Welcome to Season 11! Kicking us off in style, we’re joined by a dazzling duo who are set to waltz their way into your hearts, stars of Strictly Come Dancing, and heading into a second season of their much loved travel show Anton and Giovanni’s Adventures, it’s Anton du Beke and Giovanni Pernice. 

I spoke to Anton and Gio in London a couple of weeks ago, at a dance studio which was like something out of Fame - sprawling rooms filled with people singing and whooping and music blaring from every corner, so if you hear the odd vocal warmup or some echoey bits in the background, that’s why. I’ve watched Strictly since Season 1 and Anton has been a part of the show since the very beginning, a seasoned dance floor veteran, first as a contestant and now as a judge. And then Giovanni entered with a bang back in 2015, reaching the final 3 times, and then winning with EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis in 2021.

With Anton being half Spanish, half Hungarian and Giovanni growing up in Sicily, travel has played an important part of both their lives, and I hope you really have a laugh with us on this one.

Destination Recap:

Holly:

• COMO Alpina Dolomites 

Anton & Gio’s Destination Recap:

• Sciacca, Sicily, Italy
• Taormina, Sicily, Italy
• Palermo, Sicily, Italy 
• Hungary
• Galicia, Spain
• Bilbao
• San Sebastian, Spain
• Benidorm, Spain
• Bologna, Italy 
• Thailand
• Maldives 
• Pacific Highway 101, California, USA
• Carmel, California, USA
• Seville, Spain 
• Ronda, Spain
• Madrid, Spain
• Doncaster, England, UK
• Bangkok, Thailand 
• Portofino, Italy 
• Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America
• New York, USA

Episode 1 of Anton & Giovanni’s Adventures in Spain will air on BBC One and iPlayer on Mon 18th March at 9pm.

With thanks to my sponsors today - 

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Thanks so much for listening today. If you'd like to hear more from the podcast don’t forget to hit subscribe, or if you use Apple Podcasts to press follow so that a new episode lands in your podcast app each week. If you want to be the first find out who is joining me on next week’s episode come and follow me on Instagram I’m @hollyrubenstein, and you’ll also find me on Threads and TikTok - I’d love to hear from you. And if you can't wait until then remember there’s the first ten seasons to catch up on, that's over 110 + episodes to keep you busy there. Don't forget that all the destinations mentioned by my guests are included in the episode show notes here on your podcast app, and listed on my website, thetraveldiariespodcast.com

See you next Tuesday!

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