Kathy McCabe, creator and host of Dream of Europe.
Dream of Europe
Kathy McCabe, the creator and host of Dream of Italy on PBS, has loved Europe since childhood. Studying in Annecy, France, only deepened her love for the continent. After three seasons of Dream of Italy and two memorable specials featuring Sting and Frances Mayes (Under the Tuscan Sun), she has expanded her scope to create Dream of Europe. The new seven-part series, which features such destinations as London, Malta, Albania, and, yes, Annecy, debuts on PBS stations on January 18, 2025.
“I had not returned since my 20s, and it never left me,”
“My approach has always been a new twist on a famous place, experiencing something you’ve heard of but in a new way,” McCabe said in a recent telephone interview. “I fell in love with Europe when I was 10 years old when my parents took me to London. In college at Georgetown, my major was European studies. I took French in junior high, high school, and college, and I studied in Annecy and France was my first love. Then I discovered Italy, and it’s like I forgot my first love.”
McCabe takes viewers back to Annecy, which she considers “one of the most beautiful places on Earth.” She sails on Lake Annecy and takes in the views from the Château de Menthon-Saint-Bernard, which is said to have inspired the castle in Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.
“I had not returned since my 20s, and it never left me,” McCabe added.
The same can be said of Albania, where McCabe goes rafting on the last wild river in Europe, visits a mussel farm, and listens to traditional Albanian music.
“Europeans have discovered Albania, so it’s not totally unknown,” she said. “But it’s really beautiful, and it’s very affordable. As an American, you feel you’re somewhere undiscovered.”
Off the coast of Malta.
Dream of Europe
As for the Mediterranean island of Malta, McCabe says, “I’ve always been interested in visiting. It’s a place that had many invaders and layers of culture. It was under British rule until about 1969. So everyone speaks English. Yet it’s Italian-influenced, but it’s not quite Italy because there are Arab and Phoenician influences as well.”
“I’ve sort of become known for some celebrity interviews, but I think the celebrity of this season is Abbey Road.”
McCabe takes a cruise in the Greek Islands and stops in Santorini, Aegina, and Poros. She devotes an entire episode to Athens, where she visits the Acropolis, tastes classic souvlaki, gets a pair of Greek sandals custom-made by a famed sandal maker, and takes a rail bike ride along the Aegean.
Composer Alessandro Roveri at Abbey Road Studios
Dream of Europe
McCabe is incredibly excited about the two episodes she devoted to London in the new series, one of them focused almost entirely on the famous Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded many of their records, including their eponymous Abbey Road. She goes to the legendary studio in the company of composer Alessandro Roveri and a group of musicians to record the new theme song for her series in the same studio where The Beatles recorded. The second episode features an interview with one of the city’s Pearly Kings, and she visits Kew Gardens and participates in the “Colour Walk” in Spitalfields Market.
Annecy, Albania, and Malta are all compelling destinations for her. Still, after her specials on Sting and Frances Mayes, she says, “I’ve sort of become known for some celebrity interviews, but I think the celebrity of this season is Abbey Road.”
Check your local PBS listings at www.dreamofeurope.com to find the broadcast schedule. The series is distributed by American Public Television.
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Publish date : 2025-01-16 07:30:00
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