Program 692: Making the Art of Europe; 20 Years of Ireland; Experiencing Austria

On the next Travel with Rick Steves, we'll get a taste of Austria, beyond the usual tourist sites in Vienna and Salzburg, where farmstays and festivals can make you want to wear lederhosen for a day.  

Rick's right-hand man on all things Ireland shares what he's liked most about researching guidebooks and leading tours in the Emerald Isle for the last 20 years.

And Rick's TV producer shares tales from behind the scenes on their two-year-long filming project on the greatest art in Europe.

Fundraising with Program #692

Rick makes a few references to the value of public broadcasting in segment A this week. So this week's program could be easy to turn into a fundraising edition of Travel with Rick Steves, with a little editing work on the station end.

You can shorten segments for any current-week's program, to give you more time for local fundraising pitching, using the cue points between "resets" within each segment.  The time cues listed below are based on using the full 59-minute file of the program, which you can download from the "radiocontent" download site.  

This week's "extra-1" with Simon Griffith could also work as an extra fundraising segment, since Rick concludes it with a statement about the value of public broadcasting.  That piece can be downloaded from the station support site with the rest of program the 692 audio files.

The station support site also has promo-length fundraising pitches from Rick that you can include during your local cutaways.  If you want to fundraise with the Rick Steves premium package, you can also insert any of Rick's generic pitches from previous fundraising specials.  For the premium package, be sure to use his premium-specific pitches included with the files from fundraiser #2022-1.

Program #692 time cues between resets in segment A:

• 11:41.2
• 16:59.15

In segment B:

• 25:55.6
• 28:59.3
• 34:15.3

In segment C:

• 46:14.25
• 48:44.1
• 50:05.3
• 55:59.4

• Simon Griffith, producer of the Rick Steves' Europe TV productions
• Tour guide Pat O'Connor, co-author of the "Rick Steves Ireland" guidebook (Avalon)
• Andrea Wolf tour guide based in Graz, Austria  

• Rick provides a short preview of the six-hour "Art of Europe" TV series that he produced with Simon Griffith. It premiers this month on many public TV stations across the US. Check your local listings for airtimes and channels.
• The Rick Steves online guides to Ireland and to Northern Ireland.
• Pat O'Connor's workshop with travel preparation tips for Ireland is available on You Tube.
• Rick reminds us that the small town of Doolin has long been a center for hearing traditional Irish music performances. It's on the west coast of County Clare, overlooking the Aran Islands.
• The Rick Steves online guide to Austria.
• The world's largest historical armoury is in Graz, Austria. The Styrian Armoury features European military history from the 15th to the 18th centuries.

• "On our recent trip, my wife and I discovered Bramberg and Goldegg castle. High above Bramberg, we stayed at a farm B&B and became part of a warm and friendly three-generation farm family. Goldegg castle has the most fantastic knight’s room that I have ever seen. (Michael in Denver, Colorado)
• "Driving is easy in Austria and the roads are great. Stop in small places and stay at local B&B/pensions; visit Ramsau and get the WOW factor of the Alps; visit Kaprun & walk the Thun-Klamm Gorge & Falls; go further up & experience the tour of the Kaprun Reservoirs - outstanding; drive west past Mittersill on #165 to Krimmler Falls in Hohe Tauern Nat'l Park."  (April in Roseville, California)
• "I love Austria's rural villages' summer music nights or local dances. Especially memorable is mid-Summer's night round a bonfire with young boys and girls dancing round the fire, little girls in their dirndls offering special handpicked flower bouquets, each flower representing a certain quality or wish for the new year. I've even been dancing in the streets with a local festival and had a sweet Austrian lederhosen-clad friend give me an edelweiss flower. Can't beat that!" (Sally in Lavelle, Pennsylvania)

