Spring has sprung

Another period of extended absence – sorry – I get quite distracted you know.

Anyway, as I’m easing my way back in to this, I’ll just continue on from the other week. Spring is apparently here (according to the BBC):

Outlook for Friday to Sunday
Sunshine for most of the week then becoming breezy on Saturday with some patchy rain on Sunday
…and London is nearly a buzz with sunshine, cheeriness and a birds tweeting.

It’s the subtle things in the Capital you notice that let you know it’s Spring. Fire and a booth become alfresco; beer is replaced by cider; and red wine by white/rose (you drink a lot here, obviously). Last night we were able to sit outside for at least two drinks before having to retreat in doors.
We’re coming in to my seventh UK summer now and the automatic question becomes: “how do you deal with the weather?” However this question is primarily asked by English – not the Aussies. And the answer is Seasons.

Now I’m from Melbourne where the Seasons are hot and dry, hot and wet, chilly and wet, and cold and wet. In fact, I’ll go so far as saying the UK’s weather is better than ours. Not in summer of course, but as a general rule, it trumps us.

Well, it’s how you look at it.

Spring is here and the excitement in the air is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Every night brims with possibilities and excitement, the beer garden and the pavement – people everywhere – all coming out of their winter slumber. There's smiling, there's conversation, there's such gaiety that a Gilbert and Sullivan musical wouldn't be a miss.

Kings Cross Tuesday night - going off!!

I personally like watching the ‘is it cold or is it warm’ debate that people so subtly have on the tube as one person drops the window and 10 seconds later someone puts it up. It’s the Northern Line Mexican Stand Off.

This leads in to Summer, where the appreciation for the tiniest glimmer of sunshine is so high that anything about 18 degrees with slight cloud is viewed as a sign from the Gods, and rambunctious tanners fall outside in an effort to get the slightest dose of vitamin D – it’s like a festival.

Autumn comes around and the lead in to Christmas begins – will it snow, won’t it snow – and the leaves start falling.

The Winter hits and it’s in to the pub. Every night is around the fire, wine in hand. In fact, I go out more in winter than I do summer I reckon! And then cycle repeats.

So that's how we deal with the UK weather here - pretty easy isn't it?

...but I've heard all this bullshit before, so I just went to Italy for a week.