In the third season of the acclaimed travel series Dream of Italy, host Kathy McCabe returned to lead viewers on an enchanting journey through Italy’s rich culture and hidden treasures. With a signature blend of authenticity and a touch of celebrity allure, McCabe brought us closer to Italian icons and landscapes that captured the spirit of la dolce vita. Special guests included world-renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli, Academy Award-winning actress Marisa Tomei, and legendary 3-Michelin star chef Massimo Bottura. Each episode immersed viewers in Italy’s vibrant landscapes, traditions, and local luminaries, adding to the series’ charm. Dream of Italy has long connected its audience with the people and places that define Italy. Now, with the recent launch of Dream of Europe, Kathy McCabe continues to capture the magic of travel for PBS viewers worldwide. She takes her proven formula of authenticity, with a dash of star power, to a broader geographic area and explores history, culture and adventures in European destinations.

Kathy, what is the theme and aim of this show?
KM: I have two series, I have Dream of Italy, which started airing on PBS in 2015. And we’ve had three seasons and two specials. And in January 2025, my new series [Dream of Europe], which is based on the same premise of Dream of Italy, will premier. It’s meant to be an authentic look at travel destinations. It’s a slice of life, meeting locals, experiencing nature, learning to cook something. We went to five countries for seven episodes for Dream of Europe. We went to London, the French Alps, Malta, Greek Islands, Athens and Albania. Italy is part of Europe, Italy is my great big love. So I love doing this new show Dream of Europe, but I can’t wait to do more Dream of Italy.

I welcome more travel shows in Europe, I have seen Create and Rick Steves’ shows are often repeated from 10 years ago.
KM: Travel to Europe is so hot right now, so popular. It was an incredible summer for travel there; people are looking for that kind of content. And they’re looking for new places to go, or new ways to see the old places.

Before you created this show, had you done food or travel shows before? What was your path to becoming a producer of a docuseries?
KM: My first job was as a desk assistant for Peter Jennings at Word News Tonight at ABC News in New York; so, I always loved TV, TV news, storytelling. And then, I covered politics at USA Today and moved to their travel section and 22 years ago I realized that many people had the same hunger I did for Italy. I started a website and membership letter, which is now a magazine called Dream of Italy. So I was doing web and print. And then, it was suggested maybe to turn it into a TV show. And I had thought of it, but not so seriously over the years, and I’m surprised given the experience that I’d had. So that’s how it came to be, and PBS stations- it’s such a wonderful opportunity to host a show because it’s really a valued part of American society. PBS is looked upon with great respect and I take that very seriously, and I go back to my old school journalism days of: everything has to be perfect and right and careful. I feel like I can promise the viewers are getting accurate information to the point that I know they are. And, also, PBS is very supportive of travel programing, putting it on all the time, putting it on Create TV. So I think it’s been a good match.

Create has been a blessing with that extra channel of PBS.
KM: Create is so wonderful because 87 percent of people in the U.S. can see it at the same time across America, and every year at the Travel Adventure show in New York City, I go and the fans are fantastic. And they do marathons, so it’s great for viewers.

As Peter Greenberg said, it’s always hard to find sponsors, was it also a challenge for your show?
KM: Peter and I talked about that! I think it’s always a challenge but I always pull it off. But this year, there has been a lot of support for Dream of Europe. We have two [sponsors], right now as I speak to you; there’s a possibility of a third. We have two big travel companies sponsoring the series; we have Seven Seas Cruises and Kensington tours. I think that they understand that value of the PBS audience, that people who are watching are affluent, educated, engaged in the world. And there was an article about TV advertising was making a comeback because there’s so many little blips we get at us in the world from social media and Google ads, that when you see a sponsor message for 30 seconds, that 30 seconds is a longer experience; you can take it in. I always like how the message seems to fit with the content: It’s differentiated. It’s not the content, but it’s a beautiful package to put together. I think the sponsors we have also realize that viewers are watching in all kinds of ways now, like streaming, like people binging the show.

