Michael Portillo strikes oil in the suburbs of Los Angeles, contemplates his navel in the orange groves of Riverside, makes a California Roll and paints a pretty picture in Laguna Beach.\n\nIt is Mexican Independence Day and the locals are celebrating the country's hard-won independence from Spain in the early 19th century. There is dancing, singing and feasting in the streets and Michael is up for joining the party. He learns that one in two of the population of LA is Latino, mainly of Mexican descent, and hears after only a few decades, Mexico lost half its territory and California became part of the United States. Michael learns the secrets of backyard oil drilling in Los Angeles, home to the largest urban oil field in the United States. Nodding donkeys are everywhere - in residential neighbourhoods, parking lots and burger joints.\n\nMichael sports a zesty orange jacket to visit the Citrus Variety Collection and learns the difference between a pummelo and a papeda. Alongside oil, the citrus fruit industry, he discovers, is one of the bedrocks of the state's economy. At Laguna Beach, Michael learns how artists from the east coast travelled west on the Transcontinental Railroad to found a colony of 'plein air' painters attracted by the beautiful coastline and glorious light to paint outside.
Source: BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 9. Chicago To Champaign, Illinois
21-08-2023
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 5. Santa Fe, New Mexico, To The Grand Canyon
14-08-2023
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 4. La Junta To Colorado Springs
10-08-2023
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 2. Sedalia To St Joseph, Missouri
08-08-2023
BBC 2
Series 2 Reversions: 1. St Louis To Jefferson City, Missouri
07-08-2023
BBC 2
Series 3: 2. Boston To Concord, Massachusetts
Michael Portillo's 19th-century Appleton's guidebook leads him to the Parker House Hotel, where in his best pinny, he whisks up a Boston cream pie.\n\nIn the fine dome atop Mass ...
08-11-2022
BBC 2
Alaska And Canada: 1. Ninilchik To Spencer Whistlestop
Michael Portillo heads for the Last Frontier of the United States armed with his 1899 Appleton's Guide-Book to Alaska. Written by an intrepid 19th-century female explorer, the b ...
24-07-2023
BBC 2
Series 3 Reversions: 6. Boston To Concord
Armed with his 19th-century Appleton's guidebook to the United States and Canada, Michael Portillo embarks on a 1100-mile railroad journey from Boston, Massachusetts, across the ...
12-06-2018
BBC 2
Series 3: 16. Santa Clara To Santa Cruz
Michael Portillo's thousand-mile rail journey through California continues south toward Santa Clara in the heart of Silicon Valley and ends in the surf of Santa Cruz. In a high- ...
01-12-2022
BBC 2
Series 4: 7. Springhill Junction To Quebec City
Clutching his 1899 copy of Appleton’s Guide to Canada, Michael Portillo travels on the Ocean train from Nova Scotia to New Brunswick. Along the way, he investigates the wo ...
28-09-2022
BBC 2
Series 3: 6. Burlington To Plattsburgh
Michael Portillo continues his American rail journey through New England as he heads for the Canadian border. First stop is Burlington, Vermont, a busy timber port at the time o ...
15-11-2022
BBC 2
Series 3: 1. Boston
Armed with his 19th-century Appleton's guidebook to the United States and Canada, Michael Portillo embarks on a 1,100-mile railroad journey from Boston, Massachusetts, across th ...
07-11-2022
BBC 2
Series 3 Reversions: 2. San Francisco
Armed with his trusty Appleton's Guide, Michael Portillo reaches San Francisco, where he boards one of the city's iconic cable cars. Behind the scenes in the engineering powerho ...
05-06-2018
BBC 2