Program 690a: Hamburg; The Art of Europe; Extreme Sports

Find out why Germany's "second city," the industrial northern port of Hamburg, is a first-choice getaway for many of the country's residents. Then get the inside scoop on Rick's "Art of Europe" TV miniseries, which explores the backstories of the continent's greatest artworks. And consider what drives some death-defying athletes to go all-in for "extreme sports."

• Berlin-based tour guides Caroline Marburger and Holger Zimmer
• Gene Openshaw, writer for the "Rick Steves Art of Europe" TV series
• New York Times sports journalist John Branch, author of "Sidecountry" (W. W. Norton)

• The Rick Steves online guide to Hamburg.
• Caroline Marburger writes at BerlinLocals.com about Berlin history.
• Caroline's Facebook page includes her contact information.
• Holger Zimmer can be reached for custom tours at [email protected].
• Rick's miniseries "Art of Europe" premiered in 2022 on public TV stations across the U.S. It is also available to view on demand on the Rick Steves website.
• Gene Openshaw is Rick's co-author on their recent book "Europe's Top 100 Masterpieces."
• Sir Kenneth Clark's closing thoughts from his 1969 "Civilisation" BBC-TV series.
• John Branch writes about sports for the New York Times. His book "Sidecountry: Tales of Death and Life from the Back Roads of Sports" features 20 of his favorite feature articles.
• John won a Pulitzer Prize for his 2012 feature story "Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek" about a deadly avalanche near Stevens Pass in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state.
• Rick spoke further with John Branch about his book "Sidecountry" on Travel with Rick Steves program #665 in February 2022, and about the Utah family that is the subject of his book "The Last Cowboys" on program #680 in July 2022.