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Ammonites. Ulster Museum, Belfast. February 2019.
earthstory reblogged
Belfast, Northern Ireland - 10 – 13 October 2016
Early Monday morning Allison and I made our way from London to Belfast. A city whose history bursts with conflict and violence, I found Belfast and the surrounding countryside to be extremely tranquil. A testament to the slow way of life, Allison took me on her daily routines: visiting the grocery store, walking to class, and cooking dinner. I loved the slow pace of everyday life; a sucker for routine, having a “usual” was nice for a few days.
Out of the ordinary, however, was the bus tour we took up the Northern Irish coast up to the Giant’s Causeway, one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. One geology class last semester transformed me into a bit of a rock nerd, and Giant’s Causeway has a large display of columnar basalt, which is volcanic rock that has formed naturally into hexagonal (and other) shapes. It’s really really cool, an amazing natural occurrence and tribute to the amazing powers of nature. The tour also passed and pointed out some cool Game of Thrones filming locations, as most of the show is filmed in Belfast. The GoT, geology, and scenery nerds inside me were very very happy on this (almost 10 hr long) bus tour.
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Before and after shot of the fluorescent rocks exposed to darklight exhibit in the Ulster museum in Belfast, northern Ireland.
Seen here are Northern Ireland’s famous ‘Dark Hedges‘, a magnificent avenue of beech trees that were planted over 200 years ago by the Stuart family. According to locals, the road was intended as a compelling landscape feature to impress visitors as they approached the entrance to their home, Gracehill House. Two centuries later, the trees remain a magnificent sight.
The trees can be found along a section of Bregagh Road, about 80 kilometres from Belfast off Antrim Coastal Road. You can see it on Google Maps street view here: (http://bit.ly/1LiK0jA). You may also recognize the Dark Hedges from a scene on Game of Thrones where it doubled as the King’s Road.
-Jean
Photo by Giuseppe Milo: https://www.facebook.com/giuseppemilophoto
Source: facebook.com