• 3
    watchers
  • 32
    plays
  • 10
    collected
  • 2011-01-01T05:00:00Z on PBS
  • 30m
  • 4h (8 episodes)
  • United States
  • English
  • Documentary
Travels & Traditions is a series of half-hour programs in which award-winning journalist Burt Wolf travels to cities around the world telling the stories of local traditions that have influenced us all. In many locations, he also shows how foreign traditions have influenced the city he is visiting. He reveals the relationship of marriage and food and the history of gaming. And, of course, he examines society and culture through eating.

8 episodes

Season Premiere

2011-01-01T05:00:00Z

11x01 Luzern, Switzerland

Season Premiere

11x01 Luzern, Switzerland

  • 2011-01-01T05:00:00Z30m

Burt takes a lake steamer to the foot of Mount Pilatus and rides the steepest cogwheel railway in the world to the top of a 7,000 foot peak for some of the most impressive views of Switzerland. The he visits the Lion Monument that honors the Swiss Guards who died defending the King of France in 1792. Mark Twain described the monument as the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world. He walks across the Chapel Bridge that was constructed in the first half of the 14th century as a part of the city's fortifications. Burt also tours the Old Town with its fountain squares and painted buildings and the Jesuit Church - the first large scale Baroque church in Switzerland which was constructed in 1666.

2011-01-08T05:00:00Z

11x02 Touring Ireland

11x02 Touring Ireland

  • 2011-01-08T05:00:00Z30m

Burt visits Ireland's great pilgrimage sites, follows the trails of St. Patrick, investigates the history of Guinness, learns about the most valuable book in Ireland, looks at the great architecture of Dublin and finds out what's good to eat. This program could easily become the basis for your own fascinating tour of Ireland.

11x03 Burt Wolf's Family Vacation

  • 2011-01-15T05:00:00Z30m

Each summer, Burt takes his wife, a selection of his sons and daughter-in-laws and grandchildren to Europe. This program takes an irreverent look at one of their itineraries which includes Prague - the capital of the Czech Republic and Leukerbad in Switzerland. Our editors think it is Burt's contribution to "Reality TV" - somewhere between "Survivor" and "Animal Planet".

11x04 German Immigration to the U.S.

  • 2011-01-22T05:00:00Z30m

We tend to think that the largest groups to immigrate to America were from Italy or Ireland. But that is not the case. The greatest numbers of people to immigrate to America were from Germany. Today, over 60 million Americans consider themselves of German descent. This program, shot on-location in Germany, takes a look at who they were and where they came from.

This program looks at a group of famous photographs that have something to do with eating and drinking, including Halsman's photo of Marilyn Monroe having a hamburger at a drive-in, Cartier-Bresson's picnic near Paris, Duncan's photo of Picasso at lunch. Burt, Jeff Rosenheim, a curator of photograph at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Andy Smith, the editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America and Kathryn Howard Oremland, a graduate of Sotheby's Institute of Art explain why each photograph is important, and the history and significance of the gastronomic elements. The recipe for each food is then demonstrated by a leading chef.

11x08 Connecting The Dots In America

  • 2011-02-19T05:00:00Z30m

During Burt's 40 years of reporting, he has lived through a half-dozen recessions in the United States and visited dozens of countries during their economic downturns. In this program, he travels across the U.S. talking to people who have made our nation economically stronger - creative entrepreneurs with great imaginations who started small businesses based on their innovative ideas and technology and made fortunes for themselves and the people who helped them get started.

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