1 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:59,600 National Day in Tiraspol, the capital of Transdniester, a place most people have never heard of. 2 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,120 It's a breakaway state of the republic of Moldova - 3 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,840 another place most people have never heard of. 4 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,360 Which makes me doubly glad to be here. 5 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,280 I never witnessed anything quite like this before. 6 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:22,240 A National Day parade for a nation that doesn't exist. 7 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,880 This is Transdniester. They have their own army, their own currency, 8 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,240 but no single other country in the world recognises them. 9 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,240 But today, they'll recognise themselves. 10 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,560 Transdniester, literally "Across the Dniester River", 11 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:41,240 consists of 4,000 square kilometres and just over half a million people. 12 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,680 Oh, and a helicopter. 13 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:56,280 When the old Soviet republic of Moldova won independence in 1991, 14 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:01,360 those on the east bank of the Dniester River felt let down. 15 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:05,400 The majority were Slavs, they used the Russian language and alphabet, 16 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,480 whereas the rest of Moldova spoke Romanian, the Latin language. 17 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:15,760 So in 1992, after a short civil war, the Transdniesterans declared themselves independent. 18 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,400 Which is what today's festivities are all about. 19 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:37,480 These people want so much to remain Russian. 20 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,960 But in most of their lifetimes, it looks increasingly unlikely 21 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,880 that the rift with Moldova will ever be repaired. 22 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:52,560 After crossing the Dniester, 23 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,400 I shall pass through the rest of Moldova, 24 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:57,200 into northern Romania, 25 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,240 south to Transylvania and Bucharest, 26 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:01,880 then on to the Danube. 27 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:14,360 I'm coming into Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. 28 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:18,480 This was once the far south-western corner of the mighty Soviet Union. 29 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:23,880 Now it's a tiny independent country, trying to find its place on the new map of Europe. 30 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,760 Chisinau isn't without its problems. 31 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:35,720 But first impressions are of a likeable, surprisingly verdant, easy-going city. 32 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,880 I take a walk in the park with Tatiana Tabuliyak, a local journalist. 33 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,520 For a moment, it's like stepping back in time. 34 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,680 BAND PLAYS 35 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,680 This is a place where, actually, old people come, 36 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,560 but you can see today, not only old people are coming. 37 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,600 I think lonely people are coming here. Yes. 38 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,720 It's a place where they can be not so lonely. 39 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,160 You can see here, they're pensioners, 40 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:13,480 most of them, retired persons, living alone, with a very small pension. 41 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,680 Some of them, they're just left alone, you know? 42 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:21,640 They're not rich. They have very poor condition in life. 43 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:26,560 What they do every Sunday, they just put a nice dress on themselves, 44 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,320 make a little bit of make-up, put medals, nice suits, 45 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:33,360 and they're coming here just to meet each other. 46 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:37,640 They can dance with anyone here, can they? A lot of love stories started here. 47 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:40,280 They're quite old, some of them. Almost my age! 48 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:42,600 This is not old. 49 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:53,600 You can come here for a good dose of optimism for your week. 50 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:06,400 You know, see when a man doesn't want to dance, a lady should have more courage. 51 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,520 Come on then. 52 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:13,480 Will you be able to lead? We'll see what we can do. 53 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:19,000 Oh dear, there we go. It's not so bad. 54 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:22,960 I'll just watch what everyone else does. 55 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:44,760 Is there much regret at the passing of the old Soviet Union? 56 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:49,040 Do people feel nostalgic at all here, for those days? 57 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:51,720 Actually, a lot. 58 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:57,160 If you would ask all of those people, you see here, they would start crying and they would say, 59 00:05:57,160 --> 00:05:59,480 "We want back." 60 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:07,080 Young generation, they are not so nostalgic, we didn't even get too much from the Soviet period. 61 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:12,640 I think people miss not the regime, they miss jobs, 62 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,880 they miss pensions, they miss, er...I don't know, 63 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:21,560 cheap food and good vacations. 64 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:25,280 I also miss Sovietic period. You know why? Because I was young. 65 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:30,920 I had my parents alive, and if this means to miss Soviet Union, 66 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:36,160 yes, I miss, because I was a child, I had my grandparents, 67 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,800 I went to all of these places. 68 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,040 Everything seems to be so beautiful. 69 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:45,880 But now, logically, of course I'm so happy that it's not here 70 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,160 and I can speak with you today. 71 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:50,960 20 years ago, this would be a crime. 