Has anyone seen Giada De Laurentiis’ new show on Food Network, Giada in Paradise?

As far as I can tell from the listings it is a special only. So far she has been to Santorini, which is my ultimate dream trip and Capri, which is not too far behind! When we watch this show at my house, it must sound like we are watching sports. We make all the same noises that sports fans make when their team scores a point, falls down or takes a hit to the stomach with a flying ball. We love this show, but we also are tortured by it because we want to be there more than anything else! When Giada takes a bite of something delicious you hear groans from our couch, when she steps foot somewhere we’d like to be, you will often hear a “yes!” as she starts describing a dream spot. This show is really giving me the travel bug big time, which is a great motivational tool to get me fired up to continue with all my projects and find more!

I have been dreaming about going to Greece for years now. My ultimate plan is to follow the voyage of Odysseus as I have loved the Iliad and the Odyssey for as long as I can remember. I have also been a big fan of all the theories surrounding the lost city of Atlantis. Many scholars believe that the destructive Minoan eruption on Santorini is the most likely candidate for the lost city itself. I have always believed that anything is possible and with my Anthropology background, I am always searching for the truth behind the ancient mysteries. I guess this is something else that Giada and I have in common, as she graduated in undergrad with a degree in Anthropology before she went to culinary school in Paris. So I am guessing that she loves this new assignment which takes her to ancient places, where she can get the lay of the land, eat the food and just soak up that Mediterranean sun! What a life, huh?!

Last night the show about Capri aired and since her family has been “hanging out” there for a long time, as her Aunt Raffi says, Giada knows all the ins and outs of the place. This show was like a big family reunion for her. We got to see her go jewelry shopping and have drinks with her aunt and a friend. We got to watch her make Ravioli Caprese with the chef at the restaurant her grandfather Dino De Laurentiis eats whenever he goes to Capri. We got to watch her prepare shellfish for her family in the kitchen of another well known Caprese restaurant, in her bathing suit cover-up! So it is obvious that she is well-known there and very comfortable!

I do hope they keep airing these specials. I think Giada is much more suited to these international voyages in comparison to her Weekend Getaways which are mostly US based. But in both cases, these are not trips, getaways or otherwise that the average person is likely to go on, which is why I need to get my own food travel show! However, in the meantime, it is entertaining to see how the other half lives!