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 Harald Hansen, travel expert from Visit Norway, shares his expertise with us from Oslo.

-- He talks of contemporary Norwegian architecture, and lodgings with spectacular views; even igloos where you can see the Northern Lights from your bed.

-- We learn of cruising up the Norwegian coastline, above the Arctic Circle, to Tromso, the "Paris of the North."  You can go dog sledding or on a reindeer safari, and see reflective Northern Lights in the Lofoten Islands.

-- Harald tells us  his favorite fjords, near Bergen, and talks of ancient stave churches. He tells us of the 18 Norwegian Scenic Roads,  designed only for cars, combining gorgeous new lodgings, restaurants to complement the scenery, and even special toilets with views!

-- We hear of whales, and an anecdote of polar bears seen very closeup. And of the Sami people in the north; travelers can join tours, celebrating the ancient family culture that revolves around reindeer.

-- Lea remembers the beauty of Oslo's City Hall, and Harald tells of how that capital city has transformed in the last few years; it's now hip and filled with restaurants.

-- We talk of Bergen, with its ancient warehouses, a center of the new "Fjordic cuisine." You can even catch your own seafood.

-- We mention Alesund, the art nouveau town in southern Norway. And of course we end with a favorite memory.  And Harald has a great one.

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Harald Hansen,  Media Specialist and Industry Specialist at Visit Norway, lives in Oslo and has been a Norwegian travel specialist  for decades. [email protected], www.innovationnorway.no, www.visitnorway.com
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written many travel books, including Places I Remember, and has contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs about travel at forbes.com  Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com.
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Please follow  Places I Remember with Lea Lane wherever you listen to podcasts, and  write a review on Apple! New travel episodes every  other Tuesday.

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Podcast host Lea Lane describes favorite delights of spring travel -- food, flowers and festivals -- from the magnificent to the hilarious.

-- She starts with food, remembering gorging on "spargle," the white gold (asparagus) of Germany.  Food festivals are delicious ways to have fun. And one food festival in England  involves a nine-pound cheese that rolls down a hill.

-- Spring flowers are Lea's next delight -- colorful wildflowers on roadsides and fields of yellow rapeseed. And gardens, including painter Claude Monet's at Giverny, outside of Paris; and Keukenhof, "the most beautiful spring garden in the world," outside of Amsterdam.

-- Religious festivals celebrate rebirth and cleansing in strange ways.  Spring ones include colorful Holi in the Hindu world, where people douse each other with colors and Sonkgran, in the Buddhist world, where everyone douses themselves with water, especially in Thailand. Las Fallas, a Spanish celebration,  honors St. Joseph, with huge puppets.

-- Semana Santa, Holy Week highlighted by Easter, is celebrated around the world, but no where more beautiful than in Seville Spain and Antiqua Guatemala, where processions involve robed participants and carpets of flowers.

-- Non-religious festivals include Sechselauten, where a creature called a Boogg is burned to end the winter season. And the King's Birthday in the Netherlands, when everybody wears orange and goes shopping at a huge flea market.

-- In the U.S. there's a sand-sculpture festival in Florida, rodeos out west, Patriot's Day in Boston, and baseball spring training.

-- And as in every episode, we end with special travel memories. Lea shares two unforgettable spring anecdotes: one in the New Zealand (in November), and one in the Greek Islands. Both are surprising, and both are delightful!
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written many travel books, including Places I Remember, and has contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs about travel at forbes.com . Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com.
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Please follow  Places I Remember with Lea Lane wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you enjoy, leave a 5-star a review on Apple! New travel episodes every Tuesday.

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Irish singer/songwriter Joe Kearns is blessed with the gift of song and the gift of gab, and generously shares both with us. From his house near Dublin,  he offers witty insights about the culture and pleasures of his beloved Ireland.

-- Find out how to choose the best pubs, and why Dublin’s Trinity College — home of the medieval illustrated Book of Kells -- has a barrel ceiling. We talk of Kilkenny,  a remote monastery in the Skellig Islands,  the Ring of Kerry, and the Irish beauty of castles, lakes, mountains, and even a coral beach.

-- Travel with Joe to the coolest music spot in Dingle,  as we talk of  the Celtic language and chat about colorful towns, a picnic atop the Cliffs of Moher, drinking honey Meade at a medieval banquet, and the pleasures of County Galway, the Wild Atlantic Way, and more. 

-- Coddle and Barmbrack are probably not what you think (they're classic Irish foods), and I add a memory about Baileys on corn flakes. 

-- Joe tells romantic travel stories set under Irish rainbows and "sideways rain."

