May 11, 2018

   Today, we are docked in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom which uses the pound sterling as its currency.  Dublin is located in the Republic of Ireland which is a member of the European Union and uses the Euro as its currency. Belfast’s latitude is a bit further north than Prince Rupert, British Columbia.  It was a wet day with a thick layer of clouds. The morning temperature was 9 C and it was very windy. 

   As we walked to the bus, you could see the Titanic Belfast museum in its glass and shiny exterior, even on this dull day. Our ship is docked in the area near the ship building docks where the Titanic was built. The studio where Game of Thrones is produced is a yellow and gray building a short walk away from the Titanic Belfast museum.

   Just outside of Belfast are the Belfast Hills which gently rise from the coast.

   Our excursion was to the 1986 designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Giant’s Causeway, which is located in a National Nature Reserve on the northern coast of the Ulster county of Antrim and faces the Atlantic Ocean.  It is noted for its unique geological and geomorphological features which were formed around 60 million years ago. Some of the exposed cliffs show the older black strata and newer reddish strata.  Also protected is the site of a wreck off the Giant’s Causeway shore which was the Spanish ship, Girona, from the 1588 Spanish Armada. It is located on the north coast of Northern Ireland and about a two hour drive from Belfast on the outskirts of the town of Bushmills. Bushmills whiskey is made in the town. Jennifer was our guide, the driver was Freddy and there was an Eclipse crew member, Floey, joining us on the bus.

   The Giant’s Causeway is made from hot lava which cooled into over 40,000 mostly hexagonal shaped columns hundreds of thousands of years ago.  We drove inland through the green countryside where there were sheep and some cattle grazing in the fields and numerous wind turbines.

   There is an Irish legend of how the Giant’s Causeway rock columns came to be. It is the story of Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool), an Irish giant, who picked a fight with a Scottish big man, Benandonner. Fionn first threw a chunk of land but it fell short of Scotland and formed the Isle of Man.  Fionn constructed a path of stepping stones to reach Scotland, just 12 miles away, to reach Benandonner who was calling insults across the Irish Sea. When Fionn crossed, he saw Benandonner in the distance and realized that Benandonner was an even larger giant than him and fled back to Ireland. Benandonner followed but Fionn’s wife, Oonagh, disguised Fionn as a baby and created a large cradle in their home. When Benandonner was invited into the house by Oonagh, she showed him her “baby”. Benandonner saw this giant baby and thought his father must be enormous. He bolted to Scotland tearing up the stepping stones, so that Fionn could not follow.  There are similar rock formations in caves along the Scottish west coast – the other side of Fionn’s pathway.

   We arrived at the six year old Giant’s Causeway Visitor Center at the top of the cliffs.  Everyone was given an audio device to use at the numbered posts along the Blue Trail. The walk down to the causeway takes about 20 minutes, including pauses to take pictures, on the Blue Trail or you can take the shuttlebus back and forth. We chose the Red Trail, a winding cliff walk, which took 30 minutes before descending the 162 Shepherds Steps to the Blue Trail. The combined trails total distance was three kilometers which was walked in a windy drizzle. We had a great view of the Giant’s Causeway from high above and beautiful meadow flowers grew in the grass. We walked all the way to the curved Amphitheatre of basalt columns at the bay named Port Reostan. We were quite close to the formation called the Chimneys, which are said to be those of Finn McCool’s house. We walked the Blue Trail is reverse order, coming first to the formation that looks like a church’s pipe organ, we passed the foot of the Shepherds Steps, overlooking the bay called Port Noffer going toward the Giant’s Causeway. Along the way is a boulder on the shore called “The Boot”. Passing through the “Giant’s Gate” we arrived at the Giant’s Causeway formation which is divided into three named sections - the Grand Causeway; the Middle Causeway, formerly known as The Honeycomb, because it looks like a beehive’s honey comb; and the Little Causeway. The rocks are very slippery and people are warned to venture onto them at their own risk. There a cluster of rocks called the Wishing Chair. The next bay is called Port Ganny where there is a formation called “the Camel” at the side of the bay and behind us on the slope was a cluster of smooth rounded rocks called “the Onions” since the thin rocks shred “skin” like onions do. Another feature are two hills that are called Finn McCool’s haystacks. The wind was so strong that the wind gusts almost pushed us over. The drizzle was turning to a light rain by the time we returned the audio devices and browsed in the visitor center’s gift shop. We enjoyed the two hours we were given to explore the Giant’s Causeway site.

