A stretch of seaside promenade in my hometown regularly turns into a Christmas Town or Christmas Hang-Out-Place of sorts during Christmas.
I photographed that enchanted place on a few occasions at the end of last year, and I published a detailed post about it.
The old post shows practically everything that there is to see in the coastal Christmas Town but shows everything during the day when lamps and glittery stuff don't give their best.
On the 24 of December 2023, early in the cold morning, I took a walk along the promenade to get snippets of the Christmas atmosphere in the moments when the night turns into the day again.
It was still completely dark when I arrived ...
... but it won't be for long.
In the following photograph ...
... you can see the same scene a few minutes later.
The sky was getting blue quite rapidly ...
... but there was still enough darkness for this shiny silhouette to look as good as it should. Santa Claus was ready to deliver, the reindeer was strong and healthy.
In this shot, I zoomed in on the sail of the old windmill. The thing was decorated with a multitude of little lamps.
While there, I also took a look at the stuff under the large tent that serves as the main party area of my hometown during Christmas time, especially on New Year's Eve.
This is a portrait of a booth that was offering mulled wine and sausages.
Some of the lights hanging from its roof were twinkling.
I was in the Christmas mood ...
... so in my head, the lights were twinkling even better.
The riding Poodle near the tent's entrance was singing festive songs I never heard before or since that morning.
There were more booths there under the tent. They were slightly different. Some were better equipped for beer lovers, others were there for those who prefer wine, and some were offering sweets.
Here you can see the friend who was there with me standing in the middle of the tent.
This shot shows yet another booth nicely decorated with lamps and other Christmassy stuff.
Here you can finally see how the tent looks from the outside.
In this shot, you can see the windmill and the Christmas tree introduced earlier in the post from a different angle.
The ordinary streetlamps that are there all year round are also very photogenic at dawn.
In the following photograph ...
... you can see how those streetlamps look a bit later when the light gets off. The town in the background is Medulin, my hometown.
Here I zoomed in on the iconic Church of St. Agnes, the biggest church in town.
You can see a different type of streetlamp in this shot and a Christmas decoration on its tall pole.
Here you can see a lovely little cabin where polar bears, gingerbread people, and other Christmas creatures congregate.
This wide, scenic shot shows the Christmas stuff in the foreground and a bit of the harbor in the background.
Here you can take a look down the street that leads along the harbor. My car is also visible in the shot.
In the following photograph ...
... I zoomed in on the silhouettes of the trumpet-like lamps in a place called "Family Park", a small amusement park for small children.
A trio of early morning cyclists was also present in the scene. The lights around them are still on in this shot.
A few seconds later ...
... the lights went off.