Places I Remember with Lea Lane – Détails, épisodes et analyse

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Sicily is an Italian island in the Ionian sea between Italy and the African coast. Greece, Rome, the Arab world, and Norman Europe left remnants there that you can still experience. 

Chef, blogger, and tour director Ric Orlando tells us why Sicily feels different from the rest of Italy. His “deep dive” trips take the Anthony Bourdain approach seriously: spend time with locals, follow the market stalls, and let conversations set the pace.

We get into Palermo’s layered history, the Palatine Chapel’s mosaics, Monreale, Teatro Massimo, and the city’s street markets. 

Ric also explains how Sicily’s volcanic soil around Mount Etna is changing the island today, from a booming Sicily wine scene to new crops driven by climate change, and why infrastructure outside the main tourist cities still shapes daily life.

Then east to Catania, to the “Black City” built from dark volcanic stone. We linger at the pescheria fish market where small boats sell the morning’s catch. We talk Sicilian flavor, especially the Arab influenced sweet and sour combinations, and we end with cannoli, farm made cheese, and the living traditions of Piana degli Albanesi. 

Finally, Taormina brings cliffside beauty, a Greek theater, an artistic past, along with the modern 'White Lotus' buzz, before Ric shares a personal memory that ties family photos back to a real village festival.

Come wander through the best of Sicily with us. Subscribe, share with friends who love food and history, and leave a review. 

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Our guest,  Chef Ric Orlando, leads tours to Sicily.

Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, and has written nine books, including the award-winning Places I Remember  (Kirkus Reviews star rating, and  'one of the top 100 Indie books of  the year'). She has contributed to dozens of guidebooks and has written thousands of travel articles.
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Our award-winning travel podcast, Places I Remember with Lea Lane, has produced over 125 travel episodes! New episodes drop on the first Tuesday of the month, on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. All episodes are also on her website: placesirememberlealane.com
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Travel vlogs of featured  podcasts-- with video and graphics -- now also drop on YouTube.  

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Wonder what luxury at sea really takes when the cameras stop rolling? We sit with Captain Kerry Titheradge from Bravo’s Below Deck, a leader trusted with 300-foot vessels and volatile reality TV moments.

We unpack the true costs of chartering a superyacht, why five-star hotel service can’t match a dialed-in crew at sea, and how leadership—not boat handling—is the captain’s hardest job.

We get a candid look at production rhythms, safety priorities, and the moment a cameraman helped avert disaster. 

Then we slip into adventure mode: Cappadocia’s sunrise balloons, Fethiye’s paragliding cliffs, Dubrovnik’s stone ramparts, Kotor’s dramatic bay, and Australia’s trifecta of the Great Barrier Reef, the Outback, and Barossa Valley vineyards where kangaroos hop between rows. Back in Florida, Kerry chases quiet flight on an e-foil, skimming above water in search of small, perfect moments.

That ethos flows into Yachting Concepts, his company guiding new owners—especially under 100 feet. Buying a yacht is the easy part; stewardship is the real voyage. 

Kerry closes with a Maldives memory threaded through Middle Eastern terminals alive with peaceful diversity, coral gardens facing climate pressures, and a solo ascent of the Eiffel Tower on the way home.

If you enjoyed this sea-level view of luxury, leadership, and adventure, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more curious travelers can find us. 

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Our guest, Captain Kerry Titheradge, CEO of Yachting Concepts, appeared for three years on Bravo TV's popular reality show Below Deck.

Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, and has written nine books, including the award-winning Places I Remember  (Kirkus Reviews star rating, and  'one of the top 100 Indie books of  the year'). She has contributed to dozens of guidebooks and has written thousands of travel articles.
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Our award-winning travel podcast, Places I Remember with Lea Lane, has produced over 125 travel episodes! New episodes drop on the first Tuesday of the month, on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. All episodes are also on her website: placesirememberlealane.com
_____
Travel vlogs of featured  podcasts-- with video and graphics -- now also drop on YouTube.  

