One newspaper commented that only Eric Morecambe was funnier. Starting in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, he travels via Bratislava in Slovakia to the beautiful and elegant city of Vienna, where he immerses himself in pre-war decadence. As of 2021, series 1-6 of Great Continental Railway Journeys have been released on DVD by FremantleMedia under licence from Boundless and the BBC. / Great Continental Railway Journeys. 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. Its a heady journey, although a tweed jacket wouldnt go amiss. Then, as expected, the fourth episode will air on Wednesday, August 26th. In Graz, the former politician ventures underground at the Lurgrotte Caves to find out about a famous rescue operation of the past, then in Slovenia discovers how an earthquake in Ljubljana prompted its citizens to assert their national identity in architecture and art. Steered by his 1913 railway guide, on this journey Michael Portillo explores the once-great empire of Austria-Hungary, domain of the famous Habsburg monarchs.
The 10 best: pieces inspired by trains | Classical music - the Guardian His journey begins in Lyon, where he learns how the city got its gastronomic reputation, and takes instruction from a leading chef on making an omelette. Following in the footsteps of early 20th-century travellers, on this journey Michael uses his 1913 railway guide to explore Switzerland, whose remarkable railways helped make it a favourite with Edwardian tourists.
On track: Michael Portillo's Continental culture hot spots - BBC Armed with his 1913 railway guide, Michael Portillo explores Scandinavia and discovers the royal roots of early 20th century British travellers' close dynastic ties with the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway. Moving south to the city of Arles, he learns how its light and the famous mistral drew artists from all over Europe. [2] To avoid offending Spanish sensitivities, the line was built concluding in Algeciras, a town in Spain on the opposite side of the Bay of Gibraltar, rather than at the Gibraltar border.
A hundred years ago, Latvia, Estonia and Finland were part of the Russian Tsar's vast empire but, as Michael discovers, each country had a vibrant identity and culture of its own. Although there have been no complete series of Great Railway Journeys released on DVD, Michael Palin's 1980 and 1994 programmes are available individually (BBCDVD1626) and as part of a box set of his collected travel documentaries, The Michael Palin Collection (BBCDVD2214). 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. This is one of the world's most-covered songs, meaning both artists and audiences love it. This episode offers beautiful views along the Rhine and also shows various cities in the area including Colonge and Koblenz. Great Continental Railway Journeys: Dresden to Kiel: Part Two Great Continental Railway Journeys (2012) . Michael Portillo ventures once more on to the European rail network to retrace journeys featured in George Bradshaw's 1913 publication Continental Guide, beginning by travelling through Russia. I was at university and in bed, but heard the cheers going up from streets around. He encounters mummified monks in a medieval monastery and works out alongside two of the strongest women in the world. In Lund, he samples a smorgasbord before having a Highland fling in Gothenburg, where he test drives a vintage Volvo. Leaving Paris behind, Michael travels south to the Cote D'Azur to learn why the area attracted the rich and artistic alike and samples the Edwardian highlife before ending his journey at the gaming tables in glamorous Monte Carlo. Forsaking the saddle, Michael takes to the skies and pilots a light aircraft as he learns of one of France's pioneering aviators. The dance is complicated and long, and wearing turquoise trousers with a hat that repeatedly slipped from my head, I cut a poor figure. Second is the increasing awareness . 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. But the interwar guidebook also tells him that the head of government in Italy is the fascist leader Signor Benito Mussolini. Along the way, he marvels at the Matterhorn and is rescued from an 'avalanche' by a St Bernard puppy. Michael Portillo takes the train down the spine of Italy from Rome to Sicily. I was at university and in bed, but heard the cheers going up from streets around. 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. He begins in Israel, learning about the Baha'i faith and how it spread to Britain in the Edwardian era, hearing the story of the origins of Tel Aviv, and visiting the Christian, Jewish and Muslim quarters of the capital Jerusalem. Michael Portillo uses his 1913 copy of Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide to venture beyond Europe as he travels through the Holy Land. In Poznan, at the heart of former German Poland, Michael takes in the view from the kaiser's balcony before climbing aboard what is possibly the last steam-powered commuter train. To cap off his journey, Michael travels to the Austrian border and the famous Brenner Pass, mastered by the railways in the 19th century and the scene today of a groundbreaking engineering project to build one of the world's longest rail tunnels. Michael Portillo, the treasury secretary with the curiously collapsed yet labile face and shoo-in for next Tory leader, lost the seat he had held comfortably five years before, to a Labour unknown, Stephen Twigg. A fifth series following in January 2014 with 20 episodes, making a total airing of 115 episodes across the five series. One of the most spectacular events I have witnessed was a Thracian classical dance in the Roman Theatre in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv.
Great Continental Railway Journeys series 7 episode 3 missing: When In GREAT CONTINENTAL RAILWAY JOURNEYS, British broadcaster and journalist Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes .
