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Explore Italy with 'The Travel Guys'

By Florence Gordon

Published 12:48 PDT, Wed July 7, 2021

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The pandemic has played havoc with our lifestyle.

For the retired who usually head south for the winter, or families who get away during spring break or for an annual vacation, lives have been on hold during 2020 and most of 2021. That doesn’t mean we can’t dream and plan for the future, so I’m inviting you to travel with me through the lens of a camera.

In 2003, The Travel Guys launched a new TV series. This year marks 18 years of filming over 200 destinations, but when the pandemic stopped all travel, our production company had to cancel all travel projects. We were fortunate to have a good library of travel episodes so our TV series continues to air.

Our mission has always been to film popular destinations for new tourists and discover new destinations for experienced travellers. For those who can’t travel for whatever reason, we take them along through the lens of a camera and today we are going to Italy.

Rome, Italy is known for its historic sites: the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and the Vatican, not to mention the great food and wine. Travellers beware, this is not a destination for counting calories.

On my first trip we stopped for lunch and were served a huge platter of noodles smothered in whipped melted butter and cheese. We thought this was the entrée—wrong. We didn’t realize the Italians serve pasta as an appetizer, so we loosened our belts and worked our way through all the wonderful food.

Everyone who goes to Italy for the first time usually goes to Rome. Today we are going to visit a few other cities, travelling from the north all the way down to southern Italy.

Torino (Turin) in northern Italy

Home of the 2006 Winter Olympics, Torino is known for its wine, cheese, chocolate and truffles and is described as one of Italy’s overlooked cities. The Travel Guys climbed the tallest tower in Torino, the Mole Antonelliana (named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli). Built in 1863, it now houses the largest museum of cinema in the world. After that, it was off to the city of Asti.

Asti in northern Italy

During their visit, the town was celebrating its annual festival which is centred around a horse race through the streets. Each area of the town of Asti is represented by a racehorse. It’s one of the oldest races of its kind in Italy, dating back to 1275.

Piedmont Region in northern Italy

The Travel Guys took a visit to the Mondodelvino winery to sample wine during their harvest season. While in the Piedmont region, they went hunting with a truffle hunter and his dog. Did you know that white truffle is valued at $3,000 per kilogram? Prior to COVID-19, I attended a wedding in Vancouver and no one touched their pasta appetizer until I mentioned the value of the sprinkle of truffle on the pasta. After that, everyone devoured the appetizer.

Sicily and Taormina in southern Italy

The Travel Guys travelled all the way down to the southern tip of Italy to meet up with Umberto Menghi, Vancouver’s famous chef and owner of Il Giardino. They enjoyed sampling wine from the vineyard before heading off to the beautiful city of Taormina with more wine sampling from the vineyards of Montalto winery.

To experience this virtual Italian vacation, go to www.travelguystv.com, select “Episodes,” and choose “Italy & Sicily.”

Additional travel episodes air weekly on CHEK TV.

A keen and experienced traveller, Florence Gordon is a contributing writer to the Richmond Sentinel.