-- And then, best of all — Joe, a fabulous singer, takes out his guitar and sings a beloved Irish ballad, even using his whistle!
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Joe Kearns, now living back home near Dublin, is a world traveler and a gifted singer/songwriter, often accompanied by his wife, Olivia. He loves Ireland, and it shows in his words and music. Facebook page: www.facebook.com/joeandliv Instagram: the_old_cabra_schoolhouse
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine travel books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs at forbes.com  Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com
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Determined to save endangered animals, Paul Baricault, CEO of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, shares travel experiences from Botswana to Antarctica, highlighting magnificent memories, impending crises and ways to solve them.

-- Paul explains why it's so critical for world conservationists to work together, such as at the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in Northern Kenya.
-- We learn of animals in danger of extinction, including the northern white rhino, and the success of helping to birth two rhino newborns at the San Diego Zoo Global.
-- "Life thrives but it has to move." Paul talks of elephants and gorillas, African habitats, the magnificent wildebeest migration and the movement of animals at the flooding of the Okavango Delta in Botswana.
-- We talk of favorite travel memories, including safaris, special zoos, working on species priority in the Galapagos Islands, walking among brown bears in Alaska, and visiting pandas in China.
-- Paul reminds us, "Be inspired to protect the world." And connects us to ways we can help.

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Paul Baricault is  President and CEO of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, and a committed conservationist, intent on saving and protecting the world's threatened plants and animals.
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written many travel books, including Places I Remember, and has contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs about travel at forbes.com  Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com.
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Please follow Places I Remember with Lea Lane, and leave a review on Apple! New travel episodes every Tuesday, wherever you listen to podcasts. 

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Mona Mesereau, husband Tom and family have explored at least 75 of America's national parks and monuments. Mona shares history, tales, tips and the joys of family travels, exploring  the U.S.A.'s precious public parks system.

-- "America's Best Idea"- Mona shares the history of our National Parks, starting with the oldest, Yellowstone.

-- Lea shares some of her park experiences including sunrise at Acadia; a drive around southern Utah parks; the blue water of Crater Lake; dawn at Zabriski Point in Death Valley; Denali in Alaska; Dry Tortugas, 99% underwater -- "ya have to want to get there," on a catamaran from Key West;  birds of the Everglades, "brightened my mood, pumped me up,"says Mona; Gateway Arch in St. Louis; popular Great Smoky Mountains, "near the salt and pepper museum"; Hawaii Volcanos National Park, sometimes active; Joshua Tree (really  bushes and surreal boulders; Kenai Fjords, "whole bunches of bears"; Painted Desert, spectacular colors; Yosemite, stayed at the historic lodge, the waterfalls.

--  Mona tells of pleasures including Great Smoky National Park -- "a bear jam";  and Grand Teton in Wyoming, catching trout.

-- Mona recommends going off-course, a balance between planning and wandering, and using guides and tours; Grand Canyon,  Lake Powell/Glen Canyon, veering off to Wupatki National Monument; reservations for lodges, and the benefits of shoulder season.

-- On Mona's 50th birthday, she details a magnificent day at the bottom of the Grand Canyon,  exploring the back country.

-- She reminds us to protect our parks 'these are our houses in nature"; pick up trash, make purchases, get National Park passports.

-- Mona says take lots of photographs; great lodges and the beauty  of the parks remain much the same.

-- Leave crowds behind, there are plenty of trails, "I've seen Old Faithful erupt at midnight"; solitude of Glacier National Park -- "a chance to think."

-- Lesser known parks:  beyond ruins at Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly; Eastern Parks? New River, the newest National Parks in West Virginia; Gauley River nearby, to raft;  Harpers Ferry.

-- Mona's most memorable experience, at "the American Serengeti" in Yellowstone
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Mona Mesereau, editor and executive, launched Mesereau Travel Public Relations with her husband Tom, marketing executive and former magazine editor.  www.mesereaupr.com; (@monasays) / Twitter; Mona McCoy Mesereau/ Facebook.
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written eight travel books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs about travel at forbes.com  Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com
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---  Anne Born has walked The Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) in Northwest Spain nine times. Ancient pilgrim routes stretch across Europe, coming together at the tomb of St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. She shares info about history, varied routes, best lodgings, local foods, and symbols -- on this bucket-list adventure.  

-- The Way of St. James was one of the most important pilgrimages during the Middle Ages. The most popular walk, an ancient Roman trade route starting in France, is now a UNESCO Heritage Site.

-- Many routes, including one from Lisbon or Porto Portugal, converge to the Cathedral. And some travelers walk beyond, to the most western point in Spain, Cape Finisterre, on the Atlantic Coast in Galicia. Land’s End in Latin. 