72 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:56,480 I would probably have a file now, if you would come and I would tell you all these things. 73 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:01,120 This is important to know and to keep in mind always. 74 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:06,680 Everybody is nostalgic for something, but it's important to be realistic at one point. 75 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:11,760 You miss the sensation of something, you miss the smell or the taste, 76 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:17,800 but you cannot miss something which killed and made unhappy so many generations. 77 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:27,520 Tatiana also helps run the UNICEF operation in Moldova. 78 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:33,160 Tomorrow, she's going to take me to a village outside the capital to see their work in action. 79 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,840 Moldova is the poorest country in Europe. 80 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:41,040 Many in the countryside can only support their families by working abroad. 81 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:45,640 Those left behind are easy prey for drug dealers and people traffickers. 82 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,040 With the help of UNICEF, the children of this village 83 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:53,760 have put on a play to make people aware of the dangers that they face. 84 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:01,160 What's...? What are they attempting to show and deal with here? 85 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,160 It's a story about trafficking. Here's a typical Moldovan village. 86 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:09,000 People wake up to go to work. 87 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,080 Trafficking is a big issue in Moldova, actually. 88 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:21,560 A quarter of the population is out, mainly women, working illegally. 89 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:23,640 Abroad? Yes, abroad. 90 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:32,600 These are people who went abroad and now they're coming back to recruit people for prostitution, for begging. 91 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:38,280 Actually, they have probably lived in the same village for many years and now they come here because 92 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:44,760 people trust them, because if you live with someone for 20 years, you trust that person. 93 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,200 And actually, these are the main traffickers. 94 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,520 Local people coming back to their own village? 95 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:55,520 People coming back, they promise them $200-$300 per month. 96 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:57,960 For them, this is huge money. 97 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,240 Every time, you think this wouldn't happen to you. 98 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,520 You hope at least that this won't happen to you. 99 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:06,440 She's going to be... 100 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:11,640 This is already somewhere in Italy maybe, or in Moscow. Yeah. 101 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:16,920 They take their papers, they leave them like in streets, 102 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:19,920 or in a room for years and years. 103 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,360 They usually see, he injected some drugs to the girl. 104 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:25,960 This is what is happening. 105 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:30,080 They are living, like three, four, five years, drugged... 106 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:32,480 being forced to prostitute. 107 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:37,480 And they come back. We have a lot of cases here 108 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:41,200 when they need years to recover. 109 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:43,680 Actually, children are very expressive. 110 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:47,160 Imagine that every second has parents abroad. 111 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:51,400 Every second child here? Every second child acting has parents abroad. 112 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:55,320 Maybe they didn't see them for years - five years, six years. 113 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:57,800 They just received money from them. 114 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:01,760 Maybe that's why they're so good. They've just seen it on people's faces. 115 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:05,320 It's the look on the faces that's so intense. 116 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,480 It's full of feeling, isn't it? It's very moving. 117 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:14,440 What you are doing here, the play, does it do any good at all if people are just going to go anyway? 118 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:16,400 Do you think it does change minds? 119 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:20,440 I think the main message is that they inform them. 120 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:25,200 Now they can know that things like this can happen. 121 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,280 You should be very careful with who are you talking. 122 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:31,360 Who is taking you abroad? 123 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,320 You know, this is... We want to do this for them 124 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,680 and they're doing actually. Of course people will go. 125 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:42,760 But they will ask themselves ten times what they're doing, 126 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,000 with who they're doing it. 127 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,040 So what's happening now? She's being sold. 128 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:52,120 What sort of money is involved when they're sold? 129 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:54,600 Up to 5,000. 130 00:10:54,600 --> 00:11:02,080 But for this money, she will have to work for years and years in prostitution. Years and years. 131 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:05,600 We've had cases when women were telling us 132 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,880 that they've been forced to sleep with 40 men per day. 133 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:13,920 Yeah. Young girls, like 18-years-old. 134 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:18,720 This is a tragedy. That's appalling, yes. 135 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:22,880 In the end, good defeats bad and those who were seized 136 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:31,520 escape their tormentors and return to the village. 137 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,360 It's a beautiful happy end. 138 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,280 But life is not always like this. No. 139 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:40,560 APPLAUSE 140 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:53,040 Despite all its problems, Moldova is far from depressing. 