Burt Wolf: Travels and Traditions

During the last few years river cruising in Europe has become a major tourist attraction. This program is about a cruise called Tulip Time. It starts in Amsterdam, a city filled with art, architecture and places to shop. Next stop is Schoonhaven, famous for its silver jewelry. Then Dordrecht to discover how windmills really work, and Antwerp, which is the world epicenter for diamonds. We also visit Brussels for great food and beer.

The islands of Bermuda are the result of a volcanic eruption that took place about 70 million years ago. It sent up a three mile high needle of rock that topped out just below the surface of the water. The rock was in the middle of the Gulf Stream which comes up from the Caribbean and keeps the water warm throughout the year. Burt scoots around the city capital of Hamilton, learns about The Royal Dockyards where the British kept their fleet during the Revolutionary War, visits an outstanding Aquarium, and checks out the local food.

The Rhine is one of the world's great rivers. It starts in the Swiss Alps and flows for 865 miles through six European countries ending up in the Netherlands and the North Sea. It connects to dozens of other rivers and canals forming a vast inland waterway. Burt visits Cologne's chocolate museum, sails through the Rhine Gorge, stops for Rudesheim's specialty coffee drink, explores Heidelberg's castle and ends with a tour of Strasbourg.

Burt starts his trip in Paris France. Then cruises to Beaune for their famous wine auction and a visit to a 700 year old hospital that has become one of the great architectural landmarks of France. Next we tour the Chateau De Cormatin in Tournus which was built by the finance minister to a king of France. It was good to be king and perhaps even better to handle his money. Then to Lyon once the silk capital of Europe. Lyon is also the town where modern French cuisine was invented.

People have been living in Scotland for at least 6,000 years. Burt tours Edinburgh's Old Town, one of the oldest communities in Great Britain and finds out that much of it has remained intact. The national beverage of Scotland is whiskey -- a whiskey of such importance that the rest of the world simply calls it Scotch. There are about one hundred different Scotch whiskey producers in Scotland and each one has their own particular approach to the craft and we find out why.

Burt starts his trip in Amsterdam, and makes his way south to Middelburg in Holland where we visit its Norbertine Abbey. Next we stop into Keukenhof Gardens, the world's largest outdoor exhibition of flowers and learn about Tulip Mania which was the economic crises of the 1600s. Next we visit Middelburg and the Abbey of Our Lady to find out how the Dutch Delta Works saved the country. Then we say cheese in the town of Edam.

The early maps of the New World show the islands of the Bahamas as a chain that runs in an arc from the east coast of Florida to the top of Hispaniola. It was where Columbus first arrived in the Americas and each of its islands has a distinct culture. Burt takes us on a tour of the Grand Bahamas to find out what's grand.

Burt cruises the French Riviera and Provence along a Mediterranean coastline that made it a playground for the rich and famous. The region is filled with ancient ruins, 2000 year old towns, unique shops and good things to eat and drink. The warm weather, intense sunlight, and magnificent scenery attracted artists like Van Gogh, Cezanne, Picasso and Matisse. Burt takes us to the places were Van Gogh painted and contrasts the paintings with today's landscape.

As Christopher Columbus was sailing back to Spain at the end of his fourth and final voyage to the New World, a storm came up between Panama and Haiti and pushed him off course. It pushed him to the west, directly into the islands that are now known as the Cayman Islands. Burt tours the island and discovers the history of scuba diving as he swims with the stingrays.

For over 30 years Burt has been living in hotels around the world. And many times he has stayed in some of the greatest hotels in the world. Each of these famous hotels bases its success on different elements and yet there is a common approach to attending to the needs of each quest. In this program Burt shows you some of his favorites and why he considers them best of class.