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Check out downloadable publicity photos for the Rick Steves' European Christmas Pledge Special.
Once upon a time a PBS crew set out to film traditional Christmas celebrations in seven European countries. For the 12 days of Christmas, they captured on film…go ahead, sing it: 12 carol concerts, 11 mugs of glühwein, 10 living mangers, 9 happy families, 8 Christmas feasts, 7 Euro-cultures, 6 mistletoe kisses, 5 alternative Santas, 4 pounds of weight gain, 3 midnight Masses, 2 fleeting reindeer, and a festive hour of public TV.
From England to Norway, Burgundy to Bavaria, and Rome to the top of the Swiss Alps, this special gets you a seat at the family feast; saves you a pew up in the lofts with the finest choirs; and hands you a rolling pin in grandma's kitchen as she labors over her best-kept holiday secrets. You'll join Romans cooking up female eels, Parisians slurping oysters, Tuscans tossing fruit cakes, and Norwegian kids winning marzipan pigs. Exploring the rich and fascinating mix of traditions — Christian, pagan, commercial, and edible —you'll see Christmas in a new light.
Rather than visit a bunch of shopping malls and Christmas markets, viewers enjoy an inside look at sacred, traditional, and intimate family Christmas traditions. Steves explained, "Our goal was to give a look at European Christmas through the eyes of a child, a parent, and a pilgrim. Rather than a 'happy holidays' sales gimmick, we wanted to bring home a true celebration of Christmas. As the recent commercialization of the holiday season has driven me abroad for several recent Christmasses, I was happy to take our crew to a continent where people aren't counting the shopping days left until Christmas."
Steves had two crews fan out across Europe visiting seven countries in the two weeks leading up to the 25th. While the crews could only actually be in two places on Christmas Eve and Day (Salzburg and Rome), they managed to fake Christmas Eve in the other places. This required calling on Rick's European friends (mostly tour guides and families who run B&Bs that he recommends in his guidebooks) to let the crews come into their home as they celebrated "Christmas Eve"...several days before the actual holiday. As those European friends cooked the goose, got cozy with their kids, invited the grandparents, hung out under the mistletoe, and so on, the PBS crew was right there — on the carpet, in the kitchen, and under the tree with cameras rolling. Since the crew was footing the bill, they encouraged each family to pull out all the stops and put on a blow-out Christmas to remember...and they did. The kids will always recall the strange year they celebrated Christmas twice.
Scheduling was tricky, as there were predetermined dates the crew had to make, such as concerts (a choir singing "Silent Night" in the church where it was first performed) and holidays (like December 13 when Norway celebrates Santa Lucia Day). Each crew generally had three or four days to film a region, and then one day to travel to the next. The script playfully lets the Christmas season build — but never quite reaches a holiday climax — in each country. Then, in a festive finale, bells ring throughout the Continent as Christmas Day sweeps across Europe.
After considering everywhere from Poland to Greece to Ireland, Steves settled on seven cultures to feature. He explained, "England is so perfectly jolly and ye olde, with a Dickensian ambience and a wonderful tradition of caroling. Norway is the home of three of my grandparents, so it gave us a great chance to be with family while giving a glimpse at the wintry Nordic culture. We show off the rich (and tasty) traditions of a French culture. Bavaria and Tirol are bursting with holiday traditions — home of those famous Christmas markets, 'O Tannenbaum,' and 'Silent Night.' We couldn't miss Italy, where we'd film life in Tuscany — so salt-of-the-earth in everything it does, especially holidays — and a very memorable Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican. Finally, our storybook 'white Christmas' village would be high in the Swiss Alps."
The tour guide in Steves was determined to both delve into the rituals of Christmas and "meet the locals." He succeeded, learning about Epiphany, Advent wreaths, the origin of St. Nicholas, and the pagan roots of so many Christian traditions, then making it all more vivid by connecting with people. Steves and his crew celebrated the holiday with Umbrian peasants, trendy Norwegians, Victorian English, dirndl-clad Tiroleans, and Burgundian monks — all of whom contributed to this fascinating and heartwarming story.
Celebrate a European Christmas here on KXXX, Sunday, December xx at X:00. Buon Natale! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas."