-- Anne takes us through a typical day on the Camino. Some pilgrims walk for fun, some for spiritual reasons or to bond with others. She shares fascinating tidbits about the best  ways to meet people, the meaning of the scallop shell, where to stay -- and innkeepers' hospitality. She fondly remembers the best local foods, different ways to go -- including biking; and the spirituality that pilgrims find under the Big Sky of Northern Spain.

--- We also chat about major cities on the Camino, like Burgos, and of the magnificent cathedral there and in Santiago. And we end with her favorite travel memory of the Camino.
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Author/poet/photographer Anne Born is an award-winning New York-based writer who blogs on The Backpack Press and Tumbleweed Pilgrim. Her popular book is "Buen Camino! Tips from an American Pilgrim."  Her new guidebook is written about the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela for English-speaking pilgrims: “If You Stand Here.” TheBackpackPress.com
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written many travel books, including Places I Remember, and has contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs about travel at forbes.com  Contact her at placesirememberlealane.com
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Please subscribe to Places I Remember with Lea Lane, and leave a review on Apple! New travel episodes every Tuesday, wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Millie Ball, former travel editor at the Times-Picayune, has traveled the world from Antarctica to Easter Island, but is still in love with the city where she was born: "There's no place in the world like New Orleans."

-- Millie first discusses the founding of the Crescent City on a curve of the Mississippi River, the diversity of the population, and the influence of slavery.

-- She shows us the delights of the French Quarter; a "Moon Walk" along the river; and the pleasures of a perfect day in the Garden District, including lunch at Commander's Palace and a strolling among grand mansions and parks.

-- We discuss the world-class World War II National Museum, and other New Orleans museums, parks and gardens.

-- And then, of course, all about Mardi Gras, from the local jargon to the newest tradition -- 'house floats.'

-- We talk of music, including jazz; clubs; and food, of course -- focusing on restaurants that locals love.

-- We end, as we always do, with favorite memories. Lea shares her first solo trip to New Orleans, at 19. And Millie tells us a story of when she was a Mardi Gras Carnival Queen, and what resulted -- the only time in almost 100 years of the tradition!
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Millie Ball has won numerous Society of American Travel Writers Foundations’ Lowell Thomas Awards, and writes for publications including the Los Angeles Times.
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine travel books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs at forbes.com 
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Please subscribe to Places I Remember with Lea Lane, and leave a quick review! New travel episodes every Tuesday, wherever you listen, or at placesirememberlealane.com

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Valerie Benigno lives on Paris’ Left Bank, in the Latin Quarter near St. Germain des Pres —the heart of the 5th and 6th arrondissements. She knows that perfect cafe or shop, the best route to ancient cathedrals, and how to enjoy the charms of this artsy, historic area of Paris.

--- Valerie shares her favorite Left Bank places and memories. We find ways to tell a Left Bank resident from someone who lives on the other side of the Seine, and why the 5th and 6th are called The Latin Quarter. 

--- She talks of Left bank artists and writers, The Sorbonne and other schools on The Left Bank, and the Pantheon, where the greats of France are buried. She mentions surprising facts about the statue of St. Genevieve, and the ruins of the Roman city called Lutetia near the Cluny museum, famed for its medieval collection.

 --- There is the magnificent Luxembourg Gardens, with ponds and a carousel, a museum and pony rides, flowers and fountains and the ancient home of Maria de Medici, now home to the French senate. Narrow Left Bank streets are filled with delightful shops, including the famed chocolate shop that once served Marie Antoinette. 

--- We talk of the Delacroix museum; the oldest church in Paris, St. Germaine; and sites where movie scenes were shot: "The Da Vinci Code" in the ancient church, St. Sulpice, and the old restaurant featured in “Midnight in Paris.” 

--- Valerie offers her favorite memory  to end a travel conversation as delicious as a French macaron. By the end of the podcast we understand better why the Left Bank of Paris is  magical, and why so many of us seek to travel there.
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Valerie Benigno keeps up with the best of the Left Bank, advising travelers for over 20 years at Hotel St. Paul Rive Gauche. 
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Podcast host Lea Lane has traveled to over 100 countries, written nine travel books, including Places I Remember, and contributed to dozens of guidebooks. She's @lealane on Twitter and  blogs at forbes.com 
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Please subscribe and leave a quick review! New travel episodes every Tuesday, wherever you listen or at placesirememberlealane.com

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A short introduction about Places I Remember with Lea Lane -- an award-winning, monthly travel podcast, featuring conversations with travel experts, passionate travelers and savvy locals around the world. The podcast is hosted by seasoned, award-winning travel writer, Lea Lane -- author of eight travel books, contributor to dozens of guidebooks, and blogger at forbes.com. Lea has traveled to over 100 countries, and shares her warm memories and fascinating experiences along with her guests.