And it’s that time of the year again….the season of joy and peace and hot chocolate. Christmas brings with it a lot of good stuff, apart from Santa’s presents. There’s the cold weather for starters, followed by entire cities donning beautiful decorations incorporating all the elements of winter and really getting into the holiday spirit.

This year, my city of Pune really got back into the festive mood after last year’s unfortunate hiatus and in this blog, Imma show ya some of the best Christmas decorations around the city and rev up the holiday mood. Let’s dash through that snow!

This is a Christmas tableau at a mall in Pune. I love the setting of the Christmas Trees and the huge wreath in the background and the large hanging ornaments are a very unique addition. The ornaments with cut-out designs, like these here, are quite a trend in Pune this year. It’s a unique shift from the regular solid, colour-filled ornaments and its simple design is quite eye-catching. Besides, let’s talk about the large presents! As a kid, I always thought that the presents kept for decor had toys in it that could only be accessed on Christmas, hehe:) While I’ve stood corrected on that front for quite a while, I love how tempting the presents are and they go very well with the sled and the trees.

As far as Christmas symbols go, the Christmas Trees bag the prize for this year as the most popular holiday symbol. The ensemble of Christmas trees crowning this gate here gives me a very Doctor Who vibe, especially with the way the stars look out onto the street. I feel as thought the trees might come alive any moment and transport everyone to a snowflake-shaped spaceship and give us cosmic Christmas cookies that turn us into mutant elves but the TARDIS saves the day before anyone can have a single bite. How’s that for a holiday fan fiction? Hehe….No kidding though, I love the decor and the trees, alien or not, go supremely well with the coloured snowflakes.(They are actually the spaceships….)

hehe….

These pictures are taken at the Church of the Holy Name in Pune City. The decorations here show a more silent form of Christmas and it really brings home the holiday’s symbolism of peace and goodwill. The Church of the Holy Name was built in 1885, with the foundation stone being laid earlier in the 19th century by the Bishop of Bombay. I love the subtle yet pretty decor of the church building and the crib and it’s impressive how well maintained the whole establishment is, even after 136 years since building.

The Church is also known as the Panch Houd Mission owing to its location and it has a very iconic bell tower.

I love how the tower rises through the trees and the Christmas lights make the structure stand out very effectively. It’s one of the icons of Pune city and is a must-visit, especially at Christmas time:)

This is the St Patrick’s Cathedral, all lit up for Christmas. I took this picture out of a speeding car but I love the effect that the speed brings in to the structure. The Cathedral is about 160 years old and was built to cater to the Irish catholic soldiers living in Pune at the time of the British rule. My favourite part about it is the Neo- Gothic castle-like structure of the building which makes it look straight out of a fairy tale. This Cathedral is literally just behind my house and I can hear the bells chiming every hour. It’s especially lovely on Christmas Eve when I can hear the hymns from my balcony which makes the beginning of Christmas very peaceful. The Cathedral also has a school attached to it and there are yearly fetes and exhibitions held in the Church lawns.

The Bath and Body Works store in Pune had a very pretty decor for Christmas this year. They’ve followed this year’s trend of Christmas trees with a unique twist of making the trees look like Santa caps. Besides the Santa cap trees were rotating which gave the whole place a Santa’s workshop vibe. Apart from the decor, the whole store smelled of the Christmas range of scented candles. My favourite Christmas scent is Winter Candy Apple and I feel there’s no scent quite as divine as it:) Funnily enough, entering Bath and Body Works always makes me crave for cake! It’s probably all those sweet scents paying tricks on my mind….I kinda want a cinnamon roll now. Hehe.

The St Mary’s Church was by far the most colourfully decorated place in the city this year. The whole compound looks like a pretty disco and I absolutely love the lighting on the trees. The tiny fairy lights truly live up to their name here as the lighting actually looks like tiny fairies coming out to play:) I also love the spotlight decor of the building and it’s cool how the spire looks like a faint silhouette in the night sky:)

The Oldham Memorial Church went for a lovely glittering look this year. This Church is nearly 150 years old and is situated in one of the busiest areas in Pune known as East Street. I actually saw the Christmas decor being put up by volunteers and the crib took a lot of effort, as did the Christmas tree at the top. I love how the tree appears to float in the sky, giving a very Christmas Star feel.

Here we have a very techno Christmas decor along a stairway at the Seasons Mall in Pune. I love the idea of decorating the palms to look like Christmas trees and the chains of fairy light make it look like a royal staircase leading to a castle. The stairway actually leads to a Taco Bell but that could be a castle to satisfy one’s culinary desires for Taco Tuesday, eh? This picture is actually taken on a Tuesday so the above joke makes full sense:)

Finally, Imma end this blog with an ode to the most important part of Christmas, aka the toys. Here’s presenting Hamleys’ Christmas tableau, featuring good ol’ London town.

And that is a wrap!

Until Next Time:)