As we head home to enjoy our families and holiday traditions, I thought I’d share a few of our favorite images from Rick Steves’ European Christmas (watch it now on hulu.com). My goal a few years ago, when we produced our European Christmas special for PBS, was to bring America an intimate and non-commercial look at traditional and sacred Christmas celebrations in a TV show that would be enjoyed for years to come. Thanks to the hard work and creative talent of our staff and our friends in public television, and to travelers all over the country who tune into our show, our European Christmas special has become an regular part of the Christmas programming for stations across the USA. As you enjoy these images, which take you—as if on Santa’s sleigh—to seven different countries, it’s my hope that they might inspire us all to live our holiday traditions with both lots of loved ones and lots of love. Merry Christmas from all of us here at Rick Steves’ Europe.
My dueling PBS crews and I celebrated Christmas seven times in two weeks as we distilled Europe's many holiday traditions into a new TV special.
Dashing through the snow, in a two horse open sleigh, we scrambled to bring home the wonders of Christmas through the eyes of a child, parent, and pilgrim.
We found time-honored rituals remain strong. In villages around Salzburg, dads swing incense as they bless their farmhouses and pass the rich traditions of Christmas down to wide-eyed daughters.
High in the Swiss Alps, filming things looking traditional is no problem.
Ever since the days of St. Francis, living manger scenes are all the rage in small town Tuscany.
And each December, at the Vatican in Rome, Europe's biggest manger scene stands in front of its biggest church.
Inside St. Peters Basilica, Pope John Paul II celebrated his last Christmas Mass in 2004.
Throughout Europe, normally empty churches were filled. In Oslo's oldest church, a candle-lit girls choir sings in the season.
In much of Europe, the candles on the tree are real.
Paris celebrates the holidays with ice skating half way up the Eiffel Tower.
And the squares are busy with bundled up shoppers. Nürnberg hosts Germany's favorite Christmas market.
Gifts come via a multitude of traditional gift givers. High in the Swiss Alps, the local Santa, his scary sidekick, and a friendly donkey drop into each home to see if the little kids were naughty or nice.
In southern Germany, an angel named the Christkind brings the goodies. She tells the wonder-struck children "if you're very, very gentle…you can touch my wings."
…and the children are very, very gentle.
In small town France, the mayor spreads Christmas cheer, going door to door with gifts.
And in Merry Olde England, as everywhere, parents whip up traditional goodies. This pudding's for you.
I join Europe in wishing a very merry Christmas...
...filled with peace and goodwill to all.
Comments
8 Replies to “Merry Christmas”
A very Merry Christmas to you too Rick. Thanks for all your hard work and insight to lead us on the way to great memories.
To another great year in 2012!
Yes it complements his business model but it’s nice that Rick put these pretty photos of other Christmas celebrations out to us. I’m dreaming happily, not of a white Christmas, but of millions who won’t have their taxes raised, millions who will continue to get unemployment insurance and millions who won’t lose medicare from strapped physicians (some are) because of scheduled deductions of reimbursements to doctors on January 1, 2012. Rick has a right to focus on external people. I focus on my US neighbors.
Merry Christmas Rick and to your family and friends at ETTBD…I always enjoy your travel shows and I hope you have a Happy New Year too.
Merry Christmas Rick and ETTBD! I do love this Christmas program, it excudes a sense of calm and peace. I bought the package for my parents for Christmas a few years ago — wish I could be home with them to watch it this Christmas season!
Merry Christmas to you and your family. I just wanted to say thanks for the amazing programming and books you make available to all of us. And I would like to suggest that you do another Christmas in Europe program. This one has been such a big success. Everyone I know just fell in love with it and want to see another one. It is such fun to learn and see how other countries celebrate the season…the traditions, the food, etc… Thanks so much for all you do.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Steves!!! And Merry Christmas to all of my fellow road scholars. May we all fulfill our travel dreams in 2012, wherever they may be!!!!
Merry Christmas Rick and everyone at ETTBD. Your Christmas and travel videos are stoking the travel fires at an undisclosed location down range. Here’s to a healthy, happy and well-travelled 2012!!
This is a beautiful story of Christmas in European cultures…how I wish I could spend one day there in one of those countries…Happily, we are taking a Rick Steves tour in the Spring of 2012, our first. Very excited! I have the DVD and watch it at least twice before Christmas day, once in early November and once again closer to Christmas.
A very Merry Christmas to you too Rick. Thanks for all your hard work and insight to lead us on the way to great memories.
To another great year in 2012!
Yes it complements his business model but it’s nice that Rick put these pretty photos of other Christmas celebrations out to us. I’m dreaming happily, not of a white Christmas, but of millions who won’t have their taxes raised, millions who will continue to get unemployment insurance and millions who won’t lose medicare from strapped physicians (some are) because of scheduled deductions of reimbursements to doctors on January 1, 2012. Rick has a right to focus on external people. I focus on my US neighbors.
Merry Christmas Rick and to your family and friends at ETTBD…I always enjoy your travel shows and I hope you have a Happy New Year too.
Merry Christmas Rick and ETTBD! I do love this Christmas program, it excudes a sense of calm and peace. I bought the package for my parents for Christmas a few years ago — wish I could be home with them to watch it this Christmas season!
Merry Christmas to you and your family. I just wanted to say thanks for the amazing programming and books you make available to all of us. And I would like to suggest that you do another Christmas in Europe program. This one has been such a big success. Everyone I know just fell in love with it and want to see another one. It is such fun to learn and see how other countries celebrate the season…the traditions, the food, etc… Thanks so much for all you do.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Steves!!! And Merry Christmas to all of my fellow road scholars. May we all fulfill our travel dreams in 2012, wherever they may be!!!!
Merry Christmas Rick and everyone at ETTBD. Your Christmas and travel videos are stoking the travel fires at an undisclosed location down range. Here’s to a healthy, happy and well-travelled 2012!!
This is a beautiful story of Christmas in European cultures…how I wish I could spend one day there in one of those countries…Happily, we are taking a Rick Steves tour in the Spring of 2012, our first. Very excited! I have the DVD and watch it at least twice before Christmas day, once in early November and once again closer to Christmas.
Well done.