Costa de luz

A brief introduction:

I live in the country of Spain. Spain is divided up into "autonomous communities" - basically like states. My autonomous community is Andalucía. It's at the very bottom of the country.

Within each autonomous community, there are various provinces. My province is Cádiz. Cádiz is the name of the province and also the name of the capital city of the province.

Good. So now that you understand where I am, look at the map again. The coast on the left side of Cádiz is the closest coast to me and is called the Costa de Luz - the Coast of Light. The coast on the right side that goes along to Málaga is along the Mediterranean sea and is called the Costa de Sol - the Coast of Sun.

"Aww - ¡qué bonito!" you're probably saying to yourself. No, wait. You are more likely saying, "that's nice Ellen. Very pretty." Because you more than likely are thinking in English. I would be if I were reading this instead of writing it. For sure.

I noticed yesterday and today that the light here is absolutely beautiful! Now, technically, I am not on the coast, but I live close enough. I noticed it particularly around lunch time, a.k.a. around 1:45 - 2:45. The way the sun illuminates the plants at that particular time of day makes them glow and radiate green-ness. I've never noticed how beautiful and strange winter light is, especially not on green plants. It was kind of like the light between 7-8 p.m. in June and July. The shadows are long, but your camera still doesn't need a flash because the sun isn't even near setting yet. I will try to take some pictures, but not tomorrow. Tomorrow I may experience my first tropical storm! It's heading our way and I am way pumped. I mean, not about the storm part because I'm sure it will feel cold and rainy and not tropical at all, but just to see what it's like.