Simon Griffith

Disc 1.; Italy's cities (3.5 hr)--; disc 2.; Italy's country side (3 hr.).

Join Rick Steves as he celebrates European Christmas traditions and music in England, Norway, France, Germany, Italy, and the Swiss Alps.

As we ramble through the heart of Rome, we'll admire breathtaking Bernini statues and ponder sunbeams inside St. Peter's Basilica. After dinner, we'll take a nighttime stroll, lacing together the city's piazzas and fountains.

We'll discover the best of Israel, stopping in passionate, traditional Jerusalem, cosmopolitan Tel Aviv, the fortress of Masada, the Sea of Galilee, and the Yad Vashem memorial.

In Venice, we'll sample the splendor of the Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Basilica, Grand Canal, and masterpieces from the Venetian Renaissance - then take a glide on a gondola.

Zipping from Haarlem to Rotterdam, and from Delft to the former Zuiderzee, we'll enjoy fragrant cheese markets, soggy polderland, charming towns, and windmills both new and old.

In France's Loire Valley, we'll visit four unique castles - elegant Chenonceau, massive Chambord, stately Cheverny, and fragrant Villandry - with fun stops along the way.

Hiking through the Cumbrian Lake District, we'll admire idyllic lakes, discover misty waterfalls, tour a slate mine, and climb up to a stony summit. Then we'll play some cricket, hike Hadrian's Wall, and be dazzled by Durham's cathedral.

We'll ride a unicorn into the Middle Ages at Paris' Cluny Museum, get a heavenly look at stained glass in Sainte-Chapelle, go on a tombstone pilgrimage at Père Lachaise Cemetery, and savor the Parisian cafe scene.

Exploring Palestine - the Muslim and Arab half of the Holy Land - we'll visit Jerusalem, harvest olives near Ramallah, follow pilgrims to Bethlehem, and bob in the Dead Sea.