Sofia to Istanbul He pays homage to the genius of Barcelona's most famous architect and meets the man responsible for finishing off Antoni Gaudi's life's work. The third episode of Great Continental Railway Journeys series 7 will return to its usual slot come Wednesday, August 19th. At the capitals Royal Institute of Technology, Michael investigates transport of the future in a near vacuum tube. Using his 1913 railway guide, in the second part of his journey through the low countries and France, Michael Portillo travels to the French sector of the Western Front, where from 1914, the trains carried a new cargo of artillery shells, and the Edwardian tourists of 1913 were replaced by soldiers, facing the horrors of the trenches. Hard on their heels in Madrid, he visits the scene of a grim assassination attempt at the royal wedding of a British princess and a Spanish king. His journey begins in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, and includes stops in the ancient city of Plovdiv, the region of Rumelia, and former capital of the Ottoman Empire Edirne. Michael Portillo follows in the footsteps of Edwardian travellers to trace a route recommended in his Bradshaw's guide, journeying from the heart of France to the Mediterranean coast. Inspired by the music and story of Poland's national icon Frederic Chopin, Michael takes to the floor to dance the polonaise with high school students rehearsing for their leavers' ball. Beginning in Dresden, Michael explores the city of one of his favourite opera composers, Richard Wagner. Steered by his 1913 railway guide, today Michael journeys through a prosperous pre-war Europe of emperors, kings, pomp and elegance. Add Image. In Delft, Michael learns how the city came to specialise in pottery and finds out the secrets of its success. Michael Portillo embarks on a railway adventure which takes him across the heart of Europe. Datum der letzten bertragung: 2020-09-10; Anzahl der Jahreszeiten: 7; With his 1913 guidebook in hand, Michael Portillo explores the stunning art nouveau architecture of the Czech capital. In Uppsala, he tours the historic university before boarding an exquisite steam train to Marielund, where he celebrates midsummer in true Abba style. In Fez, he dodges the donkeys and learns how to make lamb tagine before being scrubbed down in a traditional hammam. Armed with his trusty 1913 Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, Michael Portillo travels east through the Balkans along the most exotic section of the route taken by the Orient Express. Michael Portillo uses his Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Guidebook to undertake the second leg of his journey through Italy from the Riviera to the Alps. Sometimes the programmes take a more frivolous look at continental culture. Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide in hand, Michael Portillo visits Italy, where he experiences first-hand the nation's need for speed in a state-of-the-art Maserati sports car. Described by the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians as "probably the first ever railway song", Glinka's express Travelling Song is a . At the birthplace of Germanys first democracy, Weimar, Michael investigates the beginning of Bauhaus design and visits the movements first building, a family house encapsulating a vision of how people might live in the 20th century. In Avignon, Michael savours the scent of Provence in the region's lavender fields before relaxing with a glass of the city's famous tipple, Chateauneuf-du-Pape. [1] In the early series, Portillo explores the railway networks of continental Europe, but in later series he also ventured further afield. Were you still up for Portillo, a hundred years ago in 1997? In 2020, the BBC made series 2 available on the BBC iPlayer. On the island, Michael finds out about apocalyptic scenes at Messina only five years prior to publication of his guidebook and marvels at the survival - and beauty - of the ancient hilltop town of Taormina, in the shadow of Mount Etna. He hitches a ride in a 1913 carriage to discover one of the secrets of its restoration. Mit seinem Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide", einem Reisefhrer aus dem Jahr 1913, erkundet er eine ra des Optimismus, des Aufbruchs, eine Bltezeit der Technik, Wissenschaft und Kunst, die Belle . Armed with his 1913 Bradshaw's, Michael Portillo explores a very different Spain from the one he knows best and ventures across its border with Britain's oldest ally, Portugal. Exploring the Acropolis and delighting in the tastes of moussaka and baklava, Michael discovers the many influences at play in the creation of modern Greece - from its classical past to the oriental Ottomans and the great European powers of Britain, France and Russia. Indeed, in the "tragic week" in July/August 1909 perhaps 150 were shot by the army during protests organised by socialists and anarchists. Then, as expected, the fourth episode will air on Wednesday, August 26th. Michael begins in the port of Batumi on the dazzling Caucasian Riviera. Michael Portillo heads for the Netherlands, where he roots around the world's largest flower auction in Haarlem, operates a crane in Europe's largest container port, Rotterdam, and investigates Amsterdam's famous red-light district. The Young British Artists who took on the old guard and changed the art world forever, Artist Roxana Halls paints twin sisters who survived a crocodile attack in Mexico, The trailblazing designer who worked with Ye and Louis Vuitton before his 2021 death, Sonia Boyce: Finding Her Voice. Toronto is at its best during this beautiful spring season. Getting off the train at Montreux, the most genteel of Swiss resorts, I came across the statue of Igor Stravinsky. At the Bolshoi Theatre, Michael performs an important role in one of Russia's most dramatic operas. Following in the footsteps of King Edward VII, who visited his cousin King Carlos