Christmas Holidays in Barcelona!
December 14, 2022
Christmas in Europe & Barcelona is amazing! We have spent many winters in Spain & wrote a Christmas holidays in Andalucia guide, loved xmas flamenco, but this is our first time doing winter in Barcelona area. Being world traveling digital nomad pioneers, we are use to xmas holidays abroad, but there is always more to learn & explore.We adore Spain's 3 kings or Los Reyes Magos celebrations. so looking forward to that here as well as the Christmas markets. This year we are also house hunting in Spain, so that adds a new, exciting perspective to things.
We are in a luxury camping resort bargain bungalow for the winter months, but van life & our stored vintage camper, still is an important part of our lives. We mainly walk, bike, bus or train here, but to go get our Christmas tree, we headed out in our tiny home van!
Kind of funny that the store was playing American xmas songs!
Finding the tree was easy enough, but a little harder getting it home in a camper van!
But we are use to problem solving these kind of issues & the team work it takes.
It is always an adventure in the camper van and it is our only vehicle so does come in handy even when we are not living in it as it always makes us happy to be in it & exploring some new territory on these beautiful winter days and roads in Spain.
The cute potted Christmas tree cost 29 Euros and we spent almost nothing on decorations & I already had the battery lights for summer night decorations for the camper. We enjoyed decorating our little 3 bedroom bungalow and porch with a bit of color & pine cones from the trees all around and a few shells from the nearby beach.
It's funny that we got the decorations at one of the many small "Chinese shops" here where they were playing songs in Mandarin that our daughter Heavenly sings on Twitch. She was suppose to come, but she couldn't stay more than a week, so that seemed too short for such a long flight so we will make it another time. And next xmas in our new home is already on the schedule for sure!
You can't really see the porch decorations well & no one is here hardly at this resort, but this quirky "Charlie Brown style" little sapling I found, blinking lights, pine cones and pine branches make us smile.
I still pick flowers on my daily walks & we got a poinsettia for 3 euros to add to the cheer. I see a few others that have decorated their porches & campsites, so we are not the only ones that dance & prance about every once in a while to xmas music.
Despite the season & an annoying plateau, I continue losing slowly on my weight loss program & will write in more detail in January. I hope to reach my goal by February or March. Here I'm cooking up some healthy bone broth soup! I really enjoy my long, mostly up hill walks in nature & have so much more energy now as I get stronger and stronger.
House hunting adds a different element to our winter stay, like this outing near Montserrat where we loved a darling stone house from the 1800's, ( but recently remodeled inside), 45 minutes from Barcelona, 40 minutes from the beaches of Sitges and 20 minutes from Montserrat...yet so peaceful in a very secluded rural area with spectacular forest views. We are having fun looking in this area, Costa Brava & Tarragona and imagining a new life & leaning into the many possibilities.
Today, I took this photo on my walk as I enjoyed the typical sunny day with blue skies and temperature in the low 60's. I have yet to wear a jacket, but have worn a light velour hoody on colder days & Gar sometimes wears a light jacket over his t-shirt like he did today. So far there has been just one rainy day & weather is pretty comparable to LA short winters.
The four seasons are very similar to the Med weather in California, where one has four seasons, but fall and winter are mild and short. The cost of living , prices & quality of life are just much, much better here in the way we are living.
It is really the simple pleasures that make me happy this season and every season, things like walking, picking fresh flowers and decorating our porch for the meals we eat out there. Watching home movies sometimes at night or netflix etc or reading books.
Or going to the beach nearby that is very empty at this time of year, but peaceful and beautiful. I like looking at the shells and dipping my toes in the water as I walk on the sand.
Or just enjoying the sunrises ( when I am up early) and sunsets from my porch here in the countryside around Barcelona.
What makes you happy at Christmas and this winter season?
Christmas in Europe & Barcelona is amazing! We have spent many winters in Spain & wrote a Christmas holidays in Andalucia guide, loved xmas flamenco, but this is our first time doing winter in Barcelona area. Being world traveling digital nomad pioneers, we are use to xmas holidays abroad, but there is always more to learn & explore.We adore Spain's 3 kings or Los Reyes Magos celebrations. so looking forward to that here as well as the Christmas markets. This year we are also house hunting in Spain, so that adds a new, exciting perspective to things.
