There are two environments my nose seriously protests against: a plane (and especially long haul) and dry climates.
Like the desert.
Before flying to America I had a severe cold and wasn't completely recovered yet, so I knew I'd have problems with my nose when in San Francisco, after a 12 hrs. flight: all the symptoms of a cold but without the virus. This normally lasts three or four days.
But then we left for the desert and the super dry air (humidity under 30%) did the rest: for almost three weeks I woke with a blocked nose and started the day sniffing and sneezing, during the day it would get slightly better and in the evening back to a blocked nose.
The first night out of the Death Valley desert me and my nose relived: moisture in the air! We spent a day sightseeing in the mountains, slept again in moist air and the day after we entered the Californian Central Valley (the Joaquin Valley) where al these famous fruits grow (think del Monte).
My 'cold' was gone, and suddenly I noticed that after more than a week of getting hot dust in my nose a lovely perfume filled our car: the orange trees were in bloom. Everywhere the perfume of the orange blossom - there are vast orange tree orchards everywhere in the valley - and lilacs, and peppermint, and olive trees, and lemons, and fresh grass, it was absolutely wonderful.
The area we drove through was also the area of the murals. Every town boasted having the finest, the oldest or the most. In one town a woman we ran into took us on a private guided tour and showed us all of their murals. The whole community had helped paint them!
I cannot let you enjoy the orange blossom perfume - believe me, I'd have loved to.
But here are some of the murals.
Like the desert.
Before flying to America I had a severe cold and wasn't completely recovered yet, so I knew I'd have problems with my nose when in San Francisco, after a 12 hrs. flight: all the symptoms of a cold but without the virus. This normally lasts three or four days.
But then we left for the desert and the super dry air (humidity under 30%) did the rest: for almost three weeks I woke with a blocked nose and started the day sniffing and sneezing, during the day it would get slightly better and in the evening back to a blocked nose.
The first night out of the Death Valley desert me and my nose relived: moisture in the air! We spent a day sightseeing in the mountains, slept again in moist air and the day after we entered the Californian Central Valley (the Joaquin Valley) where al these famous fruits grow (think del Monte).
My 'cold' was gone, and suddenly I noticed that after more than a week of getting hot dust in my nose a lovely perfume filled our car: the orange trees were in bloom. Everywhere the perfume of the orange blossom - there are vast orange tree orchards everywhere in the valley - and lilacs, and peppermint, and olive trees, and lemons, and fresh grass, it was absolutely wonderful.
The area we drove through was also the area of the murals. Every town boasted having the finest, the oldest or the most. In one town a woman we ran into took us on a private guided tour and showed us all of their murals. The whole community had helped paint them!
I cannot let you enjoy the orange blossom perfume - believe me, I'd have loved to.
But here are some of the murals.
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