From Where I Am: Me, Tourist: The Giant's Causeway

The Giant's Causeway, on the north coast of Ulster, was formed about 60 million years ago by intense volcanic activity. The cooling stone fractured in a distinctive pattern of hexagonal columns. Today, this means massive piles of what look like paving stones stacked, piled, and leading out into the sea.

It's one of the weirdest geological things I've ever seen, and last week I was taking pictures of glowing rocks. It's also beautiful. If you're not the kind of person who would take being cold, tired, and wet in order to see beautiful rocks, don't go. But if you are, it's worth it. The basalt in the water is so black, and the water is this translucent pale green, and the foam gets caught in big fluffy piles in between the columns. And it's all so... big. The stones themselves aren't; they're like what you'd make a walkway through your garden with. But there are so many of them, and so much water... and you can really feel the weight of the water when you watch it crash and drag on the columns like it does...

This is one of those times when I can't understand how, with things like this around us, we, people, can think the world is boring. I took about sixty million pictures...