Michael Portillo follows in the footsteps of Edwardian travellers to trace a route recommended in his Bradshaw's guide from the heart of France to the Mediterranean coast. 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. His final stop is the industrial city of Stuttgart, where he visits the Porsche factory and learns of the origin of the Volkswagen Beetle. At the handsome Palace Square, Michael hears how turbulent events at the time of his guide saw the Portuguese royal family almost wiped out. He learns how an aristocratic English poet became a Greek national hero and relives Greek athletic victory at the first modern Olympic games. Following in the footsteps of early 20th-century British tourists, he pays homage to the romantic poets at the foot of the Spanish Steps before boarding the train south. He then travels south along the tourist trail of the castle-studded Rhein river and ends his journey in the Rheingau to taste the wines of its age old vineyards.
Like the railway traveller of a hundred years ago, Michael discovers a land full of surprises. Steered by his 1913 Bradshaw's Guide, Michael Portillo returns to Spain to trace the early 20th-century roots of the Spanish Civil War, which divided his Spanish family and sent his father into exile. After sipping sherry in Jerez, he traces Winston Churchill's tense diplomatic mission to Algeciras on Spain's Costa del Sol and finishes with tales of British espionage on the Rock of Gibraltar. He begins in the truly international city of Basel and travels east to visit industrial Zurich. The first series detailed four railway journeys following an 1840 Bradshaw's guide, split into a run of 20 separate episodes. For the similar show broadcast from 2010, see. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Michael takes a spin around the track at Le Mans in a French-built car, which won two endurance races during the 1920s.
Great Continental Railway Journeys (BBC2) - Ravel-Chapuis Music Library Some user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. In Ploesti, he helps out in the world's first oil refinery and at Sinaia, he discovers a fairy tale castle with the most modern conveniences. Along the way, Michael discovers the parlous state of Greek finances at the time of his guidebook. Leaving London behind, Michael follows the most popular route of the Edwardian traveller through France. His destination lies close to his heart: the ancient kingdom of Spain and land of his father. 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. That gave way to a red jacket, orange shirt and yellow trousers.
Michael Portillo's Great Railway Journeys He then ends his journey as he arrives at the gaming tables in glamorous Monte Carlo. His destination is Istanbul, a multi-ethnic city where Europe and Asia meet via an underground railway. 2022-12-27 06:12:03. Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide in hand, Michael Portillo travels east through the rose fields of Bulgaria, celebrates that nation's early 20th-century independence with a traditional Thracian dance and discovers no holds are barred in one of the world's oldest sports tournaments - oil wrestling. Sorry, comments are closed for this item. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The deeply shocking piece now has pride of place in the gallery of the Belvedere Palace, painted between 1907 and 1908 during his golden period. The bodies of two lovers are entwined and the female figure is clearly in ecstasy. The temperature varies from 33F to 66F.
Great Continental Railway Journeys - Season 7 - IMDb Getting off the train at Montreux, the most genteel of Swiss resorts, I came across the statue of Igor Stravinsky.
Choo choo! The creepy genius of Michael Portillo's railway shows Striking north, Michael boards the long-distance train which runs from the Caspian Sea to the capital. Despite it having no direct connection to the European railway network, a chapter was devoted to Gibraltar in the 1913 guidebook.[3]. Arriving in Italy at the empire's southern port of Trieste, Michael savours the imported coffee which fuelled the cafe culture of its elegant capital, Vienna. 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. Michael Portillo embarks on a scenic thousand-mile rail journey from the Swedish capital, Stockholm, to Abisko in the northern reaches of the Arctic Circle, steered by his 1936 edition of Bradshaws Continental Railway Guide. He encounters mummified monks in a medieval monastery and works out alongside two of the strongest women in the world. That feeling was confirmed as soon as I exited Vienna's stunning new main station.
