Burt Wolf: Travels and Traditions

Burt is joined by travel expert, Steve Perillo for a tour of Venice, Italy. They take a water taxi through the canals, visit the Basilica of San Marco, the Doge's Palace and the Bell Tower. Burt and Steve stop in for coffee at one of the oldest coffee houses in Europe, find out what's cooking in some of the best restaurants and discover the real story behind the founding of the city.

Burt, travel expert Steve Perillo and Burt's youngest son Nicholas, spend a week in Florence, learning how to buy gloves that fit properly, who makes the finest jewelry boxes, and the art of coloring marbled paper. They visit the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum and discover why Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, Sophia Loren, and Julia Roberts wore his shoes in their movies. They find out how product placement influenced the artworks of the Renaissance and tour the great tourist attractions of the city.

Burt visits the Coliseum and discovers that it had a roof that could be pulled into place during bad weather - 2,000 years before the Houston Astrodome. We find out why the Pantheon was never broken down for its marble, look into the best places for pizza, and ice cream, discover a new hotel in the finest part of town and take a private tour of the Vatican, St. Peters and the Sistine Chapel.

Burt takes a group of public television viewers on a tour of Assisi and Siena. They visit the Basilica of St. Francis and discover how the paintings of Giotto made a permanent change in the way painters saw the world. They travel on to Siena and visit the great Church and historic attractions of the city. They also have a private tour of one of Italy's most important wineries and a special tasting of the wines of Tuscany.

For a while, Burt lived in the Swiss city of Lucerne. He describes it as "Home on the Range", but the range he had in mind is the Alpine Mountain Range of central Europe. The city sits at the end of a great lake surrounded by snow-covered mountains. It is one of the most beautiful settings in Europe with an amazing number of cultural attractions including the Rosengart Museum with its outstanding collection of works by Picasso.

The ancient route of the Venetian traders, from Venice to Montenegro; cruising to Turkey, Malta and Sicily; cruise ship tour.