Two Girls and a Eurail Pass

Please note, our trip to Barcelona was on September 24th, 2017-  When it came to Barcelona (or "Bar-tha-lone-uh" as the locals pronounce it) we came for one reason and one reason only - all things Gaudi. Mom picked an airbnb which proved to leave a lot to be desired (like comforters and soap), however the location was fabulous and gave us walking access to some great restaurants and all the sites.   Our first morning in Barcelona included a visit to Park Guell, which was designed like a magical gated community by the famous architect Antoni Gaudi.  Mom paid extra to get us in before the crowds which ended up being a good call because an hour after the photo below was taken you couldn't even see the stairs there were so many people.   The entrance to Park Guell A sample "home" from Park Guell Rooftop at Park Guell The park was built in the first two decades of the 1900's with the idea being that people would actually live there....

It was a little over 4 hours to Belfast from Galway in our rental car, but the ride (filled with conversation, castle sightings, and sheep crossings) went by quickly.  It was about 30 minutes before we reached Belfast that we realized for the first time that Northern Ireland is actually it's own country separate from "Ireland proper" (first it was the change in license plates and then the gas station refusing to take our Euros that finally made us realize this wasn't a Northern California/Southern California type differential). Momma Himm and I would have some company at this stop as we happened to be hitting Belfast at the same time as our beloved So Cal cousins (Kaki, Greg, and their daughter Amber) who were doing a 10-day backpacking trip through Ireland with Greg's best friend and his family.  Kaki and Momma Himm are like sisters and Amber is the ultimate blast in a glass so I couldn't wait to see how this reunion would unfold.  Since they hadn't a...

On September 20th, 10 days before Momma Himm's big 61st birthday, we headed out on our big #MomTrip2017 adventure which in 9 days would include 3 countries (Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Spain) and a total of 5 cities (Dublin, Galway, Belfast, Barcelona, and Hondarribia - which is Spanish basque country right outside San Sebastian).    In typical KHimm style, my non-beer drinking, non-whiskey guzzling Momma wasn't super thrilled about the idea of going to Ireland - "It's never been on my list," she said, "but I'll keep an open mind". I however, knew if I could just get her there, that she'd fall in love with Ireland the same way I had (and if she didn't, well at least I would get to see some really cool Game of Thrones sites and drink fresh Guinness and stare at cute Irish boys) - so with a backpack the weight of a 14-year old child strapped to my back, we headed to the Sacramento airport to hop on our United flight to SF where we coul...