We drove six hours in torrential rain and on the wrong side of the road to get here. Here being Northern Ireland and the picture above being the GIant's Causeway. We had thought nothing could match the Cliffs of Moher or the Dingle Peninsula, but somehow Ireland - both Northern and the Republic of - has an unfairly large amount of spectacular geological treasure, and the Giant's Causeway is no exception.
What is the Giant's Causeway? It is an area along the Antrim Coast, about 3 miles from Bushmills (another thing Ireland has is really good whiskey, but more about that later) where tens of thousands of basalt columns were formed by volcanic activity. As a result, these practically perfect hexagonal steps run down into the ocean, like a multi-colored pathway to the lost city of Atlantis.
It is the kind of thing you see and immediately say, "no, really?" It just doesn't look real, even when you are standing on it with a bunch of other tourists, everyone with their mouth open looking a bit dumbfounded.
We were staying in Ballymoney, at a lovely Bed and Breakfast owned and run by an intriguing woman with a colorful - and possibly dangerous - history. Her name, so she said, was Elaine.
I suppose I should elaborate. Elaine openly discussed having lived and travelled extensively abroad, nothing unusual there beyond what appeared to be a wanderlust or, at most, a bohemian temperament. But every once in a while she would let slip a sentence that implied there was more to her story than just being a former travelling hippie:
"Watch your back doing business with Bulgarians. Believe me, I know," or "Oh my, that time in Burma, my, my..." trailing off into a look that was either filled with nostalgia or remorse, I wasn't sure. I just knew there was a lot more to this woman than met the eye. Former spy? Maybe. Arms dealer? Perhaps. Fixer/handler? Very likely.
Whatever her real backstory, Elaine makes fantastic porridge and really, really good coffee and has an invting inn complete with a deaf Springer Spaniel named Bailey.
So it was breakfast with Bailey then off to the Giant's Causeway or some other hard-to-believe place, like the rope bridge at Carrick-a-rede, for example...
Perched 98 feet above rocky, churning waters, the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge is a testament to the grit and determination of several generations of fishermen and the first time I have really sensed my own mortality while travelling.
My original intention was to stand in the middle and take pictures. But after a couple of steps I began to feel the bridge sway and lunge, driven by the wieght of the other people on it. The swaying was not much, and access was limited so there were probably no more than 400 lbs of us on it and it was built to withstand something like 11 tons, but still, some primal part of my brain kicked in and my flight response was activated.
Fortunately, I kept my shit together long enough to appear to be strolling across to the other side, but deep down I was having a bit of an existential panic, a voice inside saying, "I am pretty sure your time has come."
Marissa, who is normally freaked out standing near a window any more than two stories up, bounded across like a seasoned deckhand, barely looking back and seemingly comfortable looking all around - even down - while cheerfully going to the other side.
Who was this person I thought I knew? And what had happened to me? Somehow we had traded places, like some Irish version of Freaky Friday.
And as I thought about it, I realized more and more how true it was. There she had been at the Giant's Causeway, climbing up basalt columns towering above rough waters. Running along a ledge atop the Cliffs of Moher, 10 feet from a 1,000 foot drop, or casting shadows from another cliff while standing in a karate kick position. it was crazy.
Another reason I like travel. While it is about seeing new places and meeting new people and finding out about their way of life, it is just as much about seeing yourself in a new way and conquering both your fear of the unkown as well as the fear of yourself. With those criteria, I would say she had a good trip.
