Barcelona

Visiting Kevin and Allison in Barcelona!

Days at a Glance

Date	Day at a Glance
Thursday 20Feb25	Arrival, Spades
Friday, 21Feb25	Nice lunch at Cierzo and Kevin's work party
Saturday, 22Feb25	Gracia neighborhood, Sagrada Familia, more Spades
Sunday, 23Feb25	Volleyball, return home

High-Low-Hero-Chow/Ciao*

	Allison	Kevin	Ben	Maggie
High	Volleyball and beating the boys in Spades!	Volleyball!	?	Volleyball and spades!
Low	Forgetting about our nut allergies	Losing in spades	?	Sand level of the beach
Hero	Daniel for bringing the net and playing volleyball through pneumonia recovery	Also Daniel!	?	Kevin and Allison for hosting!
Chow/Ciao	Cierzo lunch, specifically salad with tuna, cod with spinach, and chocolate banana pudding	Flan	?	FLAN

*A game I learned from Ben, who uses it with friends as a fun way to reflect on an experience

Journal

Kevin and Allison moved to Barcelona about 6 months ago, as Microsoft has a Barcelona office. We were excited to plan a visit to see them and see Barcelona again, after having been in 2019 on our first big abroad trip together. Similar to our Berlin trip just a few weeks ago, we were looking for a lowkey weekend focused on spending time with our friends instead of traditional sight-seeing, given we've already been to Barcelona. We crossed our fingers the weather would be good enough for some sand volleyball!

Thursday 20Feb25

We flew KLM to Barcelona and had an easy flight. We bussed into the city center and walked the short 10 minutes to their apartment, very centrally located! Allison welcomed us into their apartment, wow is it gorgeous! They had just moved out of temporary housing to their permanent apartment 3 weeks ago. Beautiful old apartment with high ceilings, huge doors, and a large balcony facing into a quiet courtyard, impressive given how central the location was. Allison and I commiserated about European kitchens, and the frustrations of needing to buy laundry, fridge, and freezer, but at least their place came with an oven…

Kevin finished his meeting in their home office, having to work a bit late given he has calls with the California office. He assured he's not working himself too hard, it's traditional that the whole office takes an hour lunch. Allison cooked a delicious dinner of gnocchi with sausage, which we enjoyed with some Spanish Cava. It was lovely to catch up with friends and hear how they've been adjusting to life abroad. We commiserated over the difficulties, while relating to the new excitements and delights.

Later, we started a game of Spades, after Allison and Kevin reminded us of the rules. We called it a night before finishing the game, as Ben and I were working remotely the next day, but vowed to continue later.

Friday 21Feb25

Ben and I were working remotely, so I made sure I was green on Teams. But if I'm honest, we were more focused on reviewing a video tour from our realtor of a home we really liked. Ben and I went out for breakfast, grabbing a variety of empanadas from a casual to-go place Allison recommended nearby. We talked over our offer while we munched on empanadas in a beautiful square. Spoiler alert from the future, we would put in an offer at the top of our budget, $30k over asking, and it would actually sell $100k over asking! Oh well.

We worked a bit more from the apartment until lunch time! Allison had gotten us reservations at one of their favorite places for a proper Spanish lunch. Local place, run by only two people, serving menu del dia, a full 3 course meal that Ben and I enjoyed with a beer, when in Spain! Everything was delicious. It was fun to see Allison chat in Spanish with the one waiter; it was clear they had been here many times.

After lunch, we worked for a few more hours, before taking an evening walk in the gothic quarter. We got drinks and appetizers at a place Kevin and Allison have liked. They recommended we try vermouth: in Spain it is traditionally enjoyed on its own, with an olive and an orange slice. Vermouth falls into the category with campari of "drinks I know my mom likes, that I assume I do not." I was surprised to find I actually enjoyed it! Refreshing, lightly spiced, and the right amount of sweetness, Kevin aptly compared it to coca cola. I learned Spanish vermouth is its own category, different from Italian or French vermouth. It paired well with the patatas bravas we ordered.

Before too long, we moved onto our next location, an Italian restaurant where we shared pizza and two pasta dishes. We took turns passing the seafood pasta around and picking out the goodies from the shells.

We ended the night by going to a party one of Kevin's colleagues was putting on. She had texted Allison her location, but accidentally swapped the first and second number, so we were ringing various buttons at the wrong apartment for about 10 minutes. After much trial and error, Allison got her on the phone, and the colleague sent us her live location. Luckily, same street, just ~8 minutes walk away. However once we got to her live location, it was not abundantly clear which apartment was hers. Allison was crossing and then re-crossing the street, trying to triangulate her live location, while Kevin and Ben split up trying to make sense of the numbers. Finally, the colleague put us out of our misery and came down to greet us. Wondering why it had been so difficult for us, Kevin asked her how everybody else had found her apartment. Confused, she looked at him and said "I put instructions and the address in the outlook invite." Yep, that's right. Kevin balances his work life and home life so well that he doesn’t have outlook on his phone. Good for him.

