Get Ready: 16 New TV Shows Are on the Way

Thanks to everyone who overwhelmed our shipping department and cleaned out much of our supplies of Civita Day Packs. We sold over 4,500 on our Facebook blowout. I’m enjoying the havoc these monthly Facebook specials create!

It’s a busy week here at ETBD. We just picked up my car – a GMC Yukon – which will be my home for the next 20 days as we set out Saturday morning on our Rick Steves’ Road Trip USA. I’m getting really primed to do a lot of travel writing along the way, and I’ll be posting daily, so I hope you can settle in and be my travel partner for the next three weeks as it’s Florida or bust! (BTW, there are still seats for many of my lectures along the way. You can book through our hosts on line.) Also, while you’re logged on, my sister is strapping the booties onto her team and getting ready to set off on her Iditarod race in Alaska this weekend. I’ll be avidly following her reports daily, as many of you will too, on our website.

I just finished a sit-down with Simon, our TV producer, and we finalized the descriptions and titles of all the programs we are producing for public television this year. I thought you might enjoy a sneak peek. Here’s what we’re working on now and what will be released nationally this fall:

TV Show Descriptions: Rick Steves’ Europe VII (for September 2012 release)

701 — Rome: Ancient Glory
Part one of three on the Eternal City, this episode resurrects the rubble and brings back to life the capital of the ancient world. Focusing on the grandeur of classical Rome, we marvel at the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the empire’s exquisite art. Then we go offbeat by bicycle to see the Appian Way and marvels of Roman engineering.

702 — Rome: Baroque Brilliance
This second of three episodes on Rome reveals a city busy with life and bursting with Baroque. We ramble through the venerable heart of Rome, admire breathtaking Bernini statues, ponder sunbeams inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, and mix and mingle with the Romans during an early-evening stroll. Following an exquisite Roman dinner, we join locals after dark, lacing together the Eternal City’s most romantic nightspots.

703 — Rome: Back-Street Riches
In this third of three episodes on the Eternal City, we explore this grand metropolis—so rich in art and culture—on a more intimate scale, delving into its back lanes and unheralded corners. Venturing through the crusty Trastevere district, visiting the historic Jewish Ghetto, and enjoying art treasures in a string of rarely visited churches, we uncover charms of hidden Rome that compete with its marquee sights.

704 — Florence: Heart of the Renaissance
Fifteenth-century Florence was the home of the Renaissance and the birthplace of our modern world. In this first of two episodes, we gaze into the self-assured eyes of Michelangelo’s David, enjoy Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, delve into the 3-D wonders of Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise, appreciate Fra Angelico’s serene beauty, and climb the dome that kicked off the Renaissance. Then we cross the Arno to where Florentine artisans live, work, and eat…very well.

705 — Florentine Delights and Tuscan Side Trips
In this second of a two episodes on Florence, we enjoy more of the exquisite artistic treasures of the city that propelled Europe out of the Middle Ages. Then we side-trip to a couple of rival cities and cultural capitals in their own right, Pisa and Lucca, where we’ll marvel at a tipsy tower, circle a city on its ramparts, and enjoy some Puccini in his hometown.

706 — Paris: Regal and Intimate
In Paris, amidst all of its grandeur, the little joys of life are still embraced. In this first of two episodes on Paris, we cruise the Seine River, visit Napoleon’s tomb, and take in the Louvre. Then we feel the pulse of Paris—shopping in village-like neighborhoods, attending church in a grand pipe organ loft, and celebrating the mother of all revolutions with a big, patriotic Bastille Day bang.

707 — Paris: Embracing Life and Art
In this second of two episodes on Europe’s “City of Light,” we ride a unicorn into the Middle Ages at the Cluny Museum, take a midnight Paris joyride in a classic car, get an extremely close-up look at heavenly stained glass in Sainte-Chapelle, go on a tombstone pilgrimage at Père Lachaise Cemetery, and savor the Parisian café scene. Few cites are so confident in their expertise in good living—and as travelers, we get to share in that uniquely Parisian joie de vivre.

