A Spring of Everything

lovely flowers outside the academy where I work

Invariably when people think of Spain they think of sunshine, beaches, warm weather, siestas, sangria...

But the truth of the matter is that this country is extremely varied and with that variety comes extremely variable weather. The lush, green rain-fed coasts of Galicia have more in common with Ireland than they do the arid desert down in Almeria.

Out here in Extremadura, the weather is exactly that, extremely hard...Admittedly winter doesn't bite here as hard as it can in places up north like Burgos, the fact is that it can be long and relatively cold, especially if you can't rid your mind of the aforementioned sun, sand and sangria.

This winter was no exception, with temperatures falling low enough to kill off the bougainvillea. Strapping on that winter gear I often asked myself why we left the warm banks of the Mekong in Laos...

This spring has been something quite different...with stretches of weather nudging 30 and then suddenly crashing down more than 15 degrees or more. I guess henceforth the name, Extremadura.