Rick Steves' European Christmas: The Christmas Story

Merry Christmas! To celebrate the season, I'm sharing clips, extras and behind-the-scenes notes from Rick Steves' European Christmas.

While each European country gives Christmas its own special twist, they all follow the same story of how the son of God was born on earth, as told in the Bible and illustrated over the centuries by great artists. In this segment, we begin where the Christmas story does: with the Annunciation of Mary and the birth of Christ.

The tour guide in me was determined to cover the biblical story of Christmas while explaining related holidays and traditions and meeting the locals. Over the next few days, we'll learn about Epiphany, Advent wreaths, the origin of St. Nicholas, the pagan roots of so many Christian traditions, and all those fascinating cultural differences. For example, German Christmas tree lots were just opening up on December 22, as most Germans don't put up trees until Christmas Eve. We'll celebrate the holiday with Umbrian peasants, trendy Norwegians, Victorian English, dirndl-clad Tiroleans, and Burgundian monks, all of whom contribute to how their community celebrates Christmas.