MPC Press International

What We Will Miss

Aug 26th, 2014 by willmarks

We are back in San Francisco, back to reality as we know it. Our United flight departed from SFO on August 16, 2013 and we returned on July 3, 2014. We are happy to be home, but just the same, we will miss Barcelona. What will we miss? It is a long list that includes lengthy lunches, small and tasty coffees, the challenge of speaking Spanish, not having a car, and the ease of travel to interesting places.

Max says he will miss having a park right outside the door and having his close friends all within a few blocks. He will miss a newfound independence, which partly came with age, but also with the safe territory. He will miss riding home from school on his scooter with pals, the lack of fog, and jamón ibérico. Max and I made many visits to Tutusaus, our local ham and cheese provider; I won’t miss the expensive price of this delicious ham, constantly reminding Max of this as he shoveled it into his mouth.

Ella will miss having her friends nearby, the beaches, and warm weather. She will long for paella, pan con tomate, and Isabellas, our neighborhood Italian restaurant, with the most wonderful steak (Tagliata de ternera con parmesano) and her beloved croquetas. She will miss our local bread shop, Macxi Pa, as well as Sushi Side. And, Barça fútbol will be in her heart; we all became fans, and will keep watch from abroad!

Maggie will miss Turo Park and her many new friends, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. She will miss pimientos de padrón, gorgonzola croquetas, patatas bravas, and of course Happy Pills, where one euro bought a substantial cone of candy. Maggie will miss the Spanish language, but we will do our best to keep moving forward in this regard.

Evelyn will miss the shorts and the longs. Short (small) coffee and short walk to Dylan’s (for food), and long lunches and long history that we couldn’t help but study while walking around Barcelona and other European cities. She says she will miss her rollercart and separate shopping for the various food categories, but this may all be sarcasm? She will indeed miss the Bicing system, as we were never more than a quarter mile from one of the 400+ stations, as well as the clean metro, and the effortlessness of moving through Barcelona, not to mention the ease of travel throughout Europe.

This does not leave much for me to add. Living without a car for a year was fantastic; I was a big fan of the Bicing system and the metro. I also took advantage of the Parc Natural de Collserola behind Barcelona (for fitness), which includes the Carretera de les Aigües (road of waters) and its gorgeous view of the city. I will miss the food, the history, the travel, and simply living in Spain for a year, and watching the impact of this experience on my family.

For about 10 years, I kept a quotation above my desk. It stared me in the face until I was forced to act. Life passes most people by while they’re making grand plans for it. I was determined not to let this happen. Full disclosure—the quotation came from the movie “Blow” and the character, George Jung, was trying to live life to its fullest, which for him meant as a drug dealer….For me, I had always wanted to live a year or more abroad, ever since I had made the mistake of not spending an extended period of time overseas after college. This desire, when combined with the constant reminder from those words in front of me on my desk, finally pushed me over the edge…and to Barcelona!

Some parting shots of what we will miss….

Barça futbol