141 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,480 Chisinau continues to surprise me. 142 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:04,000 Under the Communist regime, the arts were always encouraged, provided they didn't question the party line. 143 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:09,080 So there was always a chance of stumbling across an experimental sculpture park, like this one here, 144 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,560 which turns out to be just around the corner from a housing block, 145 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:17,400 specially built to provide studios for working artists. 146 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:21,080 Lika, a children's book illustrator shows me one of them. 147 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,920 And I step into a world which nothing quite prepared me for. 148 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:30,240 POP MUSIC PLAYS 149 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:43,440 Believe it or not, this is an 87-year-old man - Lika's dad. 150 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:51,560 Does he make? Does your father make all the masks himself? Yes. 151 00:12:54,840 --> 00:13:00,920 The man behind the mask is Globus Shinchuk, one of the best-known artists in Moldova. 152 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:04,160 Did he always used to do shows like this? 153 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:05,520 Yes, yes, yes. 154 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:11,880 But he calls it... a theatre of one spectator. 155 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:18,000 Right. Yes. You see, it's a theatre with one actor, but he is a theatre with one spectator. 156 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:22,000 For he doesn't like many people, being crowded. 157 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,480 It's few people and he shows there. 158 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:29,360 I like that. A theatre of one spectator. It's very live. 159 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:33,600 I'm not sure if you show it, it will be all right. 160 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:36,120 It's live, you see, like jazz. 161 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:38,080 It should be seen live. 162 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:39,880 Yes. 163 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,760 Globus has been making faces for 50 years. 164 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,400 But it's the big stars that really seem to attract him, 165 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:55,240 though Pavarotti is usually a bit bigger than this. 166 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,400 Yeah, very convincing. 167 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:20,520 We must ask him. 168 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,600 'There's a lifetime's work here, providing a fascinating archive 169 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:29,880 'of the politicians and celebrities of the Soviet era, with whom Globus grew up.' 170 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,960 Were there good things about the Soviet system for an artist? 171 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,600 No, I don't think. 172 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,640 You see, people... 173 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:44,320 had a hope, somehow, but now they don't. 174 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,280 That's the difference. 175 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:52,920 They hoped that they will have an apartment, you see, 176 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,360 in 20 years, in 50 years. 177 00:14:55,360 --> 00:15:00,520 They think, after 100 years, they will build communism. 178 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,680 It's a foolish hope. 179 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:07,240 But some people lived with this. 180 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:08,800 With this hope. 181 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,120 But now they must be more real. 182 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:13,720 Real, no? 183 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:17,840 You can still have a hope. 184 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,040 No, you don't now. 185 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:21,880 Hope was fed by... 186 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,920 by the...how? 187 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:28,760 By the party. 188 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,200 By the party. Yeah. 189 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,480 The party would probably not have approved 190 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:38,320 of the partying that goes on every night in the nightclubs of Chisinau. 191 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,440 Through Tatiana I meet Olga Maxim, 192 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:51,360 who, at 16, left Moldova to study as an actress in Romania. 193 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:57,440 Though she now has a partner and a child there, she comes home regularly to visit her mother. 194 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,680 She suggests I might like to go with her and see a quieter side of Moldovan life. 195 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,800 Her mother lives in a farming village, one hour south of Chisinau. 196 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:46,800 Yes, I'm visiting her quite often - once a month. 197 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:48,880 We're coming every month. 198 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,080 Have you got brothers and sisters? I have a sister. 199 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:57,920 'Olga's father died seven years ago, and her mother, Helena, lives alone in the family house.' 200 00:16:57,920 --> 00:16:59,560 Mum is working. 201 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:11,560 She wants you to do the work now. Yes, exactly. Hello. 202 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:14,200 What should I say really? 203 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:16,440 THEY SPEAK IN MOLDOVAN 204 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:19,680 Very nice to meet you. She's been very helpful to me. 205 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,200 THEY SPEAK IN MOLDOVAN 206 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:28,000 But she's a crazy driver. 207 00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:34,200 Like many who've grown up in the world of Communist collectives, 208 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:38,360 Helena has learnt the importance of having something of your own. 209 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:42,800 Does she have to buy any food at all or she quite self-sufficient? 210 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:44,680 No, she doesn't buy anything. 211 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:47,600 She's growing everything in her garden. 212 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:50,880 She buys sugar or probably rice. 213 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:52,600 I mean, for sure. 214 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:57,040 But everything that she grows in the garden. 215 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:01,480 What are her luxuries? What would she like to spend her money on, 216 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,160 apart from a new pair of garden gloves? 