Whenever I mentioned to people that I was going to Valencia this week, the standard response was something along the lines of “oh it’ll be nice to get away from the grey UK weather”, “ooh, what’s the temperature like there at the moment?” or “bet you’re looking forward to some sunshine”.
Yes, I was looking forward to some sunshine – just like I was looking forward to some sunshine in January when I went to Barcelona – but that’s not the thing I was looking forward to the most. I was looking forward to see the olds, eating some delicious food and exploring the city I hadn’t been to for five years (for a long time, I used to visit pretty much every year without fail so that’s a long time for me). Whatever the weather, I knew I’d have a good time.
But of course as Brits we are obsessed with the weather. During a client facing meeting last week, the first topic of conversation as people were joining the video call was the weather. To be fair, I work for a remote organisation with colleagues dotted all over the UK, so it genuinely is interesting hearing how different it can be across the country.
My mother blames the fact she is a gardener on her obsession with the weather. It’s become a running joke seeing how long we can have a conversation before she brings it up.
It’s a stereotyped cliche that is proved to be true all the time. I’d be lying if I said in the days before my trip that I wasn’t checking the weather forecast. That was mainly to ensure I packed appropriately though, rather than caring what it was like. It’s one of the things I’ve learned to realise we really do have no control over and I’m trying really hard to not let it affect my mood.
Today it rained. Yes in sunny Spain. Fortunately I was prepared for it and made plans accordingly. Rather than going into the city, I stayed close to home and just had a wander around town, my hood going up and down as the (at time quite heavy) showers came and went.
To be honest it was a good excuse for me to have a bit of down time after two days of pounding the city streets. The down side of rain of course is the humidity that comes with it, so after the ~40 minute walk back to the house (I took the scenic route) I had not only dried out, but was feeling rather toasty in my recycled plastic mac.
It’s looking dry for the remainder of my trip and looking forward to the days beyond I’m both jealous of and glad I won’t be here for the mid-20°C temperatures of next weekend. That’s another thing about us Brits, we’re difficult to please when it comes to the ‘right’ weather.