• Orchestre de l'Association des Concerts Colonne (Georges Tzipine, cond.), "'L'Allée des Marmousets,' from 'Si Versaille m'était conté' soundtrack," Le Film Français: Honegger, Françaix, Sauguet, Thiriet / EMI Classics
• CBM_CBM_0076_00101_Age_Of_Importance_APM
• Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, Marco Boni, conductor, "Souvenir de Florence in D minor, Op. 70 - Allegro Vivace (Tchaikovsky)," Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings;  Souvenir de Florence /  PentaTone
• Haris Alexiou, "Magissa," Live '92-'97 / Mercury-Polygram (Greece)
• Baltimore Consort, "Mulberry Garden," A Trip To Killburn / Dorian
• * Soul 'n' Soda, "Mokkascience," Nikki Beach vol. 1 (collection) / Loungism Recordings
• The Irish Descendants, "A Walk in the Irish Rain," Gypsies & Lovers / Warner Music Canada
• L'Orchestra Numerique, "Blarney Jig," Sunday Sessions: 40 Classic Irish Songs (collection) / SFO
• David Russell, guitar, "The Bucks of Oranmore (reel)," The Emerald Isles (collection) / Telarc
• Kirkmount, "Hathorne Tree of Cawdor," Late Summer Air / (self-released)
• Brendan Begley and Caoimhín O Raghallaigh, "The Green Cottage," A Moment of Madness / IrishMusic.Net
• Open the Door for Three, Kieran O'Hare, uilleann pipes, "Church Hill," The Joyful Hour / (self-released: www.openthedoorforthree.com ) 
• Bill Whelan, "Riverdance," The Celtic Heartbeat Collection 2 / Celtic Heartbeat
• Gerald Moore, piano, "He promised me at parting (from 'Irish Songs' - Beethoven)," The Fabulous Victoria de los Angeles, disc 4 / EMI Classics      
• * London Symphony Orchestra, "Marcradh Shíodha (Fairy Cavalcade) (from 'The Children of Lir,' composed by Patrick Cassidy)," Patrick Cassidy: The Children of Lir / Celtic Heartbeat
• Toronto Symphony Orchestra, "Viennese Musical Clock (Kodaly),"  Special Edition, vol. 2 (collection) / CBC Enterprises  
• Anja Lechner & Pablo Márquez, "Fischerweise, op. 96, no. 4, D.881 (Schubert)," Die Nacht / ECM
• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, "Cassation in G, K63 (Mozart)," Relax with the Classics (collection) / LIND Institute
• Symfunny Orchestra, Robert Lafond, cond., "My Favorite Things," Jazz Classics on Toys / Atma
• Edelweiss, « Bring Me Edelweiss (remix), » (single) / (self-released)

• Rick refers to his "new public TV arts series" and "latest project" in the billboard, and at several places during the segment A interview. He adds that it's "just been finished" and, at 17:28, that it's "premiering this month" on public TV stations.
• Patrick O'Connor reminds us that it rains a lot in Ireland, in the billboard, and at 21:55 in segment B.
• At 23:57, Pat says Ireland's economy "is back on track" after a sharp downturn several years ago.  He and Rick talk about Ireland's potential as the native English-speaking member of the EU, since Britain left. The point is also made in this week's promo.  At 28:23, Pat adds that he thinks the Brexit has created a tension among businesses between Northern Ireland and the Republic, but which tourists shouldn't be able to notice. 
• At 45:09, Andrea notes that the Austrian national holiday is on October 26.
• At 50:22, Rick notes that the conversation about Austria was recorded "prior to the start of the pandemic." Sally starts her call talking about being in Austria for Midsummer festivities, around the summer solstice. 
• At 52:31, Andrea reports that wearing traditional clothing, lederhosen and drindls, has started  becoming more fashionable in the past ten years or so.
• Andrea bursts Rick's bubble that the song "Edelweiss" from the movie "The Sound of Music" is purely an American movie fiction, and is unknown in Austria.  At 57:18, she describes the "new wine" that's only available each year between late August and November.