I have been spending more time in the sun than I like.   A week in Lisbon, Portugal, a week in Yalikavak, Turkey, and now a week in Aalsmeer, Holland.  I always joke that I was born for the winter months.  I like the dark, shade, and shadows.  I like the winter sun,  the bright blue skies and the biting cold.  The summer sun and my skin are in constant battle.  Long clothes and sunblock may protect it but leave me feeling hot and uncomfortable.

People in Europe make fun of me because I’m pale – vampire, ghost, Morticia.  Strangers normally don’t make comments but the Turkish can be quite vocal.  Walking through the market I was described as a snowflake.  When I went swimming in the sea a Turkish woman stroked my arm and exclaimed at the colour as I was so white.  What I wasn’t expecting was to be surprised by the colour myself.

I was wearing a black and white bikini and my little sister was asking me if my skin ever got as pale as the white material.  I lifted my arm to show her that it’s a completely different shade and noticed that I was sparkling in the sun.  Like the vampires in Twilight who can’t go into the sun because their skin sparkles I realised that my skin was glittering gold and silver.  I always wear sunblock but not usually so much of it.  It’s good to know that my Japanese sunblock is going to help me look like a modern, friendlier type of vampire.