The Rain in Spain

Ok, yes, I admit it, this blog is nothing more than an excuse to brag about how nice it is here compared to back home in Canada. . . . . I can't help it.

I love Nova Scotia, but I don't particularly like waiting through the dreary spring for the summer to arrive. At least I don't live in BC where I have heard it rains from February until May. I therefore try to find some place to go where the weather is better for a while. This year I decided to try Spain; specifically El Campello, a little town about half way down the Spanish Mediterranean coast between Valencia and Alicante.

Our Spanish vacation didn't start so great with a cold rain in Madrid that forced us to retreat to our hotel from an attempt to explore Madrid, but the following day we took the train to El Campello and arrived to a lovely sunny day. I opened the doors to the balcony and comfortably sat outside with a glass of wine.

We have had a day with rain, and a couple of days that were cloudy, but we have just had to endure five straight days of sunshine without a cloud in the sky and temperatures of 18C – 22C. I thought I'd just tell you a bit about what the days are like here in Spain.

The sun has some heat, and it is actually warm in the sun, but the evenings are cool, and the buildings here are not really built for the cool evenings. I have learned to close the doors to the balcony at about four even though the sun is still shining. The wind blows quite strong, and so it cools off if the sun is not shining in the apartment. The balcony on the apartment is very well designed for this time of year. The sun comes over the top of the building across the street at about 10:00, just as I'm returning from my first walk down the beach to the pastry shop for something to go with my second cup of coffee, and it shines on the balcony until 4:00 pm. You can sit outside all day, comfortable in shorts. Lunch on the balcony has become one of our daily routines – local wine, chorizo, fresh vegetables and leftovers from last night.

Most days, we walk down the beach or the boardwalk, and see what is going on a couple of times. In the morning we go to see what the Digger (Thanks to Liam for that word) is doing down at the end of the beach, and stop at the bakery on the way back for a pastry to go with my coffee. I am trying to paint something or sketch something every couple of days, so that is another walk down the beach, and we normally need something from the market, but there are five or six within a ten minute walk. I might if I am energetic go out for another walk with my camera to take pictures of something. Then as the sun goes down we take another walk down the beach to watch the sun set and see what progress the “Digger” (actually a dredger working off the beach digging a trench?) has made during the day. You need a jacket for the evening walk, but certainly not the puffy winter parka's still worn by the natives. The trees lining the main street are in brilliant pink blooms, and the palm trees down the beach are filling out, preparing to shelter the sun-shy from the coming summer season.

I just checked the weather on my computer while at the tavern at the corner and we might get another day of rain next week, but then the rain forecast for this week never arrived. I don't bother checking what it is like back in Nova Scotia because it will only remind me that I have to return in a couple of weeks.