Christmas Light Displays in Barcelona, Spain

 

It is already Christmas and we cannot deny it. Anywhere we go, we see different Christmas decorations; inside our houses, in the street, restaurants, buildings, etc.. We can truly feel the spirit of Christmas through these decorations.

So now, I will share with you some of the Christmas decorations that we have here in Barcelona, Spain. I was able to enjoy it and take some photos of amazing Christmas light displays that we have in these famous streets and highways of Barcelona. But take note that every street, big or small have different decorations. I just decided to talk about few of them.
  

1. Passeig de Gràcia 

Maybe you have seen a photo that looks like these. And yes, that is here is Passeig de Gracia. Passeig de Gracia is a famous street here in Barcelona. You can see different shopping shops and restaurants along this street. And even the famous Casa Mila and Casa Batllo is located here. 

It is indeed stunning. All these lights and butterfly will surely steal your attention. If you are a tourist or even a resident here. You should not miss these.

2. El Corte Inglés in Plaça Catalunya

For me, it is one of the most awaited part every year. El Corte Inglés is a famous and big shopping centre here. And each year, they have different design of Christmas lights outside of their building. It is a good point to attract tourists or even the residents to come inside their building and shop.

3. Ronda de Sant Pere

 From Plaça Catalunya going to Plaça d´Urquinaona you will have to pass in Ronda de Sant Pere. It will greet you with a ¨Bones Festes¨ o Happy Holiday. 

4. Plaça d´Urquinaona

My camera does not give justice on how stunning these lights are. It feels like you are inside the tunnel of lights. Thanks you Darlene who came with me to see these amazing lights. 

5. Via Laietana

Another long street with 1.105km length will greet you with these colourful rounded Christmas light displays. 

6. Portal de l'Àngel

Portal d l´Àngel is a street where you can see a lot of shopping centres as well. And they will also attract you with these stunning Christmas light displays. It truly give Christmas vibes to any people who will pass by in this street. 

7. La Rambla

If you are a tourist, you should not miss La Rambla. It is a famous street here in Barcelona, Spain. The decorations may seem simple but will give you a relaxing vibes of Christmas. After a long day, passing in this street will truly relax you. 

8. Carrer de Pelai

Another street with tons of shopping shops in Carrer de Pelai. As we all know, Christmas tree is a symbol of Christmas and that is their theme for this year. See how amazing their ¨Star¨ is? It is a street light.

All these Christmas light displays look really stunning. But just so you know, Christmas celebration here in Barcelona is indeed different compared to the Christmas celebration in the Philippines. We really miss the Christmas carol, the giving of gifts during Christmas eve, and all those kids that will knock on your door to ask for gifts, and a lot more celebration.

During Christmas in Spain, all the family members gather to have their get together lunch / dinner. Some celebrate it with a Caga Tio which you can see on my previous blog post. It is a way to give gifts to the children. But most of the gifts are given on our famous 3 kings. And I am so excited to share it with you on my next blog. So stay tuned and subscribe to my blog to get updated.

Camera: iPhone XS Max
Filter: VSCO

Do not forget to watch Darlene´s vlog with me featuring all these Christmas light displays.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace

Isaiah 9:6

Christmas Markets in Barcelona | Fira de Santa Llucia

 

Christmas Markets are famous every Christmas season. You will be able to see there a lot of stuff that are related to Christmas such as Christmas tree, Christmas decors, stuff that are related to Christmas beliefs of a certain place. Aside from that, there are a lot of countries that are doing this such as France, Amsterdam, Germany, Philippines, etc. This is an annual event that every places or countries are competing on.

   
Christmas is a season to gather with your loved ones; family, friends, workmates, etc. And Christmas Markets give its contribution to the season. But let us not forget the real reason for Christmas, the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ.

Location

 

Here in Barcelona, we also have Christmas Markets and they are located in front of the famous Cathedral of Barcelona in Barrio Gothic. It is an advantage if you are planning your vacation here because it is near to Las Ramblas. You can go there without travelling too long.



And for those who already live in Barcelona, you should take time to go there. It will give you a Christmas vibes, relieve your stress as well and have time for yourself or with you family and friends.

They have a lot to offer so without further ado, I will tell you the things that you can see and buy inside the Christmas Markets in Barcelona.

