In April, 2004, a 29 y.o. Russian doctor Andrey (Andrew) Gordovsky arrives in Barcelona with his wife Nathalie for five days, on account of attending a European medical conference. On the first day of their stay in the city, Andrew, a lifelong adorer of the sea, suggests they go out to the beach near their hotel in the morning, and so they do.
On the beach, the couple stumbles across a young Spanish guy who Andrew sees to collapse onto the sand, clutching his chest in what he recognizes as a heart attack. The guy looks athletic and is sporting a jogging suit now almost dripping from sweat. He speaks English and tells Andrew that he has had an exhausting three-hour-long running workout. His name is Pablo, and his heart rate measured by Andrew is unbelievably high. As he explains to the doctor catching his breath, he brought himself to terrible overstraining unintentionally, losing the track of time as he tried to drown the pain over the recent breakup with his girlfriend in physical exercise. Andrew is alarmed for his health; he attempts to render Pablo first medical aid and asks his wife to call an ambulance car, but Pablo says he is okay and doesn't need it. After a few minutes of rest his condition quickly improves. His chest pain recedes; his heart rate gets back to normal, and he doesn't take it seriously when Andrew urges him to catch a cab back home immediately. Still confident in the physical capacities of his body that he pushed to the limit, Pablo chooses to walk home instead. Annoyed at Pablo's lack of compliance and worried that he might start jogging again, Andrew puts off his sports watch with a heart rate monitor and fixes it on Pablo's wrist, explaining that he should keep his heart rate under control on the way back home and immediately stop and take a rest if it exceeds a certain limit. Pablo thanks the doctor for his kindness and thoughfulness, and after learning that he is a first-time visitor to Barcelona, he records Andrew's phone number and invites him and his wife to have a supper and go out together in the evening, so he could give the watch back to Andrew and show them around the city.
Taking their acquaintance as a chance meeting and Pablo's offer as a polite gesture, Andrew does not suspect that this incident is destined to turn their lives upside down. After Andrew spends the first full day attending his professional event, they meet near one of the city's most popular tourist sites. Despite Pablo's invitation, Andrew's wife does not come to the meeting and two men share a meal face-to-face. Visibly embarrassed, Andrew explains that Nathalie chose to spend the evening exploring shopping malls in the city instead of sightseeing.
Although they communicate in English, which is a foreign language to both of them, Andrew and Pablo feel strangely comfortable with each other and have a good understanding. They share the sense of being at the same frequency. They barely know each other, but word by word they feel increasingly safe exchanging vulnerable thoughts and feelings, as if they were good friends for years. Andrew acknowledges that he is entranced by the city, its eclectic architecture, and scenic natural landscapes. He wants to see as much of it as possible in their limited time, even though, as he tells Pablo, his wife doesn't seem to share his delight. In response, Pablo promises to show him Barcelona in its full grace and says that he is still madly in love with the city even though he has lived the most of his life there. As it transpires, Pablo is a rising professional football star, contracted to one of the most famous football clubs in the country. Andrew is surprised to learn that: despite being sort of a beginner celebrity, Pablo shows no signs of self-conceit and narcissism, which is part of Andrew's stereotypes about professional athletes. Conversely, the Spaniard is down-to-earth, cordial, open, and even a little bit childish. At the same time, as Pablo tells his story, Andrew sees him as focused, tenacious, and ambitious about his career. His personality appeals to Andrew. In the joyfulness and openness of his Spanish acquaintance, Andrew recognizes his former self, much different from who he is now, the person in many aspects bitterly disappointed in life. As the conversation goes on fluently, he happens to open up to Pablo about lack of understanding between him and his wife, and Pablo responds to his sincerity by telling him the story of his dysfunctional relationship with his ex-girlfriend, who a few days ago dumped him for another guy. Even though they discuss vulnerable issues of their relationships, both are comfortable putting down masks and enjoy each other's company. After finishing the meal, they head to a huge park nearby and continue talking. Their conversation remains relaxed and they don't get tired of each other. As they go back and forth between a variety of topics, both realize that they share many essential values and beliefs in life. They have lost the track of time when Andrew's wife calls him and says she is in an awkward situation: with no knowledge of Spanish and English, she got lost in the city with a dozen of shopping bags weighing down her hands. With Pablo's help, Andrew reckons her location and the two go find her. Pablo guides their way back to hotel, and saying goodbye to the couple he invites them to visit the home stadium of his club, where a special coaching session takes place the next day, mentioning that the stadium is one of the city's landmarks.
Pablo spends every next evening with them until they leave. Andrew's wife doesn't speak English, so as they ramble around the city she gets busy shopping while and two men can't get enough of talking. Andrew doesn't hide his awe about the architecture of the downtown quarters, soaking in Pablo's accounts about the history of buildings. Pablo is happy to have unexpectedly made a new friend. His fluent and enjoyable communication with Andrew helps cope with the emptiness and frustration he experiences in the wake of his ended relationship. On his part, Andrew likes the passionate and uninhibited personality of the Spaniard. Increasingly enthralled by the city, he is amazed at how much Pablo knows about it. Surprised at the comfort and ease of their communication despite being foreigners to each other, and Andrew realizes he always wanted to have a best friend like Pablo. When Andrew leaves, they don't think twice before exchanging email addresses. Having forgotten to do it on their first evening together, Pablo wants to give Andrew's heart rate monitor watch back to him, but Andrew waves it off under an excuse of having a spare one and insists that Pablo keep the watch as a gift. He doesn't tell Pablo that to him it's a secretly meaningful gesture. He believes in a superstition that when someone leaves a thing somewhere they travel to, it makes them bound to come back to this place. Having completely fallen in love with Barcelona, and leaving the watch as keepsake to his newly met friend, Andrew hopes that he will one day come back. Because, as weird as it is, he can't help the feeling that he truly belongs here. He can't help the feeling that Barcelona feels like home to him, although he was born and grew up two thousand miles to the northeast. As his plane takes off, Andrew casts a look over the city and thinks, "I'm not saying 'goodbye' to you, Barcelona. I'm saying, 'see you later'."