Christmas festival in Sweden offers a special holiday treat

by Jamie Rhein on

Yesterday, my daughter and I were treated to a trip to Jul på Fredriksdal, the Christmas festival at Fredriksdal Open-air Museum in Helsingborg, Sweden. Friends we are staying with in Denmark found out that this festival only happens one weekend each year. This weekend was it.

From the music, to the animals in the barn, to the glögg, this video shows exactly what the festival was like–exactly.

We stayed until after dark when the paths were lit by candles along the ground and strands of twinkling white lights in the trees and bushes.

The one thing I wish I had bought was one of the straw animal decorations you’ll see in the video. We walked to another area after I went into the building where this particular craftsman was located. I thought I would wait in case there was something else I wanted. There wasn’t. Unfortunatly, we didn’t have time to go back.

My friends wish they had bought a jar of the lemon honey which was in the building where the dancing took place. It was also near the straw decorations. The moral is: When you see something you like, buy it.

It’s a Wonderful Life Festival

by Jamie Rhein on

With Thanksgiving over and the Tryptophan feeling from eating turkey waning, these are the days to turn towards one of the next holiday opportunities—Christmas. Each year I look for somewhere new to head. With my son still thoroughly engaged and enthralled by any tinsel and glitter, festivals and events that offer something the rest of my family would enjoy capture my attention most.

Here’s one.

The It’s a Wonderful Life Festival (Dec. 12-14) in Seneca Falls, New York offers a true nostalgia boost. Seneca Falls is the town that Bedford Falls– the name of the town in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” was patterned after.

Not to let an opportunity for some holiday cash pass them by, the people of Seneca Falls began the festival 62 years ago to pay tribute to their ties to the movie and warm fuzzy, hopeful feelings.

If you go, you can attend a screening of the film narrated by Karolyn Grimes. She’s the actress who played ZuZu in the movie. There are the other trimmings and trappings of a Santa-train, horse drawn wagon rides, and I imagine plenty of opportunities to buy “It’s a Wonderful Life” themed gifts. If you buy a snow globe, remember that you can’t take it on a plane in your carry-on. Check it in your luggage.

This year with the economic forecast not looking particularly sunny, a festival called It’s a Wonderful Life that turns on a movie about a guy who almost lost everything during the Depression somehow seems apropos.

Here is the event’s website that examines the similarities between Bedford Falls and Seneca Falls along with providing festival details. Also, here’s an article by Joan McDonald that was published in The Buffalo News . McDonald has been to Seneca Falls and experienced the It’s a Wonderful Life experience.

How will your holiday travels go? Do some research with the Holiday Travel Cutback interactive graphic

by Anna Brones on

For me to get home for Thanksgiving, I’m lucky enough to only have to take Amtrak. Even though train stations are popping at the seams with travelers during the November holiday weekend, airports are even worse. And this year is no different.

As a matter of fact, during this year’s Thanksgiving and Christmas travel periods, airlines will operate about 2,500 to 3,000 fewer domestic flights than compared with the same periods in previous years. That means that one way or another, you’re probably going to be affected. To visualize just how your travel plans might be impacted, USA Today’s travel blog Today in the Sky has put together an interactive graphic to show how flight cutbacks by airlines could affect your travel choices.

The graphic can be used to find flight changes for select days from every domestic airport with flights to the following seven hubs: Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Houston (Bush) and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The map is dotted with red and green squares to signify fewer or more flights to the hub, making it pretty simple to see what routes are going to be more problematic. But if you’re lucky, you’ll find that your particular route has that great green box, meaning that you’ll actually be able to take advantage of more flights to get you home for the holidays.

To check out the graphic for yourself, click here.

Christmas presents and parties banned in Croatia

by Jamie Rhein on

Okay, here’s the truth. Not ALL Christmas gifts are banned in Croatia. Probably, you could throw a party in the privacy of your home, but the work holiday parties in both the public and private sectors, have been crossed off the holiday to-do list.

Even the holiday parties without gift-giving are off the list. There will be no Ho! Ho! Hos! this season says Prime Minister Ivo Sanader–at least, not at work. There won’t be frolic for New Year’s either, for that matter.

The economy is keeping Santa and Father Time from showing up. Just like in other parts of the world, Croatia’s financial health is on that downward slide into Scroogeville. The prime minister said that it’s time for the country to get serious. Getting serious means no parties. Cutting out parties is just one step to balancing 2009’s budget.

This article I came across about Christmas in Croatia gave me the notion that Christmas is quite the big deal in this country. I imagine that this ban on celebrating must feel like a real bummer. The BBC article about the ban points to tourists as hope for a brighter tomorrow. If tourists keep coming to Croatia in high numbers, the economy might rally. Perhaps the department of tourism can do a “Bring back Christmas; Come to Croatia” campaign to attract visitors. The word “tourists” could be written in the blank in the above photo by woodsy. Currently, the fear is tourists will stop coming.

I’m not so sure about heading there for the holidays, myself. Particularly if one is looking for good cheer.

If there isn’t money for parties, what about holiday lights? Perhaps folks in Croatia are like folks in Whoville and will manage to have holiday fun even with the Grinch-like economy lurking in their midst.

Universal Studios will be open and filled with annoying people on Thanksgiving & Christmas

by Mike Barish on

America’s most read and chart-filled newspaper is reporting that Universal Studios Hollywood is going to be open to the public on Thanksgiving and Christmas. It will be the first time since 1964 that the park is open on these holidays and it will now be operating 365 days a year (366 in 2008).

I can think of no better way to work off a stomach full of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce than a scintillating whirl on Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride. Nothing says family togetherness more than a day of height restrictions and warnings about people with heart conditions (poor grandma’s going to have to sit out most of the afternoon).

And it’s just not Christmas without a stop at the Waterworld attraction. According to the Universal Studios Hollywood website, “The hit motion picture comes surging to life in a spectacular tidal wave of death-defying stunts, awesome explosions and an ocean of thrills!” Of course, we use the word “hit” quite loosely here.

You’ll being using the phrase “great holiday vacation” loosely, as well, if you choose to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas at this haven for fanny packs and schlocky souvenirs. But hey, who am I to tell you how to celebrate your holidays? If your Turkey Day just isn’t complete without a ride inspired by Backdraft, the 1991 film of moderate success, then, you know, have at it.

As for me, I’ll be home with my family watching football and avoiding large masses of humanity. I prefer to have no one else around me when I vomit.