   

1. Nativity Scenes and figurines

 

The birth of Jesus Christ is the reason for Christmas and we all should celebrate it. In Christmas Markets, you will find a lot of manger that represents the place of His birth. There are also Nativity scene with figurines or just the figurines alone. We usually see Nativity Scene in churches, buildings. But now, you can have your own Nativity Scene with different sizes that is enough for your home.
  
 

2. Christmas Trees

  Inside the Christmas Markets, you will be able to see and buy your own Christmas Tree. And take note, they are real! They have a variety of heights to offer. 

As we all know, you cannot grow a real Christmas tree or evergreen fir tree just anywhere. There are specific cities or countries that has the best weather and land for these kind of trees. And if you want to have such Christmas vibe using a real Christmas tree, it is your chance. 

 

3. The Caga Tio

 

  The Caga Tio is a character in Catalan mythology relating to a Christmas tradition wide spread in Catalonia. It is being used during Christmas eve. It is a trunk from a tree to which children must spank in order to provide them with gifts that they will get from the back of the trunk. It is a good feeling of having different traditions from different countries.

 

4. Caganer

  Another thing that is inspired by Caga Tio are these small mannequins or Caganer that are pooping. You will see all the characters from President of US, heroes, cartoon characters, famous actors, football players, etc. If you are a fan, it is a good thing to collect this.

5. Santa Clause

Even we live in Spain, Santa Clause is still famous to people of all ages. So you will surely see different kinds and sizes of Santa Clause in Christmas Market in Barcelona.
  
 

6. Christmas Decorations

  If you are not fun of Christmas trees, Caga Tio, Nativity Scene. You can still have these Christmas house decoration. They are small that you can just hang on your doors, walls, or put above the table. By this, there will still Christmas vibes inside your house. 

  Christmas is the best season to spend time with your family, relatives and friends. But let us all be thankful for its reason, the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ. Let´s have time to pray, ask for forgiveness and change for the better. Let´s have spiritual encounter with God. 

I wish you a Merry Christmas and God bless you!

---

Special thanks to Mary Rose for spending time with me and for taking my photos
Check out Darlene´s vlog featuring Christmas Markets in Barcelona  

Camera used: iPhone XS Max
Filter: VSCO AL3

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 

How To Start Blogging

 

It has been two years when I started blogging. It even took me a year to finally established my blog. I remember when I just started blogging, I just wanted to save my photos and memories. I just wanted to write whatever is in my head. I started writing even years ago, and yes, I also had Tumblr just like anyone else.

And now, I feel so blessed that I am able to earn money from blogging. It was not that easy, I got a lot of rejection from AdSense and even from people around me. I heard a lot of critisisms. But all those hardships payed off when I started receiving my monthly revenue from AdSense. And guess what, it has been almost a year since I started earning from my blog. It already payed the 12€ that I paid for my domain, which was the only money I used in stablishing this blog.

Based on the people I met in the past, I can say that I am not the best writer. I just write based on my own perception and that is a good thing about blogging, there is no such thing as “wrong blog writing”. It is all up to you on how you are going to build your own world inside your blog. 

I know that you are reading until here because you want to know how to start blogging. After I published my first articles until now, I received a lot of messages asking on how to start blogging, how much I earn from it, how to get monetized, etc. So, without further ado, let´s get started.

How To Start Blogging

1. Think About The Topic You Want to Talk About

On choosing your topic, it should be something you know about. For example, your passion, your hobbies, something you studied about way back in college,  etc. It should be broad, by this, you can make branches out of it to talk about in your blog. 

As you can see on my blog, I talk about ¨Beauty and Travel¨. So I write about my experiences in traveling and the beauty products I use. It is better to have two or more connected topics so it will give you more ideas to write.

2. Build Your Own Blog

Nowadays, there are a lot of ways or channel to build your own blog. The two most famous are Blogger and Wordpress. You can make your research about their differences and benefits, by that, you can choose on which you can get along. 

I am using Blogger because it is much easier to build and use. It is categorized by easy to understand terminologies.