We are in a luxury camping resort bargain bungalow for the winter months, but van life & our stored vintage camper, still is an important part of our lives. We mainly walk, bike, bus or train here, but to go get our Christmas tree, we headed out in our tiny home van!
Kind of funny that the store was playing American xmas songs!
Finding the tree was easy enough, but a little harder getting it home in a camper van!
But we are use to problem solving these kind of issues & the team work it takes.
It is always an adventure in the camper van and it is our only vehicle so does come in handy even when we are not living in it as it always makes us happy to be in it & exploring some new territory on these beautiful winter days and roads in Spain.
The cute potted Christmas tree cost 29 Euros and we spent almost nothing on decorations & I already had the battery lights for summer night decorations for the camper. We enjoyed decorating our little 3 bedroom bungalow and porch with a bit of color & pine cones from the trees all around and a few shells from the nearby beach.
It's funny that we got the decorations at one of the many small "Chinese shops" here where they were playing songs in Mandarin that our daughter Heavenly sings on Twitch. She was suppose to come, but she couldn't stay more than a week, so that seemed too short for such a long flight so we will make it another time. And next xmas in our new home is already on the schedule for sure!
You can't really see the porch decorations well & no one is here hardly at this resort, but this quirky "Charlie Brown style" little sapling I found, blinking lights, pine cones and pine branches make us smile.
I still pick flowers on my daily walks & we got a poinsettia for 3 euros to add to the cheer. I see a few others that have decorated their porches & campsites, so we are not the only ones that dance & prance about every once in a while to xmas music.
Despite the season & an annoying plateau, I continue losing slowly on my weight loss program & will write in more detail in January. I hope to reach my goal by February or March. Here I'm cooking up some healthy bone broth soup! I really enjoy my long, mostly up hill walks in nature & have so much more energy now as I get stronger and stronger.
House hunting adds a different element to our winter stay, like this outing near Montserrat where we loved a darling stone house from the 1800's, ( but recently remodeled inside), 45 minutes from Barcelona, 40 minutes from the beaches of Sitges and 20 minutes from Montserrat...yet so peaceful in a very secluded rural area with spectacular forest views. We are having fun looking in this area, Costa Brava & Tarragona and imagining a new life & leaning into the many possibilities.
Today, I took this photo on my walk as I enjoyed the typical sunny day with blue skies and temperature in the low 60's. I have yet to wear a jacket, but have worn a light velour hoody on colder days & Gar sometimes wears a light jacket over his t-shirt like he did today. So far there has been just one rainy day & weather is pretty comparable to LA short winters.
The four seasons are very similar to the Med weather in California, where one has four seasons, but fall and winter are mild and short. The cost of living , prices & quality of life are just much, much better here in the way we are living.
It is really the simple pleasures that make me happy this season and every season, things like walking, picking fresh flowers and decorating our porch for the meals we eat out there. Watching home movies sometimes at night or netflix etc or reading books.
Or going to the beach nearby that is very empty at this time of year, but peaceful and beautiful. I like looking at the shells and dipping my toes in the water as I walk on the sand.
Or just enjoying the sunrises ( when I am up early) and sunsets from my porch here in the countryside around Barcelona.
What makes you happy at Christmas and this winter season?
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I’m sorry that Heavenly couldn’t come for Christmas. It’s supposed to be very cold here in Central Illinois Christmas weekend. We will likely stay home and only see family who venture out into the cold. It truly is the little things that count. Thanks for sharing your adventures and photos. Everything looks lovely.
Posted by: Pat | December 14, 2022 at 10:13 AM
Aw, thanks Pat! I hope you had a great xmas despite the cold in your area! It looks like the cold & snow caused lots of havoc for many. We talked to Heavenly every day, and happily planning next year xmas hopefully in our new home in Spain. but we do miss hugging her. Hopefully she will be more set up for mobile Twitch streams which will allow her more travel freedom and long stays here. We are all still in the midst of a major learning curve that living abroad brings. Always more to learn!
Posted by: Jeanne | December 29, 2022 at 04:13 AM