TAKE A VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS TOUR
n this site you can sit back and enjoy a virtual tour around the World of Christmas without even moving from your home! Like any good tour operator, I have checked every site out to ensure the best possible value for my Christmas 'tourists'.
CHRISTMAS IS UNIVERSAL. Personal accounts from around the World.
AMERICAN INDIAN CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS
CHRISTMAS ACCOUNTS FROM ESTONIA, the land where they were not allowed to say they had Christmas!
Like every European trip, some places you need to understand the language before you can take full advantage, and for those who do, there is a great deal of little known Christmas information to be found in these places. For those without European language skills, there is even more to enjoy. I have picked out some new this year, awards winning sites for you which will lead you into even more exciting options. And for those poised for real flight, there are tourist information sites where you can plan your real Christmas tour.
A long standing favourite site of mine is PolishWorld, with sites in both English, and if you delve deep enough, Polish. Check out the customs, food and most of all the unusual Christmas Cribs peculiar to Krakow. If you want to go there yourself, the Polish Tourist association is there to help you plan a really memorable Christmas itinerary.
Italy on Line has some wonderful seasonal treats to offer as does Nerone, and all in English! Spend a virtual Christmas Eve in Rome, hear the memories of others and do a little Italian cooking before you do some Christmas shopping, real or virtual.
Before leaving Italy, check out the music of the Altramar medieval music ensemble and relive that first Nativity scene created by Francis of Assisi.
Visit Malta, now there is somewhere different. The Malta site gives you a round tour of the area, and all the Christmas events. The Crib gallery owned by Julian Scicluna is well worth a visit. Click on this - you wont be disappointed. Some of the loveliest Nativity imagery awaits you.
Theres no place like Home for the Holidays... is a site with many awards to its name. You will enter on the Nativity page with creche imagery, music, religious sites galore, and, when I checked this one out, every click was a link, no dead ones. After you have visited these sites, go to the home page and see the other wonderful sites there. You can visit Christmas events all around the States, shop, play games, anything you want! Many of the links are not accessible on their own for some reason, so this is a very useful doorway to some unusual areas.
This review would be too long if I were to mention the many other very worthwhile sites. I will change the review from time to time. But this last one is a beauty. Bronners Christmas Wonderland. Wally is an old friend of mine from way back. His store is an all-year Christmas store on an enormous lot in Frankenmuth Michigan. His motto is 'Enjoy CHRISTmas, its HIS Birthday. Enjoy life, its HIS way'. He has misproven the myth that you cannot be a nice guy and do well in business. He is an extremely nice guy who has the most successful Christmas business either side of the Atlantic. Stop by for your one stop shopping, check out holiday trips to historic Frankenmuth, and when you have done, there are still dozens of links from the site to other Christmas places.
Fasten your seatbelts for the Magic sleighride to Christmas.
Have fun!
Christmas in the Basque Country
Traditions of Christmas Around the World (French language)
Christmas Forest - handblown ornaments
Christmas Ornament Storage Boxes.
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A practical shopping site this one. If you are like me you spend ages in the attic looking for the boxes of decorations, and then find later when you take the decorations down, that they don't seem to fit into the boxes you took them out from! These 7 drawer strong board chests solve those problems, and they are so pretty you don't even need to put them out of sight! At the moment only available to American residents, but if you live in mainland Europe or the UK, drop me a line, if enough people want them, I will see what I can do! |
Les Amerindiens - American Indian celebrations of Christmas - in French language
Traditions de Noel on France et au Canada. Traditions of Christmas in France and Canada.
Christmas - Weihnachten. Sites selected by Robert Shea.
Database of Major Fiestas in Spain
Legends of Christmas from DeLong Farms
Olde Worlde Santa Dolls by the Santalady. Custom dolls by Juelie McLean, Bozeman, Montana
Portuguese Christmas Traditions