Off to Northern Ireland

I'm off on my annual trip to the Causeway Coast this week.

I'm hoping for good weather at the Giant's Causeway again this year!  It can be very very changeable, but I haven't been let down yet, and always get a blink or two of sun between the rain showers....

It will be interesting to see the newly opened Visitors Centre at the Giant's Causeway, whose vast excavations were ongoing when I visited last year.  

I've been going to Northern Ireland for a few years now, and have seen a lot of changes.  You used to be able to pop along to the Causeway, park your car on the verge and walk down to see the stones.  Here's the stones...

And here's the new Visitor's Centre....

 The Giant's Causeway is being turned into a huge 'Experience' by the National Trust, with a vast multi-lingual interactive interpretation centre, and a park and ride facility at Bushmills (certainly no parking on the verge any more - there are fancy car parks paved with little hexagonal blocks now, but you've got to get there early).  

It's all meant to 'enhance your visiting experience', but I think it makes the whole thing more crowded and more processed, and actually takes away from the experience of exploring something natural for yourself.  

Anyhow, I'll see it for myself this week.