Missing Summer

I am definitely not a winter person. Or an autumn person either, really. But definitely not a winter person.

I can quite safely vouch that skiing trips and winter sports are not, in any way, shape or form, my idea of a holiday and you will probably not find me skiing down Jackson Hole’s slopes or the Alps at any time.

I struggle through January, wishing for spring to speed up and arrive as soon as it can, bringing summer close behind it.

I love summer. I loved last spring and summer in particular, as we travelled around France and Italy in search of warmer climes.

We found them in Italy.

Oh, Italy! How I miss thee!

October sees me preparing to hibernate from the cold, harsh weather. The short days and long, dark nights seem to go on forever. By January I have had enough.

This January I have really had enough. I want sunshine! I want warmth!

Sunshine and longer days are good for me. They make me feel happy. They give me a boost. I actually feel like getting out and doing stuff. Summer sees me yearning for a garden far from prying eyes where we can sit all day, drinking and eating and being together in the warmth and under blue skies. Not unlike my favourite place in the world that we discovered in Italy last year.

I want to be back in Venice, sitting on the river taxi watching the children as they enjoy their boat ride across the water to St Mark’s Square.

I want to be back in Vietri near Naples, sitting on the Amalfi Coast, watching the twins play in the black sand with the sound of the sea behind us.

And I want to be on the beach in Rimini – deserted because it was out of season yet as warm as summer gets here in England. With nobody else around, it felt like our own private stretch of the seafront with clear, blue shallow waters and golden sand for miles.

Give me sunshine and beaches any time!