Send us Fan Mail

Mexico City pulses with energy that spans nearly seven centuries, from its 1325 Aztec founding to its contemporary status as a sophisticated global metropolis. The sprawling capital reveals itself as a layered cultural treasure through the expert insights of Arturo Sanchez, Head Concierge at Andaz Mexico City Condesa Hotel, who shares his perspective on this magnificent city.

At the ancient heart of Mexico City, the Zócalo plaza anchors the historic center where visitors can explore the 13th-century Templo Mayor ruins alongside colonial masterpieces like the Metropolitan Cathedral. Diego Rivera's stunning murals depicting Mexican history adorn the National Palace walls, while nearby, the Palacio de Bellas Artes dazzles with its Art Nouveau and Art Deco architecture, housing a Tiffany glass curtain. A few blocks away, hidden murals in the Public Education Secretary buildings showcase Mexico's muralist tradition.

Beyond downtown, the cobbled streets of Coyoacán neighborhood transport visitors to another era, where Frida Kahlo's iconic Blue House museum captivates with intimate glimpses into the artist's life. The National Museum of Anthropology stands as an essential starting point for understanding Mexico's complex history through its comprehensive collection of pre-Hispanic artifacts displayed in a stunning modern building.

The city's vibrant festival calendar reaches its colorful peak during Day of the Dead celebrations (November 1-2), when locals honor deceased loved ones through offerings, marigolds, and communal gatherings. Mexico City's world-class culinary scene ranges from street tacos to Michelin-starred restaurants, while nearby excursions offer archaeological wonders like the Teotihuacan pyramids where sunrise hot air balloon rides create unforgettable experiences.

Mexican wrestling (Lucha Libre) is an acrobatic theatrical performance where audiences choose sides in a communal celebration. As Arturo shares from personal experience, these authentic cultural moments create meaningful connections, revealing why Mexico City remains one of the world's most captivating destinations.

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Arturo Sanchez lives in Mexico City and is head concierge at Andaz Mexico City Condesa Hotel there.

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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, and  has written nine books, including the award-winning Places I Remember  (Kirkus Reviews star rating, and  'one of the top 100 Indie books of  the year'). She has contributed to many guidebooks and has written thousands of travel articles.
_____
Our award-winning travel podcast, Places I Remember with Lea Lane, has dropped over 115 travel episodes! New episodes drop on the first Tuesday of the month, on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen.
_____
Travel vlogs of our featured  podcasts-- with video and graphics -- now drop on YouTube . Please subscribe, like, and comment.
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Website: https://placesirememberlealane.com
Travel Blog: forbes.com
BlueSky: lealane.bsky.social
X (Twitter):@lealane
Instagram: PlacesIRememberLeaLane

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Mark Everard is who you would imagine a New Zealander to be: warm, fit, open, informative, hospitable, polite -- and extremely proud of his very special homeland. He is one of New Zealand's most sought after private guides, and on this episode we speak to him in Auckland, as he tours us through the North and South Islands of this stunning Pacific country.

We first discuss the joys of the North Island of New Zealand-- beaches, bays, Maori culture, Hobbiton, Rotorua's hot springs -- and cities including the largest in NZ: Auckland; and artsy Wellington, the capital.

Then we focus on the exceptional beauty of the mountains and fiords of the North Island, including Milford Sound.  Christchurch and Queenstown are the primary small cities of this island of vineyards, sheep farms, national parks and exceptional vistas, perfect for  outdoorsy tourists.

Lodging, foods, best amount of time and best time to visit are talked about, of course. And Mark ends with a special memory.
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Mark Everard is Managing Director of the Adrenalin Group in New Zealand, specializing  in premium executive offsite event management. For over 20 years he has individually guided hundreds of people throughout New Zealand. Mark’s private clients have included Russian oligarchs, celebrities, politicians, business leaders, sheiks, crown princes and princesses, barons and baronesses. And  just plain folks!
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this weekly travel podcast!

