On the flight over to Europe, I happened to watch the movie "Night at the Museum 2". Not a bad flick, quite entertaining actually, especially when you're stuck for 12 hours in Steerage Class on a modern sardine can bus-jet.

If you like the idea of history coming alive in the darkness of night at the museum, Basel has just the package for you:

Have you ever imagined that such bastions of security as museums might open their doors to the public at night? Leave their alarm systems switched off and fetch their treasures out of their dark store rooms? ~ Museum Night 2010, Basel, Switzerland

So, if you know someone who is traveling in Switzerland around the 22nd of January, this hotel and museum package offered by Basel Tourismus might be the ideal gift. You can also treat yourself, of course. Have dinner at a Guild Hall Restaurant and head over to the museum. That'd be some night!

More on Basel, Switzerland.

Just a few interesting facts and things that have been accumulating on the desktop recently. First, do you know where the largest living Creche in Portugal resides?

I didn't think you did, so here:

The walled Centro town (Portugal Regions Map) of Penela will offer Portugal's largest living Creche, with locals in the rolls of the family of Christ, Shepard, and onlookers, recreating the Nativity Scene in Bethlehem. The Living Creche is open to the public from December 12th to January 03, 2010...read more: Largest Living Creche in Portugal

Need a colorful description of St. Nicholas of Bari, the guy who started all this gifting stuff? Medievalists tracing the real legend find it quite a bit more entertaining than the white-washed version we've been handed. Here's a teaser:

In the most popular medieval version of his story, Nicholas is credited with bringing three children back from the dead who had been decapitated and pickled in a brine tub by a malevolent innkeeper...read more: December Saint's Calendar

And finally, where do you go to see that Garden of Flowering Lights you always wanted to see? Lyon, France has it: Fete des Lumieres.

More: Christmas in Europe, Christmas in Portugal

This view made the village of Heppenheim and surroundings look like like a well kept miniature. It was taken from my window at the Park Hotel in Heppenheim, a nice village to visit about a 45 minute drive south of Frankfurt, Germany.

Picture of the Week © 2009 by James Martin, licensed to About.com

We've just returned from shopping. It's getting harder to move in the stores; the Christmas crunch has arrived. Yes, even in a remote part of Italy called la Lunigiana Christmas seems to come earlier and earlier every year.

I wanted to continue yesterday's theme on how Christmas is celebrated and tell you of some celebrations that are just a little different than what you might see in the states.

First off, back in the old days, say two or three years ago, the Christmas season in Italy started on the day of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, or December 8, which is a public holiday in Italy. Associated with this holiday are the openings of Christmas markets and other events.

Today, Christmas decorations have already appeared and a huge tree sits in the main piazza of Sarzana.

But let me cut to the good stuff I hope to experience this year. First off is the presepe vivente or living presepe. Here townspeople create a living nativity scene, carrying out the crafts and chores as they would have a couple thousand years ago. Around here, the most famous is the one held in the caves at Equi Terme, which starts on Christmas Eve. (Find out more about the spa town and caves of Equi Terme.)

The second "different" festival is the traditional marine Christmas celebration called Natale Subacqueo, or "underwater Christmas". For this we'd go to the little town of Tellaro on the Gulf of Poets near Lerici to see a statue of the baby Jesus emerge from the sea (with the help of divers) against a backdrop of fireworks. A gospel chorus will provide music. It's held on the same days as the Equi Terme presepe vivente, December 24-27th.

We'll be documenting these public celebrations, plus a Christmas feast with our Italian neighbors. Follow us on Twitter, sign up for our free newsletter, or stay tuned to this blog to see how it goes.