Ravishingly picturesque, romantic beyond reason, the sun-kissed region of Campania is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Erstwhile pleasure dome to the Roman emperors, and still Italy’s most glamorous seaside getaway, this province has been straining the vocabulary of visitors ever since Homer’s Odyssey. Today’s travelers have been bewitched by its surfeit of confetti-hued villages, relentlessly picturesque vistas, and gorgeous gardens, which have been lovingly tended over the centuries by Bourbon kings, English lords, and barefoot contessas. Among the multi-starred sights are: Sorrento—Italy at its Belle Epoque best; perfect Positano—that claim is more than an alliteration; Amalfi—a shimmering medieval city; and Ravello—a cliffside town with the bluest vistas in the world. In telling words and mouth-watering pictures, he traces the rich mosaic of history, ranging from ancient Roman emperors to Edwardian millionaires. Now, based on eight trips, thousands of photographs, and many discoveries, Robert I. C. Fisher brings to the Geographical Society a spectacular “virtual” trip to this Italian eden.

Robert I. C. Fisher’s professional odyssey has taken an almost straight path from art history to the art of travel. He majored in Renaissance art history at New York’s Institute of Fine Arts and his subsequent love affair with Italy led him, in 1999, to write and photograph his first book, Escape to the Amalfi Coast. Along the way, he has written up famous houses for Town & Country and, working as an editor at Fodor's Travel Publications for the past decade, has edited many of their European guidebooks, including Fodor's Naples, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast and those to France, Rome, Ireland, Vienna, Greece, and Switzerland.

• Location: The Academy of Natural Sciences Auditorium
  19th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
• Date and Time: Wednesday, April 30, 2008
  Slide program at 6:30 PM
• Tickets: GSP members $12, non-members $15, Magellan Circle free
• Buy Tickets Now: Order Online, Order by Mail,
  or call 610-649-5220
  (A Parking and Dining Map will be mailed with your tickets.)

• Tickets at the Door: Tickets are sold at The Academy of Natural Sciences 19th & Cherry Street entrance starting at 5:45 PM

Traveler alert! Update your must-see checklist as author Patricia Schultz makes an encore appearance for the Geographical Society. Now her spotlight is on 1,000 places to see in the United States and Canada. So many choices . . . which should you do? Sail Maine Windjammers out of Camden. Explore gold-mining trails in Alaska’s Denali wilderness. Collect exotic shells on the beaches of Captiva. View an astonishing sunrise over Bryce Canyon. Visit the Corn Palace in South Dakota. Take a barbecue tour of Kansas City. Experience the Ice Hotel in Quebec, the Great Stalacpipe Organ in Virginia, cowboy poetry readings, and Lexington after the Derby’s over.

For every region, Patricia Schultz has dozens of unexpected

Patricia Schultz (photo by Diana Allford)

suggestions and essential destinations: wilderness getaways, great dining, best beaches, world-class museums, sports and adventures, road trips, and more. Her previous book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die has sold 2.2 million copies and is a long-running New York Times Best Seller.

Patricia Schultz is executive producer of the Travel Channel’s reality show based on her book. She lives in New York City and has written for Condé Nast Traveler, Islands, and Harper’s Bazaar.

It was the Belle Époque, a time before radio or air travel, at the brink of a revolution in photography and the beginnings of cinema, when Burton Holmes (1870 - 1958) began a lifelong journey to bring the world home. From the grand boulevards of Paris to China’s Great Wall—to Panama, Italy, London, Moscow, Fez, Tokyo, and Jerusalem—Burton Holmes was there, shooting 30,000 photographs and nearly 500,000 feet of film. He roamed the globe throughout the summer, then traversed the United States in winter, presenting his stylish “travelogues” (a term coined by Holmes).

Our speaker, Genoa Caldwell, is archivist of the Burton Holmes

Genoa Caldwell (photo by Debbie Goeppele)

photo collection, in Seattle. Caldwell will open a rare window on the world of 100 years ago with beautiful digital images of vintage hand-painted glass slides. She will also read some of Holmes’s own entertaining prose from Burton Holmes: Travelogues (published by Taschen, 2006, and edited by Caldwell). Author and editor Genoa Caldwell was a photo researcher for the London Sunday Times and editor with prominent New York City photo agencies in the 1960s. Later, while operating her own agency, she became private archivist for the unique Burton Holmes photo collection. Caldwell has maintained the collection for more than 30 years. She lectures and publishes on the life and work of Burton Holmes.

On the horizon …

Watch for announcements of additional programs.

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other past connoisseur programs