Just a wee disclaimer.
This is so awkward vlogging
shirtless, dressed as an Scottish giant,
and Mark dressed as a little wee Irish baby giant.
We already found use for our blanket.
When you come to Giant's Causeway,
we don't recommend you do this.
Good morning, guys.
We're in Bushmills.
We're actually just outside the village of
Bushmills, in Northern Ireland
at the world famous, World Heritage Site,
The Giant's Causeway.
There's this big cliff right here,
and it's blocking the sun.
It's great. We only got down here at 0900,
but it really feels like we got here at sunrise
because the sun is just rising over the cliff.
From a purely informational
touristic aspect,
it's about a 15 minute walk from the
visitor's center, which is up there.
But they do have a bus running,
and it costs a pound fifty.
According to myth,
Giant's Causeway is formed by two giants:
the Irish giant, Finn MacCool
and the Scottish one, Benandonner.
Benandonner challenged Finn to a fight
Finn built the causeway to connect here
with Scotland.
There are two explanations for what happened next:
The first is that Finn MacCool beat
Benandonner fair and square.
The second is that Finn tricked Benandonner
because he saw he was too big to fight.
He dressed himself up as a baby
and had his wife carry him around
to make Benandonner think.......
Why, he's just a wee baby, but he's huge.
Can't imagine how big Finn is!
Benandonner went running back to Scotland
and destroyed the Causeway in his wake,
so that Finn McCool could not chase him back
and continue the fight.
There's about 40,000 of these basalt columns.
They all erupted out of the earth
around 50 million years ago
when molten lava came down and
was cooled instantaneously by the sea,
which is how the rock kind of took on
this interesting formation.
I think that's why people are so intrigued by it.
Also, the stones just make a perfect,
natural seat. Check this out.
Oh....
Armrest included.
What do you think?
Super beautiful. Super interesting.
Only 60 kilometres to Scotland.
This is the North Channel right here.
It's really easy to see, not just the
geographical connections,
but the cultural, linguistic, Gaelic and Galic,
the two languages from
Scotland and Ireland are related.
Giants are not the only people who
compete around these parts.
Hurling is a Gaelic sport
that is also very popular here.
Michael here at Scullion Hurls is an
artisan craftsman, and he going to show us
how to make the equipment and then
how to play the game. Let's go.
Hi. My name is Michael Scullion,
and we're in Scullion Hurls, which is
our family business where we produce
hurling sticks used for the Irish game of hurling.
It's an ancient sport...
They believe it to be over 2000 years old.
The hurling stick is made from one piece of solid ash,
and it's actually the root of the ash tree that we use.
This is one of them here, you can see.
This would be the piece that is buried in the ground.
This tree could be 30 or 40 years old.
And it's knocked... and we only use the bottom
four fifths so you get that natural turn
that comes from the root,
and that's where we get the shape
which you'll see in the finished hurling stick
I can make one in about 10 minutes.
Where we are here in the County Antrim
we call it hurl or hurling stick.
If you were to go further south in Ireland,
they'd call it a hurly.
The traditional Irish name is a "camán"
Wow. How do you play?
Guys, this is so similar to lacrosse.
I think I found my new, favorite sport
from a different country.
Back in the day, with the lead up to
independence for Ireland,
Gaelic sports, along with Gaelic language
were a huge part of the Irish identity.
You can tell from my game skills and
my lack of speaking Gaelic
that I have about 15 percent Irish blood in me.
Where is the best place to see a game?
This weekend we have a championship locally.
We have two semi-finals:
One is taking place up in Belfast this evening,
and the other is taking place
tomorrow evening in ?
which is 5 or 10 miles from here.
Is this a professional sport here?
All amateur.
Conclusion: hurling in Northern Ireland
is like football in West Texas.
It's just the thing to do.
And the other thing to do is to drive along the coast.
We are going to go do that
and go to a really beautiful, picturesque place
to round out the day.
We just got to Carrick-a Rede Rope Bridge
which is this famous little rope bridge
connecting two rocks. Let's go check it out.
We're at Carrick-a-Rede right now.
It's a place that was built by fishermen,
salmon fishermen.
It's a small little bridge that
only eight people can fit on at a time.
They remade it a couple years ago
to make it more sturdy,
but it's still pretty packed.
Ladies and gentlemen,
we are at the entrance of the rope bridge.
This is the moment of truth right now.
We'll see how it is.
You have to basically get in line,
wait to go across, and then you have 10 minutes
on the other side, and then you have to wait again
to go back.
Here we go.
This is wild. Very beautiful.
People often ask us how
we balance filming and traveling.
And I always say that it's super important
to take moments during your day to
put the camera down and just enjoy it.
I think this is one of those moments.
Well guys, it has been such a awesome day
exploring the Causeway Coastal Road,
and I think we need to come back here, Bro.
One day is not enough.
For sure. But tomorrow the adventure continues.
We're going to Belfast.
We're going to be doing some awesome stuff,
including eating some amazing food.
So stay tuned until tomorrow's episode..
If you liked the video, you know what to do:
give it a thumbs-up, subscribe to Vagabrothers,
and share this video with your friends.
In the meantime, remember to stay curious,
keep exploring, and we will see you guys
on the road in Belfast. Peace.