Marriage and parenthood are hard. Achievements big and small deserve celebrating. It’s no secret we love travel and we love a great party – so when Lidia’s parents invited us to come celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversary in Spain, we replied “¡Si si por su puesto!”

For most trips we take, the flights (and credit card reward points) dictate our actual itinerary. For this adventure to Spain, it made the most sense to fly Dulles —>Munich—>Barcelona and spend a few days in Barcelona ahead of the family event in Autol, Lidia’s village.

We’re arriving three hours ahead of the Spain vs France World Cup Quarter Final game. For weeks we’ve known this perfect alignment could happen – being in a country that lives and breathes fútbol and experiencing watching that game with the food, drinks and energy of those people. We couldn’t have planned it better, save for going to the actual game itself. (I looked up those ticket prices a few days ago out of curiosity – $2700-$6800 each for those wondering).

Earlier this summer with World Cup approaching, I made an impulse buy at the Walgreens next to the New Kent ER. A FIFA booklet and collectible sticker featuring each team and individual player. Little did I know this would come to attract everyone’s interest and define our summer. #1BigBrother is refining his reading skills, and #1LittleSister (4 years) letting “Uzbekistan” roll right off the tongue.

We landed in Barcelona, quickly exiting the terminal thanks to connecting in Munich and not needing a complicated customs exit. Our bags took 20-30 minutes to materialize on the carousel, but I had reassurance they’d made the journey with us thanks to an AirTag I slid in to my roller bag pocket.

We unlocked our AirBnB, dropped our bags, each took 2 minute showers and set off to find a suitable place to watch the game. We walked for 30+ minutes, passing by a French fry-only establishment that looked a little dull, and soon learned beggars couldn’t be choosers. Every bar was spilling out the door with fútbol fanatics. We quickly realized anywhere we could see a screen would need to do.

Spoiler alert: SPAIN Won! And even as I type out this post, the streets of Barcelona are brimming with the energy of victory. Horns honking, mates shouting, firecrackers. Now we have to change our Sunday plans to accommodate the Finals. Who would have thunk it.

~Steph