Great Continental Railway Journeys review: potent stuff - and that's Great Railway Journeys - Wikipedia Now he embarks on the sixth series of Great Continental Railway Journeys (BBC Two), beginning in Spain and this time guided by the 1936 edition of Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, which was . Similar series were broadcast in 1983, Great Little Railways, and 2010, Great British Railway Journeys. Special dispensation to fly to the Balearic island of Mallorca allows Michael to spoil himself rotten with spectacularly scenic rides aboard a sublime 1912 vintage railway and a 1913 tram. Without access to a smartphone, though, I had to wait until the morning to find out precisely why. Michael explores Sicilian life under the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini. Great Continental Railway Journeys (2016), Zermatt to Geneva Jon Wygens is a multi-instrumentalist and award winning composer for film and television. Connect your Spotify account to your Last.fm account and scrobble everything you listen to, from any Spotify app on any device or platform. Not so, as culture also has a part to play. Gaud perished on the tracks, hit by a tram. Michael Portillo embarks on a rail journey through Germany. He then heads west via the picturesque Harz Mountains to the Industrial Ruhr Valley to learn how imperial Germany was war ready. Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide was published in 1913 and was a guide to Europe's rail network on the brink of the First World War. Arriving in Geneva, Michael is thrust into tense conflict training at a military checkpoint as he explores the city's famously international character, beginning with the International Committee for the Red Cross. Great Asian Railway Journeys.
At the Palais de la Bourse, Michael hears how, at the time of his guide, the city was still reeling from the assassination of the country's president and how a shocked French nation rallied in support of the Third Republic. Great Continental Railway Journeys is a British television documentary series presented by Michael Portillo. In Verona, Michael discovers the 'House of the Capulets', bought to attract Edwardian tourists to the scene of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Michael Portillo braves the freezing temperatures of the Baltic Sea and finds peace paddling a canoe on the Lakes of Finland. 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. At Coimbra, Michael is moved by the mournful strains of the fado sung by students of the university, then boards the high-speed train to the Portuguese capital Lisbon. Radio Times Travel offers. Michael begins in the port of Batumi on the dazzling Caucasian Riviera. The first series was originally broadcast on BBC Two in 2012, and the seventh series was first aired in 2020. Michael visits the magnificent stained-glass windows of the Cathedral of Sainte-Croix. Armed with his 1913 railway guide, in the second part of his journey from London to Monte Carlo, Michael Portillo follows the most popular route of the Edwardian traveller through France. With Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide in hand, Michael Portillo penetrates the eastern extreme of Europe to journey through the vast country of Russia. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. Arriving in Munich, he finds a blue horse created at the time of his guidebook and discovers an early 20th century pioneer who laid the foundations for the city's pre-eminence in science and technology today. Michael Portillo travels to Spain, the country his father fled during the bloody civil war. In Vienna, he encounters a pre-Cold War spy and hears for himself the concert that caused a riot in 1913. I was reminded that the deference that propped up the empires was crumbling long before the first trench was dug. And I like your trousers. No, she didnt say the last bit. Cycling in tandem with his guide, Michael discovers Lyon's role in the country's most famous sporting event, the Tour de France. Great Continental Railway Journeys: Dresden to Kiel: Part Two Great Continental Railway Journeys (2012) . Beginning in the capital, Kiev, Michael explores the city described in his century-old Bradshaw as the 'Jerusalem of Russia'. His journey ends in the Rheingau to taste the wines of its age old vineyards. In the shadow of the citys splendid cathedral, Michael learns to dance the Jota. He travels to Leipzig on a historic railway line, built by British engineers in 1839. Crossing the border from Bohemia to Bavaria, Michael encounters a fire-breathing dragon in Furth-im-Wald and in Nuremberg he rides German railway history - made in Britain. Along the way, he roots around the world's largest flower auction in Haarlem and investigates Amsterdam's famous red light district. His rail journey takes him from the grasslands of the Steppe to the shores of the Black Sea. Transylvania, the Carpathian Mountains, Pele Castle in Sinaia, the oil refinery at Ploieti, Romania's most famous composer George Enescu in the capital, Bucharest and the oldest inhabited city in Romania, Constana on the Black Sea. With his 1913 Bradshaw's in hand, Michael Portillo journeys deep into central Europe to explore a country where east meets west: Poland. Michael Portillo's 1936 Bradshaw's Guide brings him to the Italian 'treasure island' of Sicily, full of natural beauty and 'scenery of the greatest charm'. An excursion to a nearby bathing resort popular at the time of his guide and during Soviet times leads Michael to a hydropathic establishment where he braves an intimate massage in warm mud.
Great Canadian Railway Journeys - Wikipedia In Kiel, Michael learns about the intense rivalry between Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and his uncle, British King Edward VII, at the Kiel Week yacht races. He begins in the truly international city of Basel and travels east to visit industrial Zurich. His 1913 Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guidebook under his arm, Michael Portillo continues his journey through the borderland where Europe meets Asia and fulfils a personal lifelong ambition to visit the Black Sea port of Odessa.