They have been blooming for a couple of weeks now (depends on the tree). The smell hits you when you step outside. You see, it’s not just one tree; we have a couple of hundred of them and the whole valley is chock full, and the next valley over, and the next, and the next…
I travel around mostly by bus; as in… going back and forth to Madrid from the beach. It’s a good 550 kilometers [350 miles]. Luckily medium and long-distance buses in Spain can be very comfortable.
They usually have TVs (see picture, above) and show movies on longer trips, there is a washroom of course, several music stations to choose from, individual air controls, and reading lights. It’s somewhat like air travel. There is no galley and that is not a stewardess1 you see in the photo. Since there’s no food service (or smoking) they stop every 2 or 3 hours for a break at a bus station or highway rest area; it’s also to give the driver a rest.
All in all not a bad way to travel and it’s ecologically responsible too.
1 I live in Europe, on the continent, and I knowingly and happily use “politically incorrect” terminology. Note: the term flight attendant would hardly be appropriate here, would it?
I've been offline - down at the beach place maybe doing some business deals. One quick update (I just got back and reconnected to the world/internet and have a lot of catching up to do).
This is a typical Spanish breakfast at a cafe - I had one most every day. And this is why the Mediterranean diet is good for you: coffee with foamy milk (and not a humongous mug either), a toasted baguette (only 1/2 of one) with crushed tomato (not sugary jam), which will then be topped with pure olive oil (and maybe a little salt) - not butter or margarine. Oh, for a more complete breakfast we add a glass of orange juice (almost invariably freshly squeezed [Valencian oranges - of course]. 
