A weekend of using my camera for the first time in my village and enjoying the Christmas lights in Valladolid

I'm counting down the days until the best time of the week arrives again, which is the weekend.

While it arrives, I wanted to share with you my last weekend.

Saturday dawned a bit gray in the region of Spain where I live. However, encouraged by the premiere of my new camera, I went for a walk to the Castello beach viewpoint, which is located about 10 minutes from my mother's house. This viewpoint has a sentimental charge for me and although I had my new camera since Wednesday afternoon, I waited until Saturday to use it for the first time in that place and take a picture of this wonderful landscape.

After taking these photos, taking advantage of the fact that there was a wild daisy and a dandelion nearby, I decided to take my first macro photograph. This type of photography has been calling my attention for months in different publications that I read in different communities.

After these photos I decided to continue walking and taking more photos of flowers and on the way home I decided to take a detour to photograph the goats and sheep of one of my neighbors and also the horses of another of my neighbors.

Once I had lunch with my mother and after taking a nap, I moved to a mountain that is 5 kilometers from our house called Alto de la Vara. From this mountain you can contemplate the beautiful landscapes of the entire coastline of the municipality and even neighboring municipalities. At the same time, as it is a place with no crowds, it is a good place to contemplate nature and reflect on life.

Once I took these photos and after an hour of walking through the mountain, I returned to where I had parked my car and went back home to watch the soccer match of the World Cup 2022.

After the game and take a good shower, I called my best friend Eduardo and we met to go for a few beers in Ribadeo watching the Argentina-Mexico match and finally dinner at the restaurant Mar de Rinlo a squid and some strips of marinated loin with potatoes and some delicious desserts.

After dinner, because the next day I had to travel 380km to the city of Valladolid, I decided it was time to return home and rest.

Sunday dawned rainy and cold. So, in the morning, after going to get bread at the bakery, I decided to do a little work on the exercise bike, take a shower and have lunch with my mother and my uncle who was invited to our house for lunch.

After that, I spent some time writing a bit on my blog and at about 15:30 I left home towards Valladolid. After 3 and a half hours of condition I arrived at the hotel and the first thing I did was to wrap up well because the temperature was only 5 degrees Celsius. However, the cold did not stop me from wanting to go and see the Christmas decorations of this city. To do so, I walked for about 15 minutes and got to the most central streets where there was a very nice Christmas decoration.

The first Christmas decoration that caught my attention was this big gift box, where one could go inside it and admire the spectacle of changing lighting of the thousands of LED bulbs that formed the box.

After exiting this gift box, the street was crowded and the rest of the street leading to the main square was lit up with beautiful Christmas decorations. However, on a side street a beautiful tree decorated with white lights in front of a church caught my attention.

After continuing along the street with decorations similar to gift boxes, I arrived at the main square of Valladolid. There everything had a special lighting, both a beautiful tree, the town hall itself and also the Christmas stalls.

In these Christmas stalls there were a lot of people, since it was the first day of Christmas illumination and at the same time it coincided with Sunday. In the Christmas stalls I saw that you could buy almost any product, from costume jewelry, caramelized almonds, homemade jams, toys for children, pastries, etc..

At the same time, from the other side of the square, I could hear a hubbub of children's voices. Therefore, I approached and saw a large merry-go-round that was being the delight of the youngest children.

After walking around the square for a few minutes, I decided to go to the cathedral to take some additional photos of the city.

At the same time, when I arrived to this area I discovered 3 new Christmas decorations that I really liked in the form of 3 wreaths with lights. In Spain, as a country with strong Christian influence, within the Christmas period one of the special moments is the celebration of the epiphany in which the three kings (Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar). As kings, they wear their crowns and in this city they pay tribute to them by representing the characteristic crown of each of these three wise men from the east. As additional information, tell you that in Spain on the night of January 5 to 6 this epiphany is celebrated in the form of gifts to loved ones and especially to all the little ones in the house who believe that the humble majesties bring them toys like Santa Claus.

After these pictures, I decided to go back home, because the cold was intense and it was time for dinner.

I hope you like this peculiar weekend.

Best regards.

Own photograph taken with my iPhone SE and Sony Alpha 6000L camera

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