On the eve of the Christmas holidays

Salute crowned the world's largest Christmas tree in the water on December 5 opening ceremony in Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in Rio de Janeiro. (Antonio Scorza / AFP - Getty Images)



Christmas lights adorn the Diagonal Avenue in Barcelona. (Julian Martin / EPA)



Christmas decorations glow in the old city of Vienna, Austria. City "on fire" on November 27 in anticipation of the holidays. (Joe Klamar / AFP - Getty Images)



Christmas tree with lights and garlands on Reforma Avenue in Mexico City on December 5th. Artificial tree is 111 meters in height. (Alfredo Estrella / AFP - Getty Images)



Passers-by are under the Christmas lights on Oxford Street shortly after their formal inclusion of 3 November in London. The two main shopping streets in London's West End, Oxford Street and Regent Street were included simultaneously actors Jim Carrey and Colin Firth. (Oli Scarff / Getty Images)



People gathered around the Children's Museum, decorated with Christmas lights in San Jose, California, on 1 December. Over 500 lights illuminate the museum during the Christmas season. (Juan Carlos Ulate / Reuters)



Sleeping Beauty Castle lights during the official opening of the show "Magic Christmas" at Disneyland Paris on 7 November. (Francois Durand / Getty Images)



People walk past Christmas decorations and lights in the city of Varna east of the Bulgarian capital Sofia on December 7th. (AP)



Christmas market in Frankfurt opened on 25 November. Traditional market will be open until 22 December. (Martin Oeser / AFP - Getty Images)



Children pictures of the interior of a 6-storey Christmas tree in a shopping center in Singapore on November 26. (How Hwee Young / EPA)



Spire decorated with red cloth to look like a very large candle in the world at the Christmas market in Schlitz, Germany. The candle is made of stone tower 36 meters high and covered more than 1,000 square meters of fabric. About 140 light bulbs light a candle at the top in the form of a flame. (Fredrik Von Erichsen / EPA)



Christmas decorations adorn the streets in the suburbs of New Dzheydeh, Beirut, Lebanon, on 29 November. (Wael Hamzeh / EPA)



77th Annual Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center lit on December 2 in New York. (Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters)



Parliament House is decorated with garlands and Christmas tree in Tbilisi on December 6. (David Mdzinarishvili / Reuters)



House in New Orleans is decorated with Christmas lights in the Upper Ward Nayns. People across the country are immersed in an atmosphere of celebration as we approach Christmas. (Mario Tama / Getty Images)



Christmas lights are lit along the Champs Elysees in Paris on November 23. (Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images)



People walk past the river Medellin on the first day it appears on the Christmas decorations in Medellin, Spain, December 5. (Albeiro Lopera / Reuters)



Spectators pass Fifth Avenue before the 77th annual lighting ceremony of the Christmas tree in New York. (Stephen Chernin / AP)



People came to the official ceremony include the Christmas tree in front of the Royal Palace in Warsaw, December 5th. (Kacper Pempel / Reuters)



Lights in the shape of a Christmas tree decorated slopes of Mount InGen in Gubbio in the district of Perugia in Italy on 7 December. Wood 650 meters in length will be on the mountain until 10 January. (Pietro Crocchioni / EPA)



Capitol and the main tree of the country on December 8 in Washington, DC, during her official lighting. (Evan Vucci / AP)