Our trip to Northern Ireland was motivated by a visit to the UNESCO listed Giant's Causeway - an ancient geographic feature caused by a volcanic eruption. We had seen similar basalt columns at the southern tip of Tasmania a few years ago.Our flights were booked to Belfast - a city full of history and conflict over the years, but now going through a regeneration due to new tourist attractions (eg. Titanic themed museum) and very friendly locals that were curious to find out why we chose to visit Belfast over Dublin.