Program 468: European Christmas

Friends from Madrid, Rome, London, and Lisbon tell us how they celebrate the yuletide holidays. We'll also hear about small-town festivities in Holland, Austria, Northern Ireland, and Bulgaria.

• Federico Garcia Barroso, tour guide based in Madrid, Spain 
• Susannah Peruccini, tour guide based in Rome, Italy
• Tom Hooper and Gillian Chadwick, certified guides based in London  
• Cristina Duarte, tour guide based in Lisbon, Portugal
• Lyuba Boyanin, the late founder of Lyuba Tours in Sofia, Bulgaria 
• Elisabeth van Heist, Dutch-born tour guide, based in Paris
• Stephen McPhilemy, tour guide from Ireland
• Call-out to Gabi Koch, at her family-owned Hotel Maximilian in Reutte, Austria

• Rick Steves' "European Christmas" TV special airs on many public TV stations this time of year.  You can also view it on our website.
• Slate magazine talks about the tradition of La Befana, the benevolent "Christmas Witch" in Italy.
• VisitLondon.com has a photo of this year's Christmas tree from Norway in Trafalgar Square.
• The Kashkaval Tourist blog describes some of the unusual Bulgarian customs and traditions for the Christmas season.
• Jazz singer Spider Saloff provided us with a verse from the original lyrics to "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, from her album "Cool Yule."