If you can help set the record straight for me; when I first saw this, as a viewer of KLCS’ Create TV, it was an episode that looked like a one-off hour-long special, helping people realize their dreams of moving to Italy. I now see a few other episodes, but it doesn’t appear to air as regularly as other shows. Was that first one-hour special turned into a series? Is that it?KM: No; so, there is Season 1, there was Season 2, there was a “Tuscan Sun” special which was half hour. In 2021 there was the one-hour, the reason you may not see that that much, it was a pledge special, so some of the stations keep it for that. And now, last year was Season 3, which had Andrea Bocelli, Marisa Tomei, Massimo Bottura. I’ve got to tell Naima, the programmer, she needs to put Dream of Italy on Create more.

I also noticed in that first series – that you had Frances Ford Coppola and Sting, which, as a journalist many years ago, I found it hard to find Sting’s people. Was that the on-the-ground contacts in Italy that made that interview possible?
KM: It’s the Italy connection. I had known a woman who was a publicist and who was the publicist for his wine when he did the interview; I had known her for 15 years. And then Coppola is an interesting story. I had this magazine, in 2012, I went to his hotel, which is just nine rooms, deep in Southern Italy – Palazzo Margherita. It is in his ancestral hometown and they have a salon where there’s 300 films he’s hand selected. You can sit, you can have an Amaretto, you can watch a movie. And I watched a movie called Christ Stopped at Eboli, which is based on a book that was written in Italy about poverty and how southern Italy was so poor that Christ actually stopped at this fictional town in Eboli. I’m watching this and I’m like – my ancestors half of them were from Southern Italy; and I was like, “What an amazing thing he has done, how much it appeals to my heart.” I left him a handwritten note, I didn’t know if the general manager was going to give it to him or not, but with my whole heart, I loved this place. And when the first season came on, they emailed me to congratulate me. I replied, “Do you think Mr. Coppola would do an interview?” And he said, “Yes.” He even did promos from his house, during the pandemic, for that special. He’s a great man, loves Italy, loves people.

I also love the more recent shows I’ve now seen. It’s not just a travelogue, but you immerse in a place or a person, like the chef in Modena. It must be nice to have your own show and so much content you have to tell viewers to watch for a Part 2!
KM: I can tell you that story! That’s a great story. That’s Season 3, and his wife is American and we’d been in touch and we were planning the show, the filming. She was very diplomatic, she said, “Maybe you can do a couple hours one day with him and a couple hours another day. We never know if you’re going to hit it off with him or not,” I’m a huge fan of his. We hit it off, it was like my long lost brother. He filmed for five days with us, I couldn’t get rid of him (laughs), and it was the greatest honor! I had such a good time. He talked about life, the future, so we had so much [content] to make it into a second show.

I also liked how you choose celebrities that I think of when I think of Italy, like Marisa Tomei, and you feature her in the Black Madonna episode. Was the plan to go back to her ancestral town and to the very emotional procession of the Black Madonna?
KM: What was interesting was when we first talked; she studied and read about the Black Madonna and we were originally going to film in Calabria further south, but the dates didn’t work out. In the craziest turn of events, we decided to do Campania, where she is from and I am from. Marisa actually stayed in my ancestral hometown while we were filming and so my fixer, Fabio, we wanted to do something special for her. So, he went to the town and set up this whole surprise. I think she’s got four Italian grandparents and she’s been to all of their hometowns, except this one, this was the last one.

I loved Andrea Bocelli since 1998 when I got his first CD and listened to it on a loop. Was it PBS that set you up to do that, as it’s a natural fit for pledge for stations?
KM: No, that was totally me. What I want to say about the Bocelli episode, what is so unique about it, is he does a number of interviews, he talks about a variety of topics that are close to his heart. He’s never had a travel show done about the places that made him who he is. So we went to Forte dei Marmi, where he lives, mostly, now; he owns a beach club. We went to Lajatico, where he was born, we met his nephew, we met his brother, I met his daughter, she’s not on the show, I met his four dogs at the time. What I’m really proud of is – it’s a unique look at Bocelli. There’s a restaurant with his brother, you can go to his beach club, and he has an amazing concert every summer calls “Teatro del Silenzio”.

