a beautiful city on the top of the river in the northern german state of she's. the first. and i chose this dissimulation for a very specific reason. that is known as a christmas town and that's why i'm here at christmas time i really hope to get into the christmas the mood and of course get to know the city as well. i'll definitely make my way to the heights gate it's the best known landmark and symbol of the city. will also check out a few museums like the buddha. and we'll enjoy a christmas video sent in by two viewers from cousin in russia. there are a number of christmas. markets in new big this one is in the north of the old town . how about a kiss. is i've never seen this before a christmas market with maritime flare. all this reminds us that the sailors and fisherman used to live in this area because not only located on the river but also close to the baltic sea it's only about twenty kilometers away from here and this is st the mariners church. this stately church is a memorial site for international seafarers who have died at sea a life boat commemorates one particularly tragic incident in one thousand nine hundred fifty seven a sailing vessel called the pommy sank in the atlantic ocean during a hurricane eighty men died some were still quite young. who'll be or st james church is one of five large churches in the center of the town i'll come back later and it's supposed to be a really trying quill here. we'll continue by strolling through loop express to flea decorated old town. the town hall dates back to the thirteenth century altered over the centuries it combines a variety of architectural styles just across the way i grip the chance to treat myself to the taste of christmas which is available in many shapes and sizes. new big mars upin is known the world over need to it is probably the most famous manufacturer. the building also houses a small. moore's opinions ian i've arranged to meet a company spokesperson here. a bus what does more as a parent have to do with christmas year germany they go ahead today and. yes they're very closely linked marzipan still is most popular at christmas historically that was partly because the two ingredients all men's and sugar were very expensive so it was a treat reserved for special occasions such as holidays that's why mars upin is so closely associated with christmas and easter and will be helped as long as a month and so you make mars a bed with all means of sugar and what else you know if that's about it but there's a little more to it when you buy the ingredients make sure the omens are of high quality from the mediterranean for instance they have an intense flavor and are ideal for making good mars upin. then they're blended with sugar but it matters how much sugar you know the less the better so that the mars upin isn't too sweet the myth of mouth upon the. bone was why is mars a band such a big thing here in little big the lubeck was part of the handy attic only it was a leading economic center in europe and the ingredients were readily available so it was easy enough for confectioners to make mars a pan because they could always get omens and sugar. how do visitors from abroad like the pot and if both of them within one to it always differ slightly depending on where they come from in england for instance mars upin is well known they know what it is and they're familiar with the need to a good brand because england is one of our primary export partners japanese visitors often ask what is mars upin so we have to explain how it's made and what's in it chocolate pralines aren't as common there as they are here in germany either so it's always quite interesting and once they've tried it they usually like it. here in the museum you can learn all sorts of things about the history of mars append and the need. family business found it over two hundred years ago wow these are really intricate works of art and they've all been made from mars a pair i'd like to try my hand at that. hello i'm look at this because i was hi i'm barbara have you ever done this i know never it's not hard first to roll it into a ball on this beach in a bit like making a snowball yes like a snowball most of mine looks different yours looks more like an egg. i'm not yet finished. what are we making a cat with the santa hat. now i need to pull it to a pear shape. and then i form the front legs. next we make the ears and tail. it's pretty detailed work. now the eyes complete with pupils here's how it looks so far. this is barbarous. of this once mine that's not true ok ok i'll tell the truth here before this one's barossa vis one's mind as you see mine is slightly deformed before me the last step the santa had this could save my creation. well so this kid's a little quirky. pleasure you did great by. christmas is also celebrated in a big way in russia but in january. and. fill the spectacular christmas lights in their city here's all we can leave your video. whole town is a tangle of narrow streets due to a lack of space during the middle ages houses were built a large. back then it probably felt cramped today in. mantic many of these small houses are rented out as holiday homes. ellis and chord charts are typical of the old they were created when new big grew rep at least in the middle ages kommersant made the city rich at that time. its location on the top of the river and close proximity to the baltic sea were very advantageous the old warehouses are still quite impressive. the most famous landmark of rubik the gates in two thousand and six it was even stamped on the two year old chord so if you're moving go to the gate there you can really learn something about the history of this city. great well fosters