Emperor Franz Josef ordered the building of the impressive Ringstrasse along the lines of the old city walls. 6 / 6 Michael Portillo samples the delights of the French and Spanish Atlantic coast. The first series detailed four railway journeys following an 1840 Bradshaw's guide, split into a run of 20 separate episodes. North of Helsinki, in Tampere, Michael takes to the water again to explore one of Finland's 180,000 lakes. Heading to Bilbao, he explores the industrial ties between France and Spain and learns to cook a traditional Basque dish . The devout Catalan architect Anton Gaud set to work on a church that might redeem the crime: La Sagrada Familia. Arriving in Paris at the Champs de Mars station, Michael takes in an epic view of the city from the top of the Arc de Triomphe before heading for Montparnasse, where wildly creative artists and writers of the 1920s and 1930s spawned new art movements. Looking at history and trying 21st century things that changed since before The Great War. The new boulevard was a metaphor for the empire which, beneath a veneer of pomp, was dissolving into dozens of ethnicities. Making history in contemporary art at the Venice Biennale, Sensationalists: The Bad Girls and Boys of British Art. Season 1. 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. Led by his 1913 railway guide, he then heads west via the picturesque Harz Mountains to the industrial Ruhr Valley to learn how imperial Germany was war ready. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typically a well-known figure from the arts or media, would make a journey by train, usually through a country or to a destination to which they had a personal connection. He left plans and models of every detail of his concept and it is now nearing completion, with spires and towers soaring above the Catalan capital extolling Christ, the Trinity, the Evangelists and the Apostles. East of Paris, in Champagne country, Michael finishes his journey in style with a tour of the cellars at Domaine Pommery and a glass of fizz with the owner. 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. 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. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for GREAT CONTINENTAL RAILWAY JOURNEYS SERIES 2 dvd REGION 4 michael portillo NEW at the best online prices at eBay! It detailed railway journeys in mainland Europe, following a 1913 Bradshaw's guide to European rail travel. A spot of on-the-job training as a welder is a salutary lesson to stick with the day job. 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. 7.673. 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. After visiting Potsdam, he explores Weimar in central Germany, a city that has twelve buildings on the UNESCO World Heritage list. He discovers a nation fractured at the time by social tensions and regional loyalties, which today offers a rich diversity of cultures to delight the tourist. 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 is at his best and most comfortable with the ex cathedra element of presenting. Described by the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians as "probably the first ever railway song", Glinka's express Travelling Song is a . Add Image. Bordeaux to Bilbao. To hear the story, Michael hitches a ride in the famous marque's most modern counterpart, a gleaming new convertible Dawn. "Chief Minister is Interviewed for Popular BBC Show", "UNESCO World Heritage Sites Thuringia", Article by Michael Portillo - 25 Oct 2013, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Continental_Railway_Journeys&oldid=1132138884, 2010s British documentary television series, 2020s British documentary television series, Documentary television series about railway transport, Television shows set in the Czech Republic, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, The assassination attempt at the royal wedding of the British princess, One of the world's oldest roller-coasters in Copenhagen's. He learns how an aristocratic English poet became a Greek national hero and relives Greek athletic victory at the first modern Olympic games. His rail journey takes him from the grasslands of the Steppe to the shores of the Black Sea. 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 . 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. In Vienna, Michael Portillo encounters a pre-Cold War spy and learns about the concert that caused a riot in 1913. Michael Portillo continues his journey through Germany, guided by his 1936 Bradshaws Continental Railway Guide. Back up to: Great Continental Railway Journeys. At the Bolshoi Theatre, Michael performs an important role in one of Russia's most dramatic operas. Number of seasons: 7 Number of episodes: 37.
BBC Two - Great Continental Railway Journeys English musician and sound artist Chris Watson worked as an audio recorder for the fourth episode "Los Mochis to Veracruz" of the fourth season. Athens to Thessaloniki Without access to a smartphone, though, I had to wait until the morning to find out precisely why. 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!).
Great Train Journeys: 'Palermo To Mount Etna' In Sicily, Italy (BBC In Carrara, he finds out how the marble used by Michelangelo is still quarried today and is invited to chip away at a contemporary sculpture. At Goettingen University, Michael discovers two sides of student life at the turn of the 20th century - the duelling fraternities and the groundbreaking scientists, who laid the foundation for Germany's world-class transport technology today. Steered by his 1913 railway guide, on the second part of this train journey through Germany, Michael Portillo continues through the industrial Ruhr Valley to learn how imperial Germany was war ready before traveling south to Cologne and along the tourist trail of the castle-studded River Rhine. Jon Wygens is a multi-instrumentalist and award winning composer for film and television. Read about Gbrj Opening Theme by Great British Railway Journeys soundtrack and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. At the Skoda factory in Pilsen he investigates how the machine products of peacetime gave way to the manufacture of armaments for war and test drives a state of the art passenger train locomotive made there today.
Michael Portillos 1936 Bradshaws Continental Railways Guide brings him to the Italian 'treasure island' of Sicily, full of natural beauty and 'scenery of the greatest charm'.