Europe to the Max With Rudy Maxa - Enchanted Italy
Rudy Maxa is public radio’s original Savvy Traveler and host of the American Public Television series, Smart Travels. In Europe to the Max, Rudy captures the vitality and character of Europe’s magnificent cities. Lushly filmed in high-definition, each program goes beyond the guidebooks to discover hidden treasures and off-the-beaten-path surprises! Rudy’s authoritative tips enhance the travel experience for beginning and seasoned travelers alike. Join Rudy in Enchanted Italy as he surrenders himself to the charms of some of Italy’s most magical cities. In Venice, Rudy tours the famous sites, and also shares his secrets of how to escape the crowds by visiting the neighborhoods of Dorsoduro, Cannaregio, and San Polo. In Florence, Rudy brings the Renaissance to life through the fabled city’s glorious museums and architecture. Rudy explores Milan, a European center for finance and fashion, then takes a train north to visit serene Lake Como. Old World elegance and La! Dolce Vita await in Genoa and the Italian Riviera.
EXTRA FEATURES
• Scenic Tours: San Marco, the Uffizi Gallery, Lake Como, and Palazzo Reale.
• Maps: Venice, Florence, Milan, Genoa.
• Rudy’s Travel Tips: Ticket Consolidators, Part 1, Ticket Consolidators, Part 2, Travel in Any Language.
Customer Review: Don’t be fooled
I can’t figure out how Rudy has gotten the mileage he’s gotten. I’ve watched many of his videos (heck, at some point, you’ve seen everything else), and I have found him to be consistently, extraordinarily, shallow in his research and understanding of his subject countries and locales. Please understand, I say that in the context of knowing many of his destinations, in some cases quite well.
If you want a light, fluffy, skim of the region, Rudy is your man — he never covers anything that you wouldn’t know about if you gave nine minutes to absent-mindledly flipping through a competent guidebook… and in the same depth. Think of Rudy as a tour bus, passing through at twenty miles an hour, giving you a glimpse, but never quite stopping to let you smell the roses. Or the horse manure. Lite, cheerful, sanitized, smooth, and lo-cal.
Rick Steves is a vastly superior resource, whether or not you are seeking bargain travel — look especially to Rick for help with building and prioritizing a trip around available time, and for help finding special and intimate little spots the big books may overlook. If you want more than Rick offers, you’ll have to start working your way through rather more serious volumes. Rudy ain’t it.
On a positive note, the pictures aren’t ugly. If your library has nothing else, and if you’ve seen everything else on Netflix, you probably won’t regret the money invested, unless you’ve already been to the destination, in which case you may well be asking, “Why, Rudy, why? It would have been so easy to do a much better job.”
Customer Review: A “First Class” Tour Of Italy
This is one of the best quality travel DVD’s on Italy. We own most of the other similar DVD’s offered on Amazon. The production and narration quality sets this DVD apart from the pack. Regardless of the travel DVD that you select I must recommend purchasing a high quality travel guide to drill down to the specific details required for planning a visit to Italy.