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.\n\nIn Lviv, Michael learns to make Vareniki, the sour cheese-filled pasta, which is so popular in Ukraine, and encounters a much loved 19th-century poet before boarding the overnight express to Odessa. After breakfast on board Michael sets out to explore a vibrant and cosmopolitan city with French, Italian, Russian and Jewish influences. At the city's Great Synagogue he hears how the once sizeable Jewish population is beginning to recover after the violent pogroms of the 19th and early 20th centuries and the Holocaust. 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. A performance of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty at Odessa's exquisite opera house rounds off his journey.
Source: BBC 2
Series 7: 6. Stockholm To The Arctic Circle
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 ...
19-03-2024
BBC 2
Series 7: 5. Linz To Bratislava
Michael Portillo travels by train through Austria and the Czech Republic, following his Bradshaw’s Continental Railway Guide, published in 1936. Michael’s journey ta ...
18-03-2024
BBC 2
Series 7: 4. Palermo To Mt Etna
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'. But the i ...
14-03-2024
BBC 2
Series 7: 3. Berlin To Stuttgart
Michael Portillo embarks on a rail journey through Germany, steered by a Bradshaw’s Continental Railway Guide published in 1936. His unique window on Europe between the wo ...
13-03-2024
BBC 2
Series 7: 2. Orleans To Reims
Michael Portillo travels from the chateaux of the Loire Valley to the heart of the Champagne region at Reims.\n\nBeginning in historic Orleans, Michael follows his Bradshaw&rsqu ...
12-03-2024
BBC 2
Series 7: 1. Salamanca To Canfranc
Michael Portillo sports a strikingly modern edition of his Bradshaw’s Continental Handbook, dated 1936. His destination lies close to his heart: the ancient kingdom of Spa ...
11-03-2024
BBC 2
Series 6: 2. Batumi To Baku
Steered by his 1913 Continental Railway Guide, Michael Portillo travels one of the most stunning rail routes of the world, through the former Russian empire from the Black Sea t ...
04-02-2023
BBC 2
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 10
Michael Portillo continues his scenic thousand-mile rail journey from the Swedish capital, Stockholm, to Abisko in the northern reaches of the Arctic Circle, steered by his 1936 ...
03-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 9
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 ...
03-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 8
Michael continues his railway journey from Sicily’s capital, Palermo, through the ancient town of Agrigento and the port of Siracusa to Europe’s largest volcano, Mou ...
02-01-2023
BBC 2
Series 7 (shortened Versions): Episode 2
Michael continues his rail journey through Spain with his 1930s Bradshaw’s guide. At the Museo Reina Sofia, Michael hears how the bombing of a small town in the Basque reg ...
14-12-2022
BBC 2
Series 6 - Reversions: 3. Batumi To Baku Part 1
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, throug ...
16-05-2018
BBC 2
Series 5 - Reversions: 10. The Netherlands - Part 2
17-06-2017
BBC 2
Series 4 - Reversions: 3. Vienna To Trieste - Part 1
27-06-2019
BBC 2
Series 3 - Reversions: 5. Warsaw To Krakow - Part 1
12-03-2019
BBC 2
Series 5 - Reversions: 2. Transylvania To The Black Sea Part 2
06-06-2017
BBC 2
Series 6 - Reversions: 4. Batumi To Baku Part 2
Armed with his 1913 Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide Michael Portillo resumes his rail journey through the former Russian empire from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, takin ...
17-05-2018
BBC 2
Series 4 - Reversions: 1. Sofia To Istanbul - Part 1
24-06-2019
BBC 2