Pedestrians walk around Christmas decorations in on the Rua Augusta, Lisbon's main shopping street on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. The streets of downtown Lisbon are usually ablaze with Christmas lights around this time - but this year the city has put on a somber show that matches the somber mood of austerity. AP / Armando Franca
Christmas decorations are seen illuminated by the sun along a street in Barcelona city, Spain, Wednesday Dec. 7, 2011. The Yuletide gloom is seen across Europe's crisis-hit southern rim, as Athens and Madrid also dim the Christmas lights in a sign of how anxious countries have become about the future. AP / Emilio Morenatti
A man plays a guitar as he waits for a coin in front of Christmas lights in Pamplona, northern Spain, Thursday Dec. 8, 2011. AP / Alvaro Barrientos
In this photo taken with a fisheye lens, houses decorated with festive lights are seen in South Shields, England, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. AP / Scott Heppell
The Norwegian Christmas tree stands with it's lights switched on after the annual lighting up ceremony backdropped by the National Gallery, at right, in Trafalgar Square, London, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. The Christmas tree is the city of Oslo's traditional Christmas gift to the City of Westminster as a token of thanks for British support during the years of occupation during World War II. AP / Matt Dunham
More than 200 booths offer traditional Thuringian handicrafts and sweets and a big ferris wheel stand on the Christmas Fair in front of the Mariendom (Cathedral of Mary) and St. Severi's Church in Erfurt, central Germany, on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. AP / Jens Meyer
A big ferris wheel rotates at the Christmas Market in front of the Mariendom (Cathedral of Mary), left, in Erfurt, central Germany, on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. AP / Jens Meyer
Christmas lights are displayed at the main square of Nice, southeastern France, Friday, Dec. 9, 2011. AP / Lionel Cironneau
A Swarovski Christmas tree is part of the holiday display at this town in the Southern Alps on Dec. 10, 2011 in Megeve, France.
ZUMA24.com / Gregory Yetchmeniza
Rabbi Shalom Ber Stambler, right, lights a candle on a large menorah in downtown Warsaw, as former Knesset Speaker Shewah Weiss looks on as they celebrate the Jewish festival of lights Hanukkah, in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011. AP / Alik Keplicz
Fireworks light up the sky above a Christmas tree during the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Cathedral square in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. AP / Mindaugas Kulbis
People walk in Via del Corso under the Christmas lights with the colors of the Italian flag on Dec. 09, 2011 in Rome, Italy.
ZUMA24.com / Donatella Giagnori / Eidon
A reflection of the Monte Carlo Casino is seen between Christmas trees in a reflection in a polished steel globe, part of a statue, in Monaco, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. AP / Lionel Cironneau
People walk towards a Christmas tree at Plaza de Mayo, back dropped by the government house, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. AP / Natacha Pisarenko
A girl lights a candle during the night of the candles in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011. Colombians traditionally light candles and lanterns on the eve of the celebration of the Virgin Mary's immaculate conception what is considered the unofficial start of the Christmas season in the country. AP / William Fernando Martinez
A street performer stands at a square lit with Christmas candles during the night of the candles in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011. Colombians traditionally light candles and lanterns on the eve of the celebration of the Virgin Mary's immaculate conception what is considered the unofficial start of the Christmas season in the country. AP / William Fernando Martinez
Christmas lights hang over the Medellin River in Medellin, Colombia, Saturday Dec. 3, 2011. AP / Luis Benavides
Lights decorate a church as thousands of people attend an early morning mass which signals the beginning of the celebrations for Christmas Friday, Dec. 16, 2011 in suburban Las Pinas, south of Manila, Philippines. The early morning mass is a religious tradition where Filipinos attend a mass for nine consecutive days until Christmas. AP / Pat Roque
Palestinians watch the lighting of a Christmas tree at Manger Square, outside the Church of the Nativity in West Bank town of Bethlehem,Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. AP / Nasser Shiyoukhi
A Palestinian boy and his mother attend the Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Dec. 13, 2011 in Ramallah, West Bank.
ZUMA24.com / Fadi Arouri
Laser beams creating the image of a large lit Hanukkah menorah are projected on the Hiriya landfill, a former waste disposal site, now called the Ariel Sharon Park, near Tel Aviv, Israel, on the second eve of Hanukkah, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. The Jewish festival of light, an eight-day commemoration of the Jewish uprising in the second century B.C. against the Greek-Syrian kingdom, which had tried to put statues of Greek gods in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, started Tuesday. AP / Ariel Schalit
The 74-foot-tall Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is lit using 30,000 energy efficient LED lights in the 79th annual lighting ceremony, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 in New York. AP / Henny Ray Abrams
The 74-foot-tall Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is lit using 30,000 energy efficient LED lights in the 79th annual lighting ceremony, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 in New York. AP / Henny Ray Abrams
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, assisted by Johnny Crawford, 7, of Sonora, Calif., is seen during a lighting ceremony of the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, in Washington. AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Sasha and Malia attend the annual National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, Washington, D.C. AP / Haraz N. Ghanbari
Ava Westover, left, and Lydia Schnettler, both 6 and of Pierre, S.D. walk through the rotunda of the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre, on Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. More than 100 trees decorated by various organizations will be on display in the Capitol until Dec. 26. The tallest is a 35-foot blue spruce. AP / Amber Hunt
Emil Baker, Jr., 20 months, looks at the flashing lightings on a fire engine as the large Christmas tree on the side of a building is illuminated Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 during a lighting ceremony at Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas. Corpus Christi Caller-Times / Michael Zamora
Zoolights, a synchronized light show set to holiday music, is seen Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011, at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, Calif. AP / Ben Margot
People walk through Phoenix Zoo Wednesday, Dec 21, 2011 while viewing the annual ZooLights display. The 3.5 million-light display runs through Jan 8, 2012, is one of the largest holiday light shows in the Southwest and the biggest & brightest ZooLights show in the country. AP / Matt York
A conductor leads an orchestra through a musical piece during the 2011 Living Christmas Tree performance on Friday, Dec. 2, 2011 in Nampa, Idaho. Over 100,000 lights make up the several story structure that changes throughout the performance. The Idaho Press-Tribune / Charlie Litchfield
Two-year-old Christopher Craigcencebaugh explores the City of Odessa's Christmas tree following the annual tree lighting ceremony Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, in McKinney Park in Odessa, Texas. ( Odessa American / Heather Leiphart
Fireworks burst in the air shortly after Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver turned on the city Christmas tree at the Augusta Common during the annual Christmas Light Up Spectacular on Dec. 3, 2011 in Augusta, Ga. The Augusta Chronicle / Michael Holahan
Irving Berlin's White Christmas is performed by the Woodland Opera House Theatre after Gov. Jerry Brown and first lady Anne Gust Brown joined by 6-year-old Mikayla Jones of Visalia, Calif. lit the official Capitol Christmas Tree on Dec. 7, 2011 in Sacramento, Calif. The tree is decorated with 900 hand-crafted ornaments made by adult and children with developmental disabilities. The Sacramento Bee / Paul Kitagaki Jr.
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