I like the title – “Theater of Silence”.
KM: Yes, because he says because 364 days a the year it’s a beautiful piece of land and it’s quiet, except the night that he’s singing.

So many of these travel shows on PBS don’t always feature celebrities. For many of these celebrities, like author Frances Mayes, I assumed you already knew of them before and then wanted to feature them on the show.
KM: No, I didn’t know any of them. But what I love about the celebrities, I just sort of fell into it. Interviewing Coppola was the first one, but what I’ve learned is that Italy brings us together, it’s a common experience. What I love is talking to these celebrities, we’re not talking about how many records or books they’ve sold; we’re talking about this place that we all love. And even Sting, you see how, through the interview, he [opens up] – and he loves Italy like the rest of us.

I think for anyone, visiting Italy is like coming home in a way. That’s how I felt as a journalist many years ago. On the same trip I was in London but felt more at-home and connected with the diversity in Italy. What does having this show mean to you? And have you ever wanted to move to Italy yourself?
KM: Yes and I think I will, and it’s funny it’s taken me so long. The whole way that Dream of Italy was born is, my mother and I went to find her ancestral hometown and that’s one of the episodes. But, I don’t believe you have to have Italian blood to feel at home in Italy; they are so comforting about it. I say – my grandparents were my daycare and I feel like I’m in their living room, in their kitchen. I feel like when I’m in Italy, I’m reconnecting. I think that’s the appeal and there’s a record number of people moving. I happen to understand all sides of Italy, and all nuances of Italy. Like it’s not the easiest place, but it’s the most joyous and I’m getting my Italian citizenship by ancestry. I’m one of those people who might live for six to nine months in Italy and come back a couple months. There is something to having the best of both countries.

What’s some of the viewer feedback you’ve received from this show? A lot of these programs are like an escape from daily life and a way to travel if you can’t leave your city or hometown.
KM: The ones that meant the most to me, I got a number of messages during Covid, like an emergency room doctor, his wife wrote to me and said my husband would come home every night and we would watch Dream of Italy to remember what life could be like or would be like, and to take us away. So I think its aspirational, it can be armchair travel, but what I realized, it took me years, is that I’m not really in the travel business, I’m in the dream business – the permission to dream. There have been people who watch this show and decide, “I’m going to go and do something I’ve always wanted to do.” For many of them, it’s a trip to Italy or a move to Italy, but people have done smaller things, just because, “Well, if you can do it…if I see Kathy going for her dream, I can too,” and that’s what makes me happy. We’re in a really strange time in the world, and in human society and I think we all have to have hope, and Italy, the way I do the show, I’ve realized it gives people a lot of hope.

What is your average day now like?
KM: (laughs) Ok, here’s a crazy thing: I’ve become a morning person. I’ve bee traveling so much to Europe the last couple years, I’ll go for two months, come home, go for a month. I live in Denver, I try to stay close to the European time zones because I also do a lot of meetings. I’m getting up at 5, 6 in the morning, so that’s shocking. But now we’re getting Dream of Europe together. So, in the morning I do meetings, I maybe talk to a sponsor, I work on the magazine and then maybe I’ll go up to the edit room for one of the episodes. I am very hands-on, I check every shot, I co-write or write a lot of the scripts, I do all the legal permissions for songs and photos. I don’t know that the average viewer could imagine all the work that goes into it.

Anything you’d like to add?
KM: I hope people will tune into the Dream of Europe and see me take the same formula as Dream of Italy, but apply it to these countries that are all very different. I especially love that we went to Malta and Albania. This might be the first America TV travel show that is in Albania. And it’s fun, and they’re discovering along with me, because I’ve been to Italy a million times but, this was my first time to Albania. And the viewers, I’m taking them with me! The greatest compliment I’ve gotten about the show is people say I’m like the friend they want to travel with.

Watch Dream of Europe on KLCS, beginning Thursday, January 23 at 8 PM. Visit klcs.org/schedule for the full broadcast schedule.

You can keep up with Kathy on the show’s website (dreamofitaly.com), or follow her social media; she’s on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.