3. Write Your Pages

Pages are consisted of ¨About Me¨, ¨Contact Me¨, and ¨Privacy Policy¨. This pages are important, just like on building a house, you need windows and doors so that you can call it ¨house¨. Pages work like that in every website or blog. Pages are also important specially if you are planning to work with AdSense. AdSense needs to see how legit and worthy your blog is, so you need to show off a little bit to make it look professional.

4. Write Your Articles

On number 1, I told you that you need to think something that you want to write about and that it should be broad. Because in writing your articles, you will make branches from the topic you chose. You cannot make a blog about Mathematics and write articles about Science. Those two are not connected to any point. Just like in blogging, you cannot write two random articles because it will just show inconsistency on your blog.

5.  Buy Your Domain

A domain name is the address where Internet users can access your website. For example, www.dreamsonfleek.com, www.theconquerorsph.com, etc. 

Maybe you get a little bit confused about ¨domain¨. But remember when you just made your blog in blogger or any other site? You were using, ¨www.dreamsonfleek.blogspot.com¨. What does that mean? The easiest explanation is, that is like renting a house in blogger. You cannot call that yours, that is a property of blogger. And to make that blog yours, you need to buy your own house, and that is domain.

6. Sign Up For AdSense

AdSense is an advertisement company that put advertisement of other companies. From that, you can now start earning money from your blog. But before getting approved, AdSense has their own standard that you should achieve.

Domain is indeed important because before applying for AdSense, they require you to have your own domain. You need to sign up in AdSense using the same email address that you used on your blog. And if you want me to write an article about how to get approved by AdSense, just leave a comment!

¨All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded¨

-Exodus 35:10

CentOnze Restaurant Review | Le Méridien Barcelona

 

Las Ramblas in one of the signature places in Barcelona, Spain. It is a good experience to have lunch or dinner in this area. And one of the most attractive restaurants is The CentOnze Restaurant. The CentOnze Restaurant is connected with the 5 star hotel Le Méridien.
  

  

Location

  

CentOnze Restaurant is located in Las Ramblas 111, Barcelona Spain. It is near Le Meridien, Hotel 1898, Nike, Decathlon, etc. 

If you are walking around in Las Ramblas or near by places such as Plaza Catalunya, Calle Pelayo, or Barrio Gotico, you should not miss eating in this restaurant for it is just a few steps from those said famous destinations in Barcelona Spain.

But if you are coming away from these said places, there are two nearest Metro Station Stops such as Plaza Catalunya and Liceu.
    

CentOnze Restaurant

  

CentOnze Restaurant offers different variety of foods from Starters, Tapas, Meats, Fish and as well as different drinks. You can check directly in their website the choices of foods that they offer.
   

A La Carte

   
Here are some of their A La Carte:

Menus

CentOnze Restaurant also offers Menu. You can take a starter, main and dessert for only 16.50€ for weekdays, and 22.90€ for weekends. It is good if you have a tight budget and yet you want to experience eating in this classy and many to offer restaurant.
     

Ambience

If you really want to relax, this is the best place for you. The ambience inside the restaurant is relaxing, calm and classy at the same time. It also gives the view of the famous Las Ramblas. You will see people and car passing by and thanks to its soundproof, you will not get distracted nor disturbed by them. 

  

It is also a good choice of restaurant for couples for it also gives a romantic vibes inside. And they have big table for family and friends. 



I would like to also give a point the smell inside the restaurant. They offer seafoods and sometimes, most of the restaurant I went to, I always smell something stinky that I do not like it. But CentOnze gives you a clean smell and vibes that you will not get irritated about.

Le Pop Cocktail Bar

CentOnze Restaurant do not just offer meals but they also have their different signature drinks that you should not miss!
  

Comfort Room

One of the many things I check in any restaurants is their comfort room. I can say based on my experience that it is really hard to find a restaurant with a clean comfort room. Good to say that CentOnze indeed has a clean comfort rooms. For sure it is because the restaurant is connected with Le Meridien Hotel which is a plus point for them.

Discount!

Another tips for you, readers, you can have up to 50% discount in their A La Carte just by downloading ¨The Fork¨ on your mobile phones. By that, you will get notificated whenever they have promos. 

Camera used: Iphone XS Max
Photo Editor (For Effects): VSCO
Photo Editor (For Grids): PicsArt

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.

Ecclesiastes 3:12