After attending a business conference on western Ireland i couldn’t wait to get myself on a bus up to Northern Ireland and the famous Giants Causeway coast line - Northern Irelands only World Heritage Site and a remarkable piece of nature scenery that I’ve been interested in visiting for quite some time.

Spending the day on the bus from Galway to Londonderry and then by train to Colerain on the Northern coast gave me a thorough view of the famous green Irish landscape and the small villages along the way. And when the bus passed the northwestern mountains, with its snow covered peaks, my thoughts went immediately to the Lords of the Ring. And it would not have surprised me a bit if a couple of hobs had hopped on the bus….or maybe the actually did…?

A twenty-minute taxi-ride took ne from Colerain station straight to the Causeway Hotel, opened in 1836 and located right by the coastline cliffs. If you ever decide to visit the Causeway, the Causeway Hotel is an absolute must and just as classical in its own Northern Irelandish way, as Raffels in Singapore or The Ritz in London.

The actual World Heritage Causeway Coast runs further down towards Belfast and includes quite a lot more than the areas north of Bushmill where I went. But it is on the other hand here where you find the classical part and probably the most beautiful and dramatic scenery. It is also here you will find the famous symmetrical, honeycomb-like columns of dark rock called basalt that descends from the base of the high cliffs into the water. There is an old Irish legend that tells of the Irish giant Finn MacCool who challenged Bennandonner, a Scottish giant for a fight. But since there was no boat large enough to carry the Scottish giant, Finn MacCool built a causeway of gigantic stones so that the Scottish giant could travel on dry land. Whether you decide to believe the legend or the scientific explanation its up to you…

Walking along the windy Giants Causeway coast makes you realise the power and magnificence of nature. And regardless of your latest career move you are reduced into the small and insignificant human being we all are in the end. And if the Causeway Coast does not exhaust you, why not take the opportunity to drive down to the nearby village of Bushmill and visit the whiskey distillery and down a well-earned glass from the oldest whiskey distillery in the world.