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Hilary Nangle is a Maine maven --  born there, lives there and writes guidebooks about her beloved most-eastern New England state. She takes us on a trip up the coast, from the sandy south beaches to the rocky Down East peninsulas, and inland, to oudoor pleasures, sharing stories and fun facts along the way.

---  What makes Maine so special? Hilary suggests the best times to visit, and the best places to experience-- from the casual beachy towns of the southern Maine coast, to the artsy, foody city of Portland, to pretty mid-coast places and peninsulas like Camden and Blue Hill,  Bar Harbor, and Mt. Desert island.

-- She adds the northern, Down East towns near the Canadian border, and also takes us inland for outdoor pleasures,  lakes and springs. And along the way she mentions history and favorite lobster shacks.

-- Hilary ends with a special memory of a Maine trip with her dad.
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Maine-based travel writer Hilary Nangle shares her love for her home state in three, regularly updated, guidebooks — Moon Maine, Moon Coastal Maine, and Moon Acadia National Park; in articles for regional, national, and international print and online publications; on her Maine Travel Maven Facebook and Instagram pages; and on www.MaineTravelMaven.com.
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this weekly travel podcast!

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You might not expect a producer of  pop culture phenomena like 'American Idol' and 'So You Think You Can Dance' to create a dramatic wildlife documentary series. But when Emmy-Award-winning producer Simon Fuller met Emmy-award winning doc director John  Downer, a "perfect partnership"  began.
-- The result is the Serengeti series, set on the plains of Tanzania, with Serengeti 2 currently available on Discovery+.
-- Simon and John generously share inside info on how they created the series -- from the camera work to the difficulties of working with story lines, climate change complications and finding and staying with story lines with wild animals we get to know by name.
-- They also talk of their exceptional crew, including the voiceover artistry of Academy Award-winning and Emmy nominated actress Lupita Nyong’o. 
-- They each end with a special personal memory of the Serengeti. A wonderful podcast!
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All six episodes of Serengeti 2 are available on discovery+. Viewers can join the conversation on social media by using #SerengetiII and following Discovery on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter for the latest updates.
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Simon Fuller  is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, film and television producer. He has managed talent that includes David and Victoria Beckham, Annie Lennox, Steven Tyler,  Amy Winehouse, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson and The Spice Girls. He is in partnership with the duo Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.
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John Downer started his professional life in 1981 at the BBC Natural History Unit, later creating John Downer Productions.  He pioneered a number of techniques for wildlife filmmaking, in particular by putting cameras on birds, and by filming birds from the air using various airborne filming platforms.
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this weekly travel podcast!

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Patricia Schultz, author/editor of the best-selling series 1,000 Places To See Before You Die, is  a terrific guest. On this super-size 25th episode, she and Lea share stories, experiences and info about favorite places around the world.

-- Patricia first tells when she started traveling, and how the "1,000 Places" brand came to be, about 20 years ago.

-- Then she and Lea alternate with some of their very favorite places -- continents, countries, man-made and natural sites -- adding their own experiences to each other's. 

-- Favorite places include Antarctica; Antelope Canyon in Arizona; Beacon, New York; Bali,Indonesia; Italy, focused on Florence; Barcelona, Spain; Istanbul, Turkey; Galapagos Islands, Ecuador;  Cuba; the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, UAE; Iran; Iguacu Falls; Laos; Namibia; the  "stans," especially Uzbekestan; Paris and New York;and the upland gorillas in Uganda.

-- Patricia ends with a touching memory about the most important travel aspect of all.
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Patricia Schultz is a veteran travel journalist who has written travel guides, magazine and newspaper articles as well as authoring her best-selling 1.000 Places series, with millions of copies in print.  Contact her at speakersbureau@workman.com
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this weekly travel podcast!

