Travelog for: NoMi

WOW - the view at Moll's Gap was amazing!!
Moll's Gap is a pass on the N71 road from Kenmare to Killarney in County Kerry Ireland. The area is a panoramic spot on the Ring of Kerry route, with views of the Macgillycuddy's Reeks mountains. The rocks at Moll's gap are formed of Old Red Sandstone.
Moll's Gap is named after Moll Kissane.

Oh my goodness ... Glad we didn't find one!!! 

We went on a hiking tour round Muckross Lake in Killarney. The woods there must be hundreds of years old, the trees are so huuuuuge!!!
We stopped on the bridge between the Muckross Lake and Lough Leane to take a picture  - see below.

It's located in Killarney National Park. Killarney National Park (Irish: Páirc Náisiúnta Chill Airne) is located beside the town of Killarney. It was the first national park established in Ireland. The park encompasses over 102.89 km2 (25,425 acres) of diverse ecology, including the Lakes of Killarney, Oak and Yew woodlands of international importance, and mountain peaks. It has Ireland's only native herd of Red Deer and the most extensive covering of native forest remaining in Ireland. The park is of high ecological value because of the quality, diversity, and extensiveness of many of its habitats and the wide variety of species that they accommodate, some of which are rare. The park was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1981.

One day, we visited the Cliffs of Moher. Mom, they are really really impressing!!!

The Cliffs of Moher (Irish: Aillte an Mhothair) are located at the southwestern edge of the Burren region. They rise 120 metres (390 ft) above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head, and reach their maximum height of 214 metres (702 ft) just north of O'Brien's Tower, eight kilometres to the north.
O'Brien's Tower is a round stone tower near the midpoint of the cliffs built in 1835 by Sir Cornelius O'Brien to impress female visitors. From the cliffs and from atop the watchtower, visitors can see the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, the Maumturks and Twelve Pins mountain ranges to the north in County Galway, and Loop Head to the south.


Here's the famous O'Brien's Tower

We felt like being on the moon in The Burren, the countryside is absolutely bleak, but fantastic!

The Burren (Irish: Boireann, meaning "great rock") is a karst-landscape region or alvar in northwest County Clare. It is one of the largest karst landscapes in Europe. The region measures approximately 250 square kilometres. It is bounded by the Atlantic and Galway Bay on the west and north, respectively.
A small portion of the Burren has been designated as Burren National Park. It is one of only six National Parks in the Republic of Ireland and the smallest in size (15 km²).





Of course, we visited the famous Poulnabrone Dolmen.
Poulnabrone Dolmen (Poll na mBrón in Irish meaning "hole of the quern stones") is a portal tomb in The Burren, dating back to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC to 2900 BC. The dolmen consists of a twelve-foot, thin, slab-like, tabular capstone supported by two slender portal stones, which lift the capstone.

From Galway we went out to the beautiful Connemara. On our way to Clifden, we found another Geocache 

Another cache at Lough Inagh. This place was very very windy!!!


See BamBam's label flying in the storm

Mum, I LOVE THE CONNEMARA!  The landscape is absolutely stunning!!!

We found the place where British aviators Alcock and Brown landed the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919. They flew a modified World War I Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden. The Secretary of State for Air, Winston Churchill, presented them with the Daily Mail prize for the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in 'less than 72 consecutive hours'. There was also a small amount of mail carried on the flight making it the first transatlantic airmail flight. The two aviators were awarded the honour of Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) a week later by King George V at Windsor Castle.

On our last day, we visited the famous Kylemore Abbey.
Kylemore Abbey (Irish: Mainistir na Coille Móire) is a Benedictine monastery founded in 1920 on the grounds of Kylemore Castle. The abbey was founded for Benedictine Nuns who fled Belgium in World War I.



It was an absolutely fantastic trip through Ireland and we had a lot of fun and impressing experiences there.

Hey Mom,
we arrived safely back in Mönchengladbach. Miss you 

Today, we had to say goodbye to BamBam, who's travelling home 

After some really BIG hugs...



... he climbed into his envelope. Bye bye!!!

Hi Mommy,

I'm doing good 
We are expecting guests tomorrow and hostmum asked Viola and I to help her with the planning of the menu.

We are planning to bake Soda Bread because we tasted it in Ireland and liked it very much. Look, you can find recipes in the internet


And we are going to cook a pumpkin soup - it's pumpkin time here  . We found a yummy recipe!


We wrote down all ingredients we'll need for the dinner


Let's check if we have everything we need.
We'll definitely need sharp knives to carve the pumpkin! Yes, they are here:


Hey, we don't need to buy ginger for the soup, it's already there. And some fruit for the dessert 



So, we're going to the supermarket now. Will update you later with some cooking news

Hi Mummy,

Halloween is just around the corner and we prepared some pumpkins yesterday!!! Look - here they are before we started:



Then we scooped them out. This was very laborious  Look at our tools and the waste:



BUT THEY LOOK FANTASTIC, DON'T THEY!!!? 

Hi there!
Last Saturday, a new buddy arrived. His name is Brook.
Viola and I were very happy to meet him and we helped him climb out the envelope.
I'm sure we'll have a good time together!!