The party was nice! Microsoft's Barcelona office is very international, so it was fun to make conversation. We ended up spending much of the night talking with an Italian man, who gesticulated so vigorously with his hands that it almost knocked my drink over a couple times. He shared his favorite Italian cities to visit were Naples and Palermo. Appalled as these two rank the lowest on Italian cities I had ever visited, I asked him why, and he said "well for the food obviously, not for the cities themselves."

Somebody had brought various different vermouths to try, but I quickly zeroed on the box of giant doughnuts. Someone had brought proper American doughnuts, the size of my head, and it really made my night. I had forgotten just how good they are.

After fun conversation and delicious doughnuts, we took the subway home.

Saturday 22Feb25

We slept in, before heading out for a day of exploring the Gracia neighborhood. Kevin and Allison's temporary housing had been in this neighborhood, and it was clear they loved it. I can see why, in a big city, this neighborhood felt quaint. Big pedestrian walkways with greenery between the roads, and more parks and kid-friendly spaces.

Lovely market on our walk

Twice we came upon two completely different community gatherings of people partaking in the Catalan tradition of Calcotada. People were lining up to get a newspaper full of charred green onions fresh off the grill. They'd peel off the blackened skin, and dip the cooked middle into a spicy red sauce, and then dangle the whole onion above their head while they took huge bites. Their plate was complete with a sausage, an orange, and a piece of bread. Even with some mist, it did not dampen the crowd's spirit.

Lunch was at a cute restaurant with an amazing patatas bravas and iberico ham.

We wandered around for a bit, before enjoying a really delicious cappuccino at an artsy fartsy place selling handmade clothes for a fortune.

We went a bit out of our way to see the outside of Sagrada familia at my request. This was the one touristy thing I wanted to revisit from our 2019 vacation. It's a unique opportunity to see an epic cathedral being built, and it was noticeably more done than what we remembered from 5 years ago. It really is an epic piece of architecture unlike any other cathedral we've seen (and at this point, we've seen a lot of cathedrals!)

We took a break back at the apartment, before heading out to dinner at a ramen place. I ordered hot sake for the table, which Kevin pretended to enjoy. The ramen was good, lots of slurping!

After dinner we finished our game of Spades back at their place. It came down to an epic last hand; girls had been winning all game and boys took a risky gamble to try and surge back, but it was too little too late. We enjoyed one of the most delicious custard pastries I've ever had while we played.

Sunday 23Feb25

Allison fueled us up with some eggs and toast before we headed out to volleyball! Short bus ride to the beach is such a privilege! We met up with 2 of Kevin's coworkers, one of which brought the net. We got in multiple rounds of 3v3 and it was so much fun. We played lots of sand volleyball with Kevin and Allison back in Madison, and I realized just how much I missed playing with them. The view of the Mediterranean didn't hurt, and it was surprisingly not too windy. Our only complaint was the sand texture, it was rougher than we're used to, given the manufactured sand we play on in Den Bosch. After a sick dig (where we probably won the point), I scraped up my toe so badly that it still hasn't fully healed, more than a month later.

Ben and I bussed back to their place to shower and get packed up, while Kevin and Allison kindly agreed to help clean up the net. They met us back at their place and we said farewell. Luckily not for long, they're planning a visit to Den Bosch before we move.

We grabbed chicken sandwiches near the airport bus stop, then bussed back to BCN. It was an easy flight home.

Summary

Ben and I both really enjoyed our visit. It is special to visit friends abroad, when we can both relate to the expat experience. Kevin and Allison have built themselves a really special life in Barcelona, the love and excitement they have for the city was obvious. While I'm so happy for them, it's also a sad reminder they won't be in Madison when we move back.

We're very grateful Kevin and Allison agreed to host us, so soon after moving apartments. Ben and I have felt lucky to have so many visitors come to Den Bosch, but it's not even close the rate of visitors Kevin and Allison have had. When we visited they had only been moved into their apartment for 3 weeks, but somehow we were already their 3rd set of visitors in that place! With countless visitors during their temporary housing! Lucky for us, it meant they had hosting down to a science, and took us to some really lovely places.

Thanks to Kevin and Allison for hosting. Excited to return the favor in Den Bosch soon!

For the Record

	Details
Arrival	KLM, Thursday 20Sep25, 17:00 AMS
Departure	KLM, Sunday 23Feb25, 17:00 BCN
Accommodation	Kevin and Allison's apartment!
Maisy	With Hanna and Ray and their two corgis