Venice episode with Eugene Levy--Reluctant Traveler on appleTV+

[quercus alba]

Just stumbled across this series with Schitt's Creek's Eugene Levy doing a kind of semi-comic travel documentary.

The episode on Venice was quite beautifully shot, but also interesting in showing some less famous sites like the Jewish ghetto and "back street" canals. Plus, in between his cheesy (and sometimes cringy) commentary, he often does dispense some good wisdom about travel and people and such.

[cruisemom42]

I saw him on a late-night show talking about this new series. I don't have Apple TV but sometimes can find shows in other ways.... 😉. I'll look for this one.

[quercus alba]

10 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I saw him on a late-night show talking about this new series. I don't have Apple TV but sometimes can find shows in other ways.... 😉. I'll look for this one.

Well this would be a great month to buy a new iphone or ipad then, and get the free 3 months of AppleTV that come with it...since Season 3 of Ted Lasso drops on March 15! 
⚽ Futbal is life!☺️

[little britain]

16 hours ago, quercus alba said:

Just stumbled across this series with Schitt's Creek's Eugene Levy doing a kind of semi-comic travel documentary.

The episode on Venice was quite beautifully shot, but also interesting in showing some less famous sites like the Jewish ghetto and "back street" canals. Plus, in between his cheesy (and sometimes cringy) commentary, he often does dispense some good wisdom about travel and people and such.

He's not exactly Stanley Tucci is he?!  Just watching the first episode full of whining! 

[bennybear]

That’s the premise, the reluctant traveller! We watched two last tonight and really enjoyed them, it was interesting to see the Gritti Palace and the gondolier workshops we have visited.   And we thought the episode on Tokyo was great. 
I was also reluctant and first thinking it might be like the documentary where Conk(sp) asks cringeworthy questions and I couldn’t bear another episode.  
But I was pleasantly surprised, and I adored Schitt’s creek although not at first. 
So no he’s not Tucci, but he’s not trying to be.  They all have their strengths.  

[pfopma]

Love this show - I enjoyed the Venice episode as well as Finland and believe it or not - Utah. He does go to a lot of diverse places but there is an underlying theme much like Tucci, Rick Steves, and others. That is get out and talk to the people who live in the place you are visiting. That seems to be what makes places memorable.

[bennybear]

We really enjoyed Utah as well,  we had just heard about the resort from a server at a resort in Hawaii who had worked there previously  So it was quite a surprise to see this beautiful resort on tv the next evening.  
 

I agree, it is always the people that make things special.  Our best travel experiences have resulted from these interactions.  

[cruisemom42]

Everyone travels differently. Just like there are different types of learners (visual, auditory, learn-by-doing), there are different travel styles. Travel shows almost require a style that leans on local interactions. Otherwise it would be just a person wandering around and spouting facts and impressions. 

Saying this probably will sound rude, but I don't really care that much about meeting locals when I travel. 😱  What makes travel special to me is seeing where history was made -- the sites of ancient civilizations, ancient battles, places where great historic figures lives and breathed, the things people wrote poems, epics, songs about. Second to that, I love seeing the height of human achievements through the ages -- sculpture, architecture, paintings, jewelry and other decorative objects, etc.

 

I'm not saying that it's not pleasant to converse with locals -- at meals, in lines, etc. But I'm not a great one for wanting to cozy up to the local vintners or cheesemakers or artisans or "everyday people". The type of tour where you visit local people in their homes has always seemed cringey to me, like an imposition.  I've had great conversations with guides, but they've been about a shared love of history, or experiences at an archaeological dig, or local lore. 

 

The things I remember most are impressions, moments when I've been more or less on my own in the environment. Sitting on a column drum at Troy, trying to figure out the (seven? nine?) different layers of history, one on top of the other. Walking along the aqueduct on the beach at Caesarea Marittima in Israel at sunset, looking for graffiti written by the Roman soldiers who built it. Studying the 1900-year-old writing tablets in the almost empty museum at Vindolanda, along Hadrian's Wall, trying to imagine what it must have felt like to be a Roman soldier posted to this desolate border of the empire. Standing on the roof of Notre Dame at noon while the bells tolled -- so loud you can actually feel the vibrations -- while looking out at Paris below me.

 

I've stored away so many impressions like these. Maybe one of these days I'll write that book I'm always thinking about, lol.

[redwings1958]

Watch the Venice Episode of "Someone Feed Phil" on Netflix;  Good insights