One popular Chicago winter activity -- especially for tourists given its proximity to downtown -- is ice skating in Millennium Park. Similar to the Rockefeller Center Ice Rink in New York, the Millennium Park ice skating rink is set in an iconic location and its picturesque setting certainly sets the mood, especially in the evening.

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To be honest, I'm kind of a Grinch around Christmas time. I just get overloaded with how LONG the season has become, thanks to places like Target putting out the Christmas display the day after Halloween these days. Somehow I prefer my holidays to be shorter than two months. But there's one thing that can melt my black, shriveled heart: Christmas lights. I'm an absolute sucker for holiday displays -- and I know I'm not alone, which is why I put together a list of some of my favorite Christmas lights in Chicago. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

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Remember the final scene of the movie A Christmas Story, where Ralphie and his family are sitting in a deserted Chinese restaurant "enjoying" a whole duck, when the server not-so-gently engages in removing its head? Fortunately, Chicago has some better options for dining out on Christmas Eve and Christmas day than Hohman, Indiana in the 1940s. Here are some of my recommendations for Christmas dinner in Chicago.

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Christkindlmarket, a German tradition, has also found a home in the Windy City. This Christmas holiday market takes place in Chicago's Daley Plaza downtown and and offers unique crafts and gifts for sale, a variety of entertainment, as well as German food and drinks. What usually draws me down every year is the Glühwein, a yummy hot spiced wine that helps warm me up in the December chill. Pair that with some sausage and a handmade cuckoo clock and I'm a man fulfilled.

• What: Christkindlmarket Chicago 2009
• Where: Daley Plaza (Washington and Dearborn)
• When: Now through December 24, 2009
• Admission: FREE!

Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry gets into the holiday spirit with its annual Christmas Around the World, which kicks off today. Just as the name implies, the exhibit takes a look at how various cultures celebrate the winter holiday across the globe, with performances from multiple dance and chorus groups as well as over 50 trees decorated by various ethnic groups throughout Chicago. The 45-foot tree in the museum's main hall features over 25,000 lights and is decorated with ornaments -- this year's theme pays homage to their temporary exhibit, The White House: A Look Inside.

• What: Christmas Around the World
• Where: Museum of Science and Industry, 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago
• When: November 20, 2009 - January 3, 2010
• Admission: Christmas Around the World is included in the museum's general admission

So you Oprah fans out there -- have you always been dreaming of taking a trip to Chicago, scoring Oprah tickets, and go on a shopping spree at the Oprah store? Well you had better do it sooner than later. Oprah Winfrey has announced that she's hanging up her talk show hat in 2011, after her 25th season. That's right, Oprah is quitting her show. Let the freak-out commence.

The popular Chicago Transit Authority Holiday Train returns for the 2009 Christmas season this Saturday, November 21. The CTA is already a fun, inexpensive way to take in the sights (especially if you have kids, mine love cruising the "L"), and the Holiday Train certainly removes some of the doldrums of riding mass transit.

The six-car train is adorned with thousands of lights, and has a flat car in the middle featuring Santa and his reindeer. The insides of the cars are decorated with bows, garland, lights, and more.

The Holiday Train shows up first on the Red and Purple lines, and rotates throughout the various CTA routes until Christmas as part of regular rail service (you have to pay the normal CTA fare). The train will run between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. on weekends, and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays, and makes all stops along their respective routes. Visit the CTA website for the full schedule to find out when the Holiday Train will be pulling into your stop.

More on About.com:

• Chicago public transportation overview

The Magnificent Mile Lights Festival officially kicks off the Michigan Avenue shopping season in Chicago, with numerous fun family activities and the highlight, the Mickey Mouse parade illuminating over one million lights along Michigan Avenue, which takes place every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. For more information, check out my Magnificent Mile Lights Festival profile.

• What: Magnificent Mile Lights Festival 2009
• Where: Michigan Avenue between Oak Street and the Chicago River
• When: November 21, 2009
• Admission: FREE!

Trying to ride the wave of the previous smash Broadway hit, The Producers, another Mel Brooks' classic movie has been turned into a live musical -- this time it's Young Frankenstein, which has landed in Chicago. Like The Producers, the stage version of Young Frankenstein follows the same plot line as the movie, but injects musical song and dance numbers throughout the production. So, did the theater producers strike gold for the second time? Despite winning a couple of awards, it doesn't sound like it according to this review at Chicagoist.com. But if you like your musical theater covered in thick cheese, it might be right up your alley.

• What: Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein
• Where: Cadillac Palace Theatre
• When: Now through December 13, 2009
• Tickets: $30 - $90, available online through Ticketmaster

The popular performing group Cirque du Soleil is returning to Chicago with Banana Shpeel, and lending their decidedly unique interpretations not to the circus this time, but rather vaudeville. Banana Shpeel is a decidedly different turn for Cirque du Soleil, in that the act has a distinct narrative.

The show tells the tale of Shmelky, Emmett, and Katie -- a theater producer, actor, and love interest, respectively -- and the ins and outs and highs and lows of producing a stage show. Of course, this being Cirque du Soleil, a one sentence description certainly oversimplifies things and it's sure to be a wild ride, including, as Cirque describes it, "crazy humour and intense choreography." This is a preview of the show before it takes up residency in New York.

• What: Cirque du Soleil's Banana Shpeel
• Where: Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State Street, Chicago
• When: November 19, 2009 through January 3, 2010
• Tickets: $35 - $82. Tickets are available online