and the. whole student gate was built in the fifteenth century to help defend the city. and if i'd had a weapon and the city were under siege yes i'd probably have you. know i think i'd actually use the cannon to defend the city. trying to protect myself with a shield and attacked with a lance. fortunately those times are long gone behind these walls which are a metre thick in places there's now a museum holston gate was one of three city gates to back by live it was an extremely important trade hub on the baltic sea coast it was the first ports the first christian city it was the gateway to the east. one of the major trade goods was dried cod there was also a lot on land questions if you go ahead and touch it nothing can happen talk dried fish cod and so much of any of you ever try to do what you would you like to this evening should i prepare some for you. it feels like plastic. but it's real. no i don't think my teeth could take. people of lower back where experienced seafarers they were constantly developing and improving their seagoing technology. for like sean but let's take a look under this cover we can see some of the navigational instruments of the time there's a compass a sextant and a telescope. and six to. us what would have happened if enemies or foes had actually invaded the city then all the men all citizens would have been called to arms. but that wasn't necessary the city was never attacked in those days it's time to go i think it's fascinating. i'm not from here and i've never seen such thick walls before they. come to i'm on by the fact that these structures were built by hand to hand as one long bit it takes you back to the middle ages you really get a sense of what it was like that side. seafaring and trait you can learn more about it in the european hands and was the old. the hand the attic league was a legion of trading guilds and talents in the middle ages it extended from baggie to london and from bruges to north got all. the merchants often spend years away from home on adventurous and dangerous journeys. on display are documents and trade agreements dating from the handy attic period. but i don't as welcome isn't it where here and in an installation our museum doesn't just have to split cases it also has stage historical rooms and then here you see a stall where goods from north corrupt were traded this is a reproduction of a linen material but it must have looked a lot like this in the middle ages but what depth they trade here you have the flight to hand sciatic merchants traded in everything they had in the middle ages things you might consider consumer goods such as grain but also things we see here things made of metal weapons furs wax those are all things the merchants bought and sold at the session it's great that visitors can touch everything here and there is a nest and we're here in a room that depicts a mid fourteenth century trading hall in bruges. he is a. and here's a stall where you can see more or less how weapons armor and small drinking vessels were sold think of fees that would cut in fact off one or is it how much of a role did you basically it's considered the queen of the hands. the hands of yeah that's right lou back played a central role because most of the hun sciatic days were held in lubec these meetings were basically a council where the cities or their merchants met to discuss decisions and in the end pass resolutions i'm still me gibberish this it's a fast one and how important is the hands yet again today it's a tag nowadays a new hands yannick league has been founded it's an alliance of towns dealing with improving tourism boosting trade and networking the new hanseatic league was founded in one thousand nine hundred eighty so in a way it's a continuation i think by to feel. another recommendation for you three museums very catered to famous men who are jurists who live near big or came from here the special feature is that each of them has received a nobel prize. thomas munn going to us and village beyond these are all names associated with liebeck our first museum tip is the billy bunter house. the former west german chancellor was born and raised here in des beck. a staunch social democrat in one thousand nine hundred seventy one but was awarded the nobel peace prize for his policy of rapprochement with the eastern bloc countries. right next door is another museum worth a visit it's dedicated to the writer sculptor painter and graphic artist going to cuss. he was awarded the nobel prize in literature in one thousand nine hundred ninety nine one of his best known novels is the tender. literature in a museum doesn't have to be dry as dust. it's. we present our to literature in a modern way using multimedia exhibitions so that people can see his life and work via films music audio recordings say and video. on fact i can come. and then there's the wooden book house the setting of the novel wooden books for his saga about a merchant's family thomas mann received the nobel prize in literature in one thousand nine hundred twenty nine every year during advent a room is decorated to represent the family's christmas room. i get started if there's one object here among all the presents on the table is very special that's the toy theater that hundred receives it's worth noting that thomas money also had such a toys theater and later said it was the most prized and meaningful toy of his childhood because it stimulated his imagination so much. the festive readings from the chapter christmas at the bottom books have become a tradition in the drawing radical a large drawing room was already closed off mars upon and brown cake or already on the table sure it was already christmas