Paul loves Berlin, especially West Berlin, if one can love West Berlin while living in a dark backyard apartment in Kreuzberg. And he loves Maria, the Spaniard with gray-green eyes and a motorcycle jacket. The two meet in Málaga, where he works as a language teacher. Maria, the aspiring doctor, becomes the love of his life, yet he must soon leave her: she is married and expecting a child. But as he bids farewell to Spain, she calls out to him: "Permanecemos juntos!" - "We stay together!" And indeed: they meet again in Germany. From the lobby of the Munich hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, they set off on a journey that lasts only half a day... On an olive-covered property high above the sea in southern Spain and on the dog-urine-soaked beaches around Lake Grunewald, a bestseller unfolds.