked all the way from the visitor center (about 20 minutes away), I felt more and more uneasy. Why couldn't I see any sign of it? Finally I found... it was so much smaller than I imagined... Maybe I was completely misled by the name and photos before the trip. But objectively speaking, the Giant's Causeway is still a beautiful attraction worth visiting. The azure sea and the jagged rock pillars rising from the ground are still a beautiful and rare sight. If you have time to quietly walk along the many trails around it, I believe you will definitely have a good experience (compared to the columnar basalt in Penghu, the Giant's Causeway allows you to walk on it and get close to it, so it is highly recommended for friends who are curious about the wonders of the earth). 🚗Transportation: It is not easy to reach the Giant's Causeway. To get there from Belfast, you need to take a train and then a bus, which is quite inconvenient and time-consuming. Therefore, most people take a one-day tour. You can go to the Belfast Tourist Center to ask. There are many routes and itineraries to choose from! #100waysoftravel #outdooradventure #NorthernIreland #UK #WorldHeritage