Program 793: Aegean Turkey; Florence & Tuscany; Denmark Beyond Copenhagen

Find your own favorite corner of the Old World, on the next Travel with Rick Steves. 

Tour guides from Turkey, Italy and Denmark offer advice for enjoying the sites, without tourist crowds getting in the way. 

They recommend what to look for along the Aegean coast of Turkey, in Florence and in the Tuscan countryside, and on easy day trips from Copenhagen onto charming Danish islands, where historic sites include walking trails with modern art.

Take a virtual vacation each week, on Travel with Rick Steves.

• Turkish tour operator Lale Surmen Aran
• Italy-based tour guides Lisa Anderson and David Tordi 
• Tour guides Camilla Colding-Joergensen and Anja Cuznar

• Lale Surmen Aran operates SRM Travel, which specializes in tours of Turkey and the Middle East.
• Lale and her husband Tankut are co-authors of the Rick Steves Istanbul guidebook.  They also operate a boutique hotel in Mustafapasa, called Cappadocia Estates.
• The Rick Steves online guides to Florence and the region of Tuscany.
• Lisa Anderson is a tour guide who lives in the Piedmont area of Italy.
• David Tordi provides custom tours of central Italy and Sardinia, in person and online.
• David Tordi and his bandmates in Bartender perform at the Umbria Folk Festival.
• The Rick Steves online guide to Denmark.
• Tranekaer International Center for Art and Nature, also known at TICKON, is located on the island of  Langeland.
• Camilla Colding-Joergensen is a tour guide based in Denmark.
• There's a short personal interview with Anja Cuznar in the tour pages of Rick Steves website.

• "My wife and I have been to Florence twice. While we enjoy the city and its art immensely, we would like to go back and check out its surroundings. Everyone goes to Pisa or Siena, but what small towns would you recommend visiting?"  (Zack in Boston)
• Caller is worried about the effects of tourist crowds during the 2025 Jubilee Year. "I’m planning my fourth trip to Florence in November. I read that 35 million pilgrims are expected to visit Rome for the Jubilee Year. How much of that increase will carry over to other parts of Italy?"  (Julie in Northampton, Massachusetts)
• Caller recommends visiting Fredericksborg Castle at Hillerod, the "Danish Versailles." "Ride the train from Copenhagen for less than an hour, walk a few blocks and jump on a ferry across the lake to 500 years of Danish history in a castle perched on three islands. Not crowded. Magnificent chapel. Lovely gardens, paintings, furniture, etc."  Also recommends Aarhus and other towns with public art.  (Neil in Milwaukee)
• Caller recommends visiting art and nature center TICKON: Tranekær Internationale Center for Kunst Og Natur (Center for Art and Nature). "It's a day trip by car and very much off the beaten path.  It surrounds the nearby castle that is open seasonally by ticketed reservations. The castle was not open when we visited but we toured the fabulous sculptures integrated with the forest around the small lake. It's not a 'center' so much as easy walking trails with sculpture."  (Carolyn in San Diego)

• Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ari Sasilainen, cond, "Concertpolka (Hans Christian Lumbye)," The Nordic Experience, disc 2 (collection) / Warner Classics
• Orient Expressions, “Lodos,” Divan / DoubleMoon (Turkey)    
• Aziza, “Hayat,” East 2 West: Global Departures from Istanbul, Flight 001 (collection) / DoubleMoon-EMI Records
• MFO, "Bodrum," The Best of MFO: Mazhar Fuat Ozkan / Balet Plak (Turkey) (1989)
• Tugba Ekinci, “Oha Falan Oldum Yani,” Turkish Groove (collection) / Putumayo
• * Prague Symphony Orchestra, Emre Araci, cond., "'Fatma Sultan' from 'Aria Nazionalli e Canto Populari Orientali' (C. G. Pasha)," Euro-Ottomania: 19th century European and Ottoman Orchestral Music / Brilliant Classics
• TCS_TCS_0025_00901_Walk_Through_Florence_APM
• Bartender, "Don Raffae," 100% Recycled Music / (self released)
• MMIT_MMIT_0001_00801_Gran_Turismo_APM  
• TCS_TCS_0025_00101_Walk_With_Fellini_APM
• I Solisti Veneti, "Violin Concerto in D, op. 11, no. 1: Largo (Vivaldi)," Relax with the Classics vol. 2: Adagio (collection) / LIND Institute  
• PRM_PRM_0140_00201_Fellini_Setting_APM
• London Sinfonietta, Thomas Hampson, "Come to Florence (from 'The Firebrand of Florence') (Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin)," Kurt Weill on Broadway / EMI Classics
• * Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ari Raisilainen, cond., "Concertpolka (Hans Christian Lumbye)," The Nordic Experience, disc 2 (collection) / Warner Classics
• SOHO_SOHOA_0105_02801_Country_Sketches_APM
• Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka Pekka Saraste, cond., "Symphony No. 4, op. 29, 'The Inextinguishable' II: poco allegretto (Carl Neilsen)," The Nordic Experience, disc 2 (collection) / Warner Classics
• SON_SAS_0021_02401_Danish_Waltz_1_APM
• South Jutland Symphony Orchestra, "Moderen (The Mother)," Danish Romance for Meditation / Naxos
• KOS_KOS_0123_02201_Jet_Set_Swing_APM 
• Gunnar Madsen, "Er der fier hons i Honsepold," Drommen der blev til virkelighed / (self-released - Denmark)

* Indicates filler music used during segment breaks in broadcast

• Rick opens segment A noting that Denmark has been ranked the "second happiest country in the world since 2019" by the World Happiness Index.
• At 36:01, Rick says he was "just at" the Vatican Museum, filming after the crowds dissipated during a busy, hot season.
• At 46:22, Rick says he was "just in Hamburg" and noted plans for a massive bridge to Denmark. He added that it's thought to help with their bid to jointly host the Olympics.
• Caller Carolyn says at 54:49 that the TICKON Castle Park costs 25-Danish kr to enter, which Rick compares to US$3-4.