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Morocco has all the elements travelers love: historic interests, great cities, friendly people; mild climate, scenic beauty, good food and lodging, and great shopping. Expert guide Ahmed Taoumi leads us through the country.

-- Ahmed tells of the Imperial Cities: Marrakech, Fez, Meknes, Rabat, with their casbahs. We also discuss the Roman ruins at Volubulus.

-- He talks of cities and the beauty in the Sahara, and of The Blue City in the Rif mountains, a couple of hours from Tangier.

--  We discuss architecture of the medina, the marketplace, and lodgings called riads, once homes to wealthy Moroccan families.

We talk of traditional foods like tagines, which are stews, and sugared-pigeon called bistila. Lea and Ahmed also discuss the wide variety and beauty of Moroccan handiwork.

Ahmed offers us shopping and bargaining tips . He ends with a favorite memory of a boy and a camel.

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 Ahmed Toumi has been touring travelers throughout Morocco for over 40 years. Former president of the Guide Association of Tangier, he is currently a private guide. Ahmed's photos  and descriptions of Morocco, are especially beautiful.  Instagram/tour_with_taoumi;  and here on Facebook. www.visitangier.com .

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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this weekly travel podcast!

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 "Life is short and the world is wide. The sooner you start exploring it the better" is a popular quote from Simon Raven. Family trips,  backpacking, gap year, exchange programs, international schools -- all are wonderful for young travelers, say guests Bob Gogel, CEO  of WorldStrides, and student traveler Sabrina Lane.
-- Bob covers the first section of the podcast, explaining why it's important for young people to travel outside of the classroom. "It's all about learnable moments." He describes his own early travels as an exchange student in Nicaragua.
-- When traveling with family, he gives three suggestions, and shares some of his favorite destinations. He discusses exchange programs, backpacking, the gap year and the need for people to start traveling again.
-- Bob ends with his favorite personal memory of an archeological dig in France.
-- In the second part of the episode, Sabrina Lane describes her young travels with stories of family trips, traveling to Paris with her grandmother, living with a volunteer group in Peru, and plans for her senior year in high school -- in an international school in Bosnia.
-- Sabrina's stories are vivid, and she ends with a memorable tale in the Golan Heights of Israel.
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Bob Gogel is  President and CEO of WorldStrides, the global  leader in educational learning and experiential learning. It runs programs in over 100 countries for more than half a million students in over 5,000 schools and universities.
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Sabrina Lane will be experiencing her high school senior year and a following gap year at an international school in Bosnia. She's  already traveled  to over 20 countries, through family trips and volunteer experiences. She is an activist for peace and  climate awareness.
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; Travelea on Insta; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this weekly travel podcast!

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Liz Georges, and Joan and Julia Haskins, all long-time D.C. residents, share secret places and special D.C. moments. Lea asked each of them to share their five favorite things about Washington, and each, their favorite memory.

-- After Lea offers a brief history of the city (did you know that George Washington, who founded it, never got to live there?) the ladies offered their personal choices of what to see and do, and what they appreciate most about their hometown.

-- Favorites included familiar choices such as the free museums, Embassy Row and Kennedy Center. But also surprises such as Go-Go music-- "the answer to when you're feeling down," The Funk Parade, the staircase from the movie The Exorcist, and Mambo Sauce!

-- After some free-wheeling discussion, Liz, Joan and Julia offered their favorite memories (and one includes a famous cabinet member).
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Liz Georges is a former attorney and  currently leads the communications strategy for The Nature Conservancy’s climate policy work in the United States.
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Joan Haskins is a writer and a children's yoga teacher in the D.C. public schools. (But she insists that her best and favorite gig was raising her daughter, Julia.)
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Julia Haskins is a writer, editor, and communications professional.
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to many guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter; PlacesIRememberLeaLane on Instagram; on  Facebook, it's Places I Remember by Lea Lane. Website: placesirememberlealane.com.  Please follow, rate and review this bi-weekly travel podcast!