    Not far away, as we returned to Belfast in a steady rain, the bus stopped for a photo opportunity at Dunluce Castle ruins near the town of Portrush. Next year’s Open golf tournament will be held on the golf course on the edge of this town.  The large castle is perched on the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  It was confiscated for a barracks during Oliver Cromwell’s occupation of Ireland, the nearby church, now ruins, was used as a stable for Cromwell’s cavalry’s horses which was a common practice of Cromwell’s cavalry.

   The rain continued all the way back to Belfast and for a city tour. As we entered the outskirts the bus passed a Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur factory, before crossing the Lagan River which runs through Belfast.  Located in the Titanic district is the ship building company Holland and Wolfe, which was established in 1861 to build ships for the White Line to compete with the Cunard ship line. The massive cranes are still there. Nearby is the SEE Arena, the Titanic Belfast museum, and the dock where our ship Celebrity Eclipse is docked. The SEE Arena is where the local hockey team, The Giants, play. The team is made up mostly of ex-Canadians. Behind the museum are tall poles showing the outline of the scaffolding used for building the Titanic. We continued to the city center, past the metal statue of Hope to where we were able to get out at Belfast City Hall in Donegall Square. Admittance to the main floor of the limestone building is free. You walk into the main lobby with its  towering rotunda dome and its old and new stained glass windows. There was a striking stained glass window in blues commemorating the 1907 Belfast Dock Workers Strike. On the grounds is a memorial to the 22 Belfast residents who died on the Titanic. On another side of the memorial are the names of all the people who died in the Titanic disaster, in alphabetical order, with no mention of whether they were passengers or crew. It is the only memorial in the world that listed all of the victims.

 Then it was back to ship after 6.5 hours.  As we proceeded up the gangplank, you needed to hang onto the railing, your hat and for sure your umbrella as the wind driving the rain was blowing hard.  We dropped off our jackets in the stateroom and ordered café macchiatos & cake for a snack. 

   The ship sailed out of Belfast about 4:45 p.m. on route to Reykjavík, Iceland, which is 812 nautical miles away. The sun was starting to quickly break through the clouds and reveal blue sky. Tomorrow we will be crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Iceland.  The captain’s message, just before the ship left the Port of Belfast, was that after noon tomorrow the waves could be as high as five meters giving us a period of rough seas. Then just as we had pulled away from the dock, the ship had to turn around to due to a medical evacuation of a woman who fell down a stairwell on Randy and Cathie’s tour bus and after being examined at the ship’s medical centre upon returning to the ship.

   Dinner this evening was in the Tuscan Grill specialty restaurant with the whole 21 members of our Carlson Wagonlit tour group seated at three tables. We were seated with Adrian & Cindy, Cindy’s parents David & Sherrie and Peter & Karen.

   Dinner started with either Bellini cocktails or wine at our table. There was a basket of Italian breads for nibbling. Starters chosen were, calamari, minestrone soup, Caesar salad and lobster pasta. We both ordered Filet Mignon which was served with steamed spinach, broccoli and garlic mashed potatoes.  We shared two desserts – Tiramisu and Limoncello cheesecake.  The meal ended with a small glass of Limoncello liqueur.

  We all left to see the 9 p.m. live show in the Eclipse Theatre which was comedian juggler Pete Matthews. It was a hilarious show.  We have seen Pete on another Celebrity ship.

Distance walked today was 10.32 km