For someone who has a fear of heights and alligators, Frank Greco still managed to clock up eighty flights and deposit himself in the midst of an alligator park last year in Season One of his travel series for Discovery Channel `The Travel Guy.`
“Sure I have phobias like everyone else, but if I can do it, so can you…” and that`s pretty much the premise of his adventurous, honest, natural and fun approach to travelling the world, then showing his audience everything he`s discovered about the country he`s visiting.
For the last eight days Greco has been based in Limassol travelling the island along with his 3-man crew (Director, Jordan Eady, Location Sound Technician, Kevin Brown and Director of Photography, Peter O`Hara ) and Zoe Anastasiou- “she`s been amazing, on loan to us from the CTO and really helped us get to where we needed to go.”
Currently shooting the second series of The Travel Guy, due to be aired later this year, Greco is clearly delighted to be here.
“Cyprus is a phenomenal place…I`m so happy to be here, especially since I`m a closet archaeologist: I love ancient history, I studied Egyptology…to have the change the visit the Tombs of the Kings, see the mosaics, tour Akamas and visit some of the monasteries in the mountain villages…it`s an amazing place.”
Greco is passionate about travel. Italian by birth, his parents emigrated to Canada in the late 60s and his mother has not travelled since: “they leave all the travelling up to me.
Mum hates flying as well as heights so I bought them a globe of the world and now they chart my trips from the comfort of their front room instead…”
For Greco sharing his experiences with a global public is about showing his audience that the world “is doable for everyone else too. If I can do it, so can you…I want to show uniqueness of a place, the landscape. Travel is all about changing your life experiences.”
Greco says there have been some very special moments for the team in Cyprus. A particularly poignant experience was his visit to St. Lazarus Church in Larnaca.
“ I`m fascinated by the religious story of Lazarus being raised from the dead: it`s always resonated with me, so to see the tomb where the Lazarus is believed to be buried…that was very special. I`m a real foodie too, so of course we had to experience the amazing meze here and we certainly did thanks to George`s Taverna in Yeroskipou.
That was something we`d never tried before. If we`d had more time we`d most definitely be going back to George.”
During their brief shoot here they have trailed Akamas and mountain villages, dived underwater exploring wrecks off the Paphos coast, enjoyed the landscapes, people, culture and history of the island. Greco`s tagline for his show is “know before you go” so how much research had he done before coming to Cyprus?
“Before we come out to a country, we plan our production schedule as a team: we do research and decide together what we`d like to shoot before we get to our destination. But there`s no better research than the research you do when you get to the place itself. And when things don`t go according to plan (which is always a possibility ) being ready to improvise…”
Every show includes Greco`s `5 top tips`. Under pressure, Greco revealed three of his tips for Cyprus: respect religious etiquette when visiting churches and monasteries ( had off, long sleeves, no shorts or beachwear) and whilst Cyprus is still a pretty safe destination, car break ins do occur, so keep valuables locked away from sight and lock car doors and windows…and stomp your feet in the brush and on nature walks “just in case there are snakes around.”
So from his extensive travels ( he covers 13 countries per season), what are his most memorable moments?
“Taking the shortest flight in the world was fun, literally no sooner were we airborne than we had to land again, in French Polynesia flying from Tahiti to Moorea. And definitely my alligator experience: I`m often mistaken for the late Steve Irwin, so caught up in the alligator park I got a taste of what his life must have been like…very scary.
But I was totally safe, and if I can do it, so can you” which is exactly the message behind Greco`s shows.
And so taken is he with Cyprus he says he`s definitely coming back. We look forward to it.Discovery chanel
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