in 1903, Michael explores the city from the Santa Justa lift to the harbour at Belem. To hear the story, Michael hitches a ride in the famous marque's most modern counterpart, a gleaming new convertible Dawn. In Avignon, Michael savours the scent of Provence in the region's lavender fields before relaxing with a glass of the city's famous tipple, Chateauneuf-du-Pape. He then travels the Habsburg imperial line across the Semmering Pass, a line blasted through the Alps. Great Continental Railway Journeys (2016) Episodes: - Zermatt to Geneva - Transylvania to the Black Sea - The Flying Scotsman - Rotterdam to Utrecht - Riga to Tampere - Sofia to Istanbul - Athens to Thessaloniki tracks: - Vrai, More Hope, Efficient, Having Doubts (Album Modern string ensemble) - Neutrality (Album Cycle of Life) I was reminded that the deference that propped up the empires was crumbling long before the first trench was dug. The first series was originally broadcast on BBC Two in 2012, and the seventh series was first aired in 2020. Great Continental Railway Journeys: With Michael Portillo, Andrew Martin, Mitch Waite, Clive Lamming. He learns how an aristocratic English poet became a Greek national hero and relives Greek athletic victory at the first modern Olympic games. He learns how an aristocratic English poet became a Greek national hero and relives Greek athletic victory at the first modern Olympic games. Along the way, he recreates the famous Italian Job on an historic Fiat test track and follows fashion in Milan before investigating the early 20th-century British love affair with Lake Como in a seaplane. as the hour and the miles unfolded. Michael discovers from a British engineer how the leaning tower of Pisa was rescued from near collapse. Research of a more sombre kind leads Michael to the roots of our modern welfare state in the work of an early 20th-century . In Bologna, he embarks on a doomed search for spaghetti bolognese - until a cookery teacher takes pity on him and shows him how to make a much more authentic tagliatelle al ragu. Heading north to Gargnano, Michael discovers the romantic hideaway of one of Britain's most famous writers, DH Lawrence, whose affair with his professor's wife scandalised his home country. The climate provides a pleasant environment for sightseeing. In a vast stadium in Berlin, Michael hears how new rail lines were constructed to transport crowds of spectators to the Nazi Olympic Games in 1936. But whilst the facades are beautiful, behind the buildings were cheaply constructed warrens. He finishes his journey at the vast Sangachal oil and gas terminal, one of the world's largest, and discovers how the oil industry began here during the nineteenth century. . Steered by his 1913 Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, Michael Portillo travels one of the most stunning rail routes of the world, the historic Trans-Caucasus Railway, through the former Russian empire from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, taking in present-day Georgia and Azerbaijan. Featured peformers: Jon Wygens (composer). At Belorussky Station in Moscow, Michael hears how thousands of Russians journeyed to the capital in 1913 to mark the Romanov royal family's tercentenary year. He visits the beautiful country estate of Yasnaya Polyana, where Tolstoy wrote his masterpieces, and learns how the author's life and works were inextricably entwined with the railways. A humbling master class in carving cuckoo clocks shows him how the nation's reputation for quality and reliability in manufacturing was established from the early 18th century. He begins in the truly international city of Basel and travels east to visit industrial Zurich. Rotterdam to Utrecht His journey ends at the gateway to the former French empire, Marseilles. He then heads over the rail bridge across the lagoon to Venice, where he finds a microcosm of pre-First World War Europe in the Venice Biennale art exhibition. Crossing the border again into Norway, Michael discovers how in 1913 this young nation expressed its own distinctively modern identity in plays, paintings and polar exploration. Leaving Hungary behind, Michael begins this leg in the elegant city of Vienna, he continues his journey to Salzburg, before heading to the magnificent scenery of the Salzkammergut region. Journeys are mainly focused on Great Britain, and is presented by the ex-politician and broadcaster Michael Portillo. The overnight service from Tbilisi to Baku delivers Michael to Azerbaijan, the so-called 'land of fire' because of the natural gas which seeps from the ground and ignites the hills. He discovers the magnificent art and architecture of the Dutch Golden Age and marvels at the engineering ingenuity of this fiercely independent nation. Michael Portillo travels by rail throughout Continental Europe. . I was drawn to it because when Jonathan Harker first encounters the vampire he is reading "of all things an English Bradshaw's guide" (studying the timetable between Whitby and King's Cross, the line that will carry Draculas coffins of earth!). Following in the footsteps of Bradshaw's travellers, Michael explores the cradle of the Renaissance through Edwardian eyes but learns in Florence that the tourists' 'Italietta' was far removed from the new Italy envisaged by the futurists of the time. Great Continental Railway Journeys. The wedding of the former king, Edward VIII, and the American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, at Chateau de Cande in the summer of 1937 was shunned by the British establishment. Series 5 of Great Continental Railway Journeys begins on Tuesday 20 September on BBC Two at 9pm. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. From Tallinn, Michael crosses the Baltic Sea by ferry to Helsinki, where he discovers the music of the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius and learns how his masterpiece Finlandia spurred Finns towards independence.