From Piazza Navona’s Christmas market to the ultimate manger scene in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, the city of Rome bursts with Christmas traditions. In Tuscany, sacred music and prayer infuse the tranquil landscape, and living nativities recreate the town of Bethlehem on the most holy of nights. For more information on Rick Steves’ European Christmas — including the European Christmas DVD, Blu-ray, Music CD and Book — visit www.ricksteves.com.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Take a “test drive” of Rick Steves’ 2010 Eastern Europe and Adriatic tours with Cameron Hewitt (co-author of Rick Steves’ Eastern Europe guidebook) as your guide. On the Eastern Europe tour, you’ll experience the rich diversity of this area, from the energetic cities of Kraków and Budapest to tradition-rich “back door” towns and villages across the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia — including the waterfall wonderland of Plitvice and the picture-perfect Alpine beauty of Lake Bled. On the Best of the Adriatic tour, you’ll travel through Slovenia’s Ljubljana and fairy-tale Lake Bled; Croatia’s seaside Rovinj, waterfall-laced Plitvice, historic Split, Hvar Island, Korčula and picture-perfect Dubrovnik; and you’ll have an enlightening visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina’s once-war-torn town of Mostar. For more information on Rick Steves’ tours — including full itineraries, prices, departure dates and seat availability — visit www.ricksteves.com. {Disclaimer The itinerary specifics and other tour details noted in this lecture were correct at the time of filming in 2010 but may have since changed.)
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Napoli – www.BAZHE.com City of Naples, Italy Napoli is densely populated, and rotates around the spectacular gulf, that fascinates and attracts visitors from all over the world, to the city of Naples itself (the Italian proverb says “Vedi Napoli e poi muori” = see Naples then die), the home of pizza, songs, and the Neapolitan dialect and character, and to the other wonderful destinations of the Gulf. BKBAZHE is a writer, poet, and artist. He is the author of DAMAGES (creative nonfiction) — Winner in the Writers Digest Awards and IDENTITIES (poetry). He is published and exhibited in Europe and America. More info at www.BAZHE.com Amazon Books & Art by BKBazhe astore.amazon.com YouTube Videos by BK Bazhe: www.youtube.com Google Blog by BK Bazhe: bazhe.blogspot.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Poland is a major part of the global tourism market and is currently experiencing an upward trend in its number of visitors; this began shortly after joining the European Union. Tourism in Poland contributes to the country’s overall economy and makes up a relatively large proportion of the country’s service market. The most attractive urban destinations for tourists are Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Lublin and Toruń; in addition to these the historic site of the Auschwitz concentration camp near Oświęcim is a noteworthy place of pilgrimage and a now constitutes a major monument to the prevention of war and suffering in Southern Poland. Popular areas of natural beauty include northeast Poland’s Masurian Lake District and Białowieża Forest. Poland’s main tourist offerings are thought to be based around city-sightseeing and extra-urban historical monuments, business trips, qualified tourism, agrotourism, and mountain hiking.