Travel expert Rick Steves sails beyond Europe for a one-hour special, Egypt: Yesterday and Today. Join Steves for an exploration of historic and cultural wonders, including the teeming metropolis of Cairo, the fabled city of Alexandria and the glories of the pharaohs in Luxor. He also brings viewers into a wonderland of back lanes and shops, meeting artisans, craft makers and vendors.

In the 1600s and 1700s, the art of "divine" kings and popes — and of revolutionaries and Reformers — tells the story of a Europe in transition. In the Catholic south, Baroque bubbled over with fanciful decoration and exuberant emotion. In the Protestant north, art was more sober and austere. And in France, the excesses of godlike kings gave way to revolution, Napoleon, and cerebral Neoclassicism.

Around 1400, Europe rediscovered the aesthetics of ancient Greece and Rome. This rebirth of classical culture showed itself in the statues, paintings, and architecture of Florence, then spread to Spain, Holland, Germany, and beyond. The Renaissance — from art-loving popes to Leonardo's "Mona Lisa" and Michelangelo's "David" — celebrated humanism and revolutionized how we think about our world.

After Rome fell, Europe spent a thousand years in its Middle Ages. Its art shows how the light of civilization flickered in monasteries and on Europe's fringes: Christian Byzantium, Moorish Spain, and pagan Vikings. Then, around A.D. 1000, Europe rebounded. The High Middle Ages brought majestic castles, radiant Gothic cathedrals, and exquisite art that dazzled the faithful and the secular alike.

As the Ice Age glaciers melted, European civilization was born — and with it, so was art. From the Stone Age came prehistoric art: mysterious tombs, mighty megaliths, and vivid cave paintings. Then the Egyptians and the Greeks laid the foundations of Western art — creating a world of magical gods, massive pyramids, sun-splashed temples, and ever-more-lifelike statues.

In this one-hour special, Rick Steves travels across the Alps with scenic train rides, breathtaking lifts, majestic glaciers, and unforgettable hikes.

All aboard! Enjoy this unforgettable voyage with Rick Steves as he tours four of Europe's most intriguing and surprising islands: Malta, Capri, Orkney, and Skye. We'll island-hop to remote beaches, Crusader castles, a Blue Grotto, prehistoric wonders, and salty traditional island lifestyles.

Rick Stevesʻ European Easter celebrates this 2,000-year-old story in a variety of cultures. From ancient rituals of woolly beasts scaring winter away in Slovenia, elegant masked carnival parties in Venice to crowds that fill St. Peter’s Square in Rome and more, explore the rich and fascinating mix of traditions — from its pagan roots to its glorious finale - in this program.

Go behind the scenes with archaeologists and scientists as they venture through Africa – from the Pyramids to the glaciers of Mt. Kilimanjaro – in search of clues to solve the mystery of the mass grave, examining the political and environmental catastrophes that plunged Egypt and its people into anarchy.

Samantha visits the New Mexico Capitol Art Collection; hikes to the peak of Dale Ball Trail #9 overlooking the entire city, and then navigates the Margarita Trail of Santa Fe at the legendary Cowgirl BBQ.