708 — London: Historic and Dynamic
In many-faceted London, we ponder royal tombs in Westminster Abbey, learn how to triple the calories of an English scone at teatime, discover treasures in the British Library, enjoy the vibrant evening scene in Soho, uncover Churchill’s secret WWII headquarters, join the 9-to-5 crowd in the new London, shop where the Queen shops, and straddle the Prime Meridian at Greenwich.

709 — North England’s Lake District and Durham
Hiking through the Cumbrian Lake District—England’s green and pristine mountain playground—we admire idyllic lakes, discover misty waterfalls, tour a slate mine, and conquer stony summits. And we’ll meet the locals—and their beloved dogs and sheep—everywhere. Then we play a little cricket, hike Hadrian’s Wall, and are dazzled by Durham’s Norman cathedral.

710 — Venice: City of Dreams
After sorting through the monuments of Venice’s powerful past, we trace its decline from Europe’s most powerful city to its most hedonistic one. We cruise the Grand Canal, luxuriate in a venerable café, and savor fresh fish canalside with Venetian friends. Becoming as anonymous as possible in this city of masks, we’ll be dazzled by masterpieces of the Venetian Renaissance and get intimate with the city of Casanova…on a gondola under the moonlight.

711 — Venice and its Lagoon
Venice, more than any other European city, has an endlessly seductive charm. For centuries, it was nicknamed La Serenissima, “The Most Serenely Beautiful One”—and for good reason. Along with sampling the sumptuous art treasures of Venice and exploring its back-street wonders, we cruise its lagoon, stopping in fiery Murano for glass, pastel Burano for lace, and murky Torcello for a sense of where Venice was born.

712, 713, 714 — European Travel Skills, Parts I, II & III (3 episodes)
These three episodes distill Rick Steves’ 30 years of travel experience into 90 minutes of practical advice on how to have a fun, affordable, and culturally broadening trip to Europe. Shot on location in Amsterdam, Germany’s Rhineland, Venice, Siena, the Italian Riviera, the Swiss Alps, Paris, and London, these episodes cover Rick’s favorite 3,000-mile European loop while providing viewers with essential travel skills. We cover tips on planning an itinerary, hurdling the language barrier, driving and catching the train, avoiding scams, eating well, sleeping smart, staying safe, and everything you need to enjoy the best possible experience.

One-Hour Special — Rick Steves’ Rome: Eternally Engaging (October, 2012)
Rome is, in many ways, the capital of our Western Civilization. In this hour-long special, Rick Steves resurrects the rubble while tracing the rise and fall of ancient Rome, celebrates the highlights of Bernini’s Baroque Rome, and makes a pilgrimage to the Vatican. Then, after delving into crusty neighborhoods where the character and energy of the Eternal City is most intimately felt, we join Rick for a Roman feast and an after-dark stroll lacing together the city’s romantic nightspots.

Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey (October, 2012)
Rick Steves teams up with the Cascade Symphony Orchestra and maestro Michael Miropolsky for an hour-long musical tour that starts in the USA, then touches down in seven different European countries. As your musical tour guide, Steves sets the context, then mixes evocative video images from each country with Romantic 19th-century anthems to celebrate how music stirs the patriotic soul of freedom lovers in every land. The musical itinerary for this symphonic journey: Grieg in Norway, Smetana in the Czech Republic, Strauss in Austria, Berlioz in France, Elgar in England, Wagner in Germany, and Verdi in Italy.

The Rome special is a 60-minute distillation of the three, new, half-hour episodes on Rome. Many of these programs will retire old shows we shot 10 years ago. And in the case of Rome, Florence, Venice, and Paris, we are replacing one show with two or two shows with three. In other words, we are covering our favorite destinations with much more depth – a luxury I am thoroughly enjoying. The shows promise to be the best we’ve ever produced. I can hardly wait for you to see them.