Once upon a time a PBS crew set out to film traditional Christmas celebrations in seven European countries. For the 12 days of Christmas, they captured on film…go ahead, sing it: 12 carol concerts, 11 mugs of glühwein, 10 living mangers, 9 happy families, 8 Christmas feasts, 7 Euro-cultures, 6 mistletoe kisses, 5 alternative Santas, 4 pounds of weight gain, 3 midnight Masses, 2 fleeting reindeer, and a festive hour of public TV.
From England to Norway, Burgundy to Bavaria, and Rome to the top of the Swiss Alps, this special gets you a seat at the family feast; saves you a pew up in the lofts with the finest choirs; and hands you a rolling pin in grandma's kitchen as she labors over her best-kept holiday secrets. You'll join Romans cooking up female eels, Parisians slurping oysters, Tuscans tossing fruit cakes, and Norwegian kids winning marzipan pigs. Exploring the rich and fascinating mix of traditions — Christian, pagan, commercial, and edible —you'll see Christmas in a new light.
Rather than visit a bunch of shopping malls and Christmas markets, viewers enjoy an inside look at sacred, traditional, and intimate family Christmas traditions. Steves explained, "Our goal was to give a look at European Christmas through the eyes of a child, a parent, and a pilgrim.
The tour guide in Steves was determined to both delve into the rituals of Christmas and "meet the locals." He succeeded, learning about Epiphany, Advent wreaths, the origin of St. Nicholas, and the pagan roots of so many Christian traditions, then making it all more vivid by connecting with people. Steves and his crew celebrated the holiday with Umbrian peasants, trendy Norwegians, Victorian English, dirndl-clad Tiroleans, and Burgundian monks — all of whom contributed to this fascinating and heartwarming story.
Celebrate a European Christmas here on KXXX, Sunday, December xx at X:00. Buon Natale! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas."
Once upon a time a PBS crew set out to film traditional Christmas celebrations in seven European countries. For the 12 days of Christmas, they captured on film…go ahead, sing it: 12 carol concerts, 11 mugs of glühwein, 10 living mangers, 9 happy families, 8 Christmas feasts, 7 Euro-cultures, 6 mistletoe kisses, 5 alternative Santas, 4 pounds of weight gain, 3 midnight Masses, 2 fleeting reindeer, and a festive hour of public TV.
From England to Norway, Burgundy to Bavaria, and Rome to the top of the Swiss Alps, this special gets you a seat at the family feast; saves you a pew up in the lofts with the finest choirs; and hands you a rolling pin in grandma's kitchen as she labors over her best-kept holiday secrets. You'll join Romans cooking up female eels, Parisians slurping oysters, Tuscans tossing fruit cakes, and Norwegian kids winning marzipan pigs. Exploring the rich and fascinating mix of traditions — Christian, pagan, commercial, and edible —you'll see Christmas in a new light.
Celebrate a European Christmas here on KXXX, Sunday, December xx at X:00. Buon Natale! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas."
From England to Norway, Burgundy to Bavaria, and Rome to the top of the Swiss Alps, this special gets you a seat at the family feast; saves you a pew up in the lofts with the finest choirs; and hands you a rolling pin in grandma's kitchen as she labors over her best-kept holiday secrets. You'll join Romans cooking up female eels, Parisians slurping oysters, Tuscans tossing fruit cakes, and Norwegian kids winning marzipan pigs. Exploring the rich and fascinating mix of traditions — Christian, pagan, commercial, and edible —you'll see Christmas in a new light.
Celebrate a European Christmas here on KXXX, Sunday, December xx at X:00. Buon Natale! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas."
Once upon a time a PBS crew set out to film traditional Christmas celebrations in seven European countries. For the 12 days of Christmas, they captured on film…go ahead, sing it: 12 carol concerts, 11 mugs of glühwein, 10 living mangers, 9 happy families, 8 Christmas feasts, 7 Euro-cultures, 6 mistletoe kisses, 5 alternative Santas, 4 pounds of weight gain, 3 midnight Masses, 2 fleeting reindeer, and a festive hour of public TV.
Celebrate a European Christmas here on KXXX, Sunday, December xx at X:00. Buon Natale! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas."