Scribbler in Seville

How I know it’s spring

So spring started at 6.14am last Tuesday.

Here’s how I know my favourite season of the year here in Seville has arrived.

It’s all about smells, sounds and colour.

Flowers: sweet-scented blossom everywhere – azahar, the orange blossom with pretty white flowers (above and below). When I take the kids to school, we walk along a row of orange trees, treading on a soft carpet of tiny white petals – it’s a scent experience unlike any other, and will last for the next few precious weeks.

Also almond, cherry and plum blossom, fluffy white and candy-pink, and others, are out in full force.

The carpet of yellow flowers in the olivar (olive grove) next to our house is a joy.

The sounds of spring, for me, are animals: frogs croaking to each other in our swimming pool, in (at the risk of coming over all Paul McCartney) a chorus… frogs singing in pool – you’ll need to turn the volume up to get the full effect.

…and mournful Semana Santa music, blaring from cars and in shops, and being played by brass bands in processions.

Later, this switches to the more upbeat Sevillanas, in time for Feria.

This is the best time of year to visit gardens, go to the sierra for some jamon and hiking or take the kids to the beach for a warm day out without having to slap suncream on them every five minutes. It’s also time to get out the barbeque.

And time to bathe in the glow of warm temperatures, before the heat comes.

22 thoughts on “How I know it’s spring

  1. azahar

    The first time I smelled orange blossom it totally blew me away and it remains my favourite floral fragrance. Hence the nickname, which I’ve been using for about ten years now (or since whenever it was I first got a computer). It not only says “spring” to me, but also “Sevilla”.

    Gorgeous photos, Fiona!

  2. Alan

    . . the scent of oranges and lemons is fantastic – in our village we are surrounded by orchards of them. Spring has indeed sprung . .

    1. Fiona Flores Watson

      I’ve even taped the damn things on my iphone to put on the post – rather essential since the whole theme was senses of smell and sound – but of course now no idea how to download sound file! As I can’t work out how to embed a video, so not even sure why I’m bothering!!

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