Christmas Around The World

Our Christmas Around the World celebration begins in Louisville, Kentucky. Each year the Louisville MEGA Cavern is transformed into an underground holiday light spectacular for the Christmas season. We enjoy a 30 minute ride through part of 17 miles of underground passageways, which features over 850 lit characters with over 2,000,000 points of light. It's the only underground light show of its kind on the planet!

We begin today with a visit to Eiteljorg Museum’s Jingle Rails, a journey to the Great American West. The popular locomotive wonderland presents nine working model trains winding past the local treasures of downtown Indianapolis, including the Eiteljorg Museum, Monument Circle, Union Station, the Indiana State Fairgrounds and Lucas Oil Stadium, where you hear veteran Colts radio announcer, Bob Lamey, call a game. The trains then head through the national parks of the American West, passing legendary sites, including grand railway lodges, Northwest Coast Native villages, and wonders both natural and human-made: Mt. Rushmore, Grand Canyon, Yosemite Falls, Old Faithful, the Las Vegas Strip, Hoover Dam and much more. Tonight we are treated to a traditional Italian dinner at a local favorite. (D)

As we arrive in Omaha, Nebraska, we hear the well-known cry “Hear Ye! Hear Ye!” echoing through the air. The Lord and Lady of Essex invite us to join them for feasting music and merriment, madrigal style. At this unique and original form of “dinner theatre” we return to the Renaissance years for a festive holiday evening at an old English Castle. Announced by fanfares and accompanied by music, mirth and traditions, the multi-course meal is designed to delight and to celebrate Christmas. (D)

Following breakfast, we visit Boys Town to celebrate an Irish Christmas at the Father Flanagan House. We make our way to Omaha, Nebraska, our home for the next three nights. Our first stop includes a holiday program of singing and food with our German Christmas lunch. Here we’ll listen to German holiday favorites by the men’s choir. Our Christmas in Greece is at St. John’s Greek Orthodox Church. Here we learn about Greek holiday customs and traditions. We also tour the elaborate church. We visit the Durham Museum and celebrate Christmas at Union Station, one of the top holiday destinations in the region. While here we enjoy a Greek holiday meal accompanied by traditional Christmas songs performed in Greek by members of the church choir. It just isn’t Christmas without A Christmas Carol. Experience Omaha’s favorite holiday tradition as Ebenezer Scrooge takes us on a life-changing journey filled with costumes, music, beautifully crafted sets and special effects second to none. (L, D)

Today we continue at the Lithuanian Bakery. Here we learn about the bakery items and traditions of the Lithuanian country of Eastern Europe plus learn about this family-run business and how it was started. Have your cameras ready as we visit Lauritzen Botanical Gardens where we view a display of over 7000 beautiful poinsettias. We have lunch on our own at the Café in Joslyn Art Museum. The three-level museum interior comprises some 38 marbles from around the world and includes stone from Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, and Morocco. A sign of the holiday season is the annual gingerbread house display at the Mormon Trail Center. We have an included dinner at Spaghetti Works before we celebrate the magic of Christmas with Broadway singers and tap-dancing Santas performing Christmas classics and contemporary favorites at the Holland Center. (D)

Our around celebration continues this morning in Kansas City. When the mighty Steamboat Arabia sank near Kansas City in 1856, she carried 200 tons of mystery cargo. Lost for 132 years, its recovery in 1988 was like finding the King Tut’s Tomb of the Missouri River. Our visit includes a short movie and we see the treasures recovered from the Arabia. Then, we visit the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial. Since its opening in 2006, more than two million people have visited the museum, including Former Vice President Dick Cheney, General Colin Powell, President Barack Obama (as a presidential candidate in 2008), and actor Kevin Costner. We overnight in St. Louis Missouri this evening.

We travel on to Nashville, Tennessee, this morning, heading to the magnificent Opryland Resort. As we explore, we marvel at lavish holiday displays, including more than three million twinkling lights and festive new décor that will surely get us in the spirit of this wonderful season! We will have an included dinner before checking in to our hotel. D

On our journey home we reflect on all the different Christmas traditions we have learned about. Filled with Christmas spirit we arrive home early evening.