and the town outside. now i'm going to take a look at it from above the best place to do that is the observation deck in st peter's church. by the way. is a unesco world heritage site more than one thousand buildings here are landmarked. and now from cold germany to warm brazil in our media local slot we visit a nice polity for a man this she lives in the largest city of brazil in seoul polo and shows us the most beautiful places there. may be the so welcome to stop although i'm on a nice and i'm a poly stana that's what they call the locals here today i'm going to show you my city we're starting on the main street the of a need up let's go. to the other nato is the heart of sao paolo companies multinationals banks museums and other institutions are all headquartered here so paolo is brazil's most important financial cultural and economic center. i'm all right i was as i said during the week the traffic is chaotic here but on sundays cars are banned and there's a lot happening on the streets but it's evidence of the dogs not. the but. i think i mean there's a dancing everywhere and free dance courses and this one is the popular summer rock . this is huge. huge. huge. i mean. the more you seem to add to this our paolo is also on the of anita it's our city landmark. and it's the most renowned art museum in brazil because it has the largest collection of european art in latin america. so it contains work by such artists as renoir the brazilian artists candido party nadi monday and van gogh. i gotta stop here we are in a beat up where our park we probably stand as love to come here because there's not much green in the city otherwise evades and that's. i think of the here you can get a sense of sao paolo size it has more than twelve million inhabitants so it's the most populated city in south america. there are also museums in the park and buildings by oscar niemeyer brazil's most famous architect from those. as i know every palace down oh can recognize from the street lamps where we are in the lead that daddy district. this is where the largest japanese community outside japan lives there are also koreans chinese and other nationalities. i can go you can buy presents go shopping and buy food here. it's a very lively district every sunday there's a market here. i think what is the best place to eat typical japanese dishes and whether for food or other reasons it's definitely worth a visit. i've got is now we're in villa mud elena polystyrene. like to come here to enjoy the nightlife meet friends and drink a beer that's what i'm going to do. so our tour ends here i hope you've enjoyed it come visit south palo. even the ng is falling which is the best time to visit many of the christmas markets and let's head back to the town hall. mulled wine christmas decorations roast it all mince it's also enticed see. everything story coats and shines is that all you need to get in the christmas spirit comes here are you getting in the mood for christmas i'm on a spending spree no i am fine and christmas i think lubeck always goes all out and it does a beautiful job he'd to see i come here every year to drink mulled wine and eat donuts with my family i think it's great. yes of course you can see there is a lot of small shops and one can really enjoy the essen and. it's bizarre under this yes that's why i call harmony the old town and the city of lights that's what i love especially at this time of year of ember december the dark months it's lovely and then. in the fairy tale forest you can see depictions of stories by the brothers grimm. and gretel. king thrush beard and the frog king. and who's this my namesake lucas or luke the engine driver. now we're at the medieval market. over here it's a bit more quiet in cosy the way it should be at christmas time. the day is over and i'm in the christmas removes the medieval flair of the old town certainly adds to the festive atmosphere well this mixture of seafaring tradition and christmas city is certainly something very special that i have never experienced before now there's only one thing missing. back to st where singing christmas carols is an annual tradition. the boat. to. the boat. the but. the but. the boat. the boat . the be the be. the be. the be. polluting our waters and conceal the bastard waste the big invisible to the naked eye the ball your laundry ends up in the antarctic ocean the boat to. thirty minutes. meet the germans new and surprising aspect of the reasons cultural enjoyably was american t.v. news it takes a look at germany it is increasingly subdued traditions every day long lives and language the business model the young the good the betrayal. t.-w. dot com beat the germans. images from an isolated country. images from north korea any telling photographer captured fascinating shots of everyday life in a regimented society. an exclusive peach behind one of the last iron curtain is. a north korea and starting december twenty eighth t.w. . is h i v positive feelings me in the mood. she was infected at birth. moving she probably won't live to the age of five. the program dream aims to prevent the mother to child transmission of the virus. hiv positive women give birth to hiv negative baby's. mother the project is a hugely effective strategy in the battle against. more than ninety eight percent of these children a bone health it the german aids foundation is supporting dream in mozambique you can do something to give a baby a future without a. make a donation safe a life. this is due to the news coming to live from berlin a russian opposition leader alexina valmai is calling for a boycott of a presidential vote next year after the country's election commission bored him from running.