217 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:12,520 Chocolate! 218 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:15,320 Chocolate. 219 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,560 Sweet things that she cannot grow in the garden... That's good. 220 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:24,520 ..that she buys from the city. I'll remember that. I'll get you a box of chocolates. 221 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:26,560 The rest, she has everything. 222 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:37,480 She has everything and she's growing chickens and ducks and all these kinds. 223 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,720 Helena gets up at four every morning. 224 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:43,160 When I look at her garden, I can see why. 225 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:46,200 Mum wants to show you her garden. 226 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:01,840 She grows tomatoes. She grows all of this herself, 227 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:04,280 and picks them, and all that? 228 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:08,240 Yes, everything that she grows in here is for herself. Yes. 229 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:12,320 Your family have lived here for generations. On both sides? 230 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:14,840 Yes, yes, yes. 231 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,480 What did your father do? 232 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,120 My father was a... 233 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:23,760 He had kind of ruling jobs. 234 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:26,600 First, he was... In politics? 235 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,480 He was a Communist, actually. 236 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:33,440 He was... How they call it? 237 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:39,440 ..In the party, in the Communist Party. He was kind of boss. 238 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:44,120 Most people were at that time, weren't they? All of them. All of the men in the village. 239 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:48,800 Picking like a maniac here! Yeah, she's picking. I love it, really. 240 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:53,960 We natter on, and she's just really concerned about getting the raspberries in. 241 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,520 They're lovely. What does she think about Moldova now? 242 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:02,200 I mean, does she think things are going to get better or worse? 243 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:04,600 THEY SPEAK IN MOLDOVAN 244 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:23,320 She says that...I think that... 245 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:29,680 She thinks that things might go worse because of the economic situation. 246 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:32,920 The salaries are very small, and the prices are growing. 247 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:37,280 For her, it's enough - she says, "For me, it's enough, I have everything." 248 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:40,800 Yes. But for the other people from the cities, especially, 249 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:44,600 things might get worse because of the economy. 250 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:48,240 Does she...? Is she nostalgic for the Communist time? 251 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,000 No? No, she's happy. 252 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,160 Despite this, I suspect it will be a long time 253 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:04,200 before "new Europe" changes the way of life in the Moldovan countryside. 254 00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:09,800 Certainly, the meal Helena treats us to owes more to the old days. 255 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,800 How is it? It's very nice, yes, yeah. 256 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,520 'And she's made the wine as well.' 257 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,640 But it must mean that... She wants to toast. A toast, oh, yes. 258 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,040 Yes, well, thank you. 259 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:28,600 Cheers. Here's to Moldovan way of life, 260 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:30,120 Moldovan food, 261 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:32,400 to the best cook in Moldova. 262 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:39,040 Are people more inclined now towards Romania and... 263 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,000 obviously then to the West and Europe? 264 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:47,080 After the separation, they just remain alone, totally alone. 265 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:52,080 And Moldova has no industry, has nothing to live from, just land. 266 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,920 There, you see, they are growing vegetables, and they are having this. 267 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,600 Actually, the Soviet Union was calling Moldova the sunny country, 268 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,320 because everything was here very natural, 269 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:06,880 the vegetables and the chicken and everything was growing naturally from the land. 270 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:10,160 There was nothing chemicals or stuff like this. 271 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,120 Would you come back to live here? 272 00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:16,440 In Moldova? Maybe when I'm very old...maybe. 273 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:18,080 There you are, you see? 274 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,600 A qualified person like yourself can't really work here. 275 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:32,680 Here in the south of Moldova, old and new worlds meet in quite surreal circumstances. 276 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,120 DRUMMING 277 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:47,600 The country's top group, Zdob Si Zdub, much influenced by folk music, 278 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:51,360 has come here specially to re-unite with a gypsy lady, 279 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:54,240 known and loved by all as Grandma. 280 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:56,240 ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYS 281 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:03,360 HE SINGS IN MOLDOVAN 282 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:30,160 Grandma won international fame banging the drum for Moldova 283 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,240 in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. 284 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:34,800 They came sixth. 285 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:46,040 Well, we've now left Moldova, and we're in Moldavia. 286 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:50,520 Moldova's a separate country, as we know. Moldavia is a part of Romania. 287 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:53,760 It's confusing, I know, but it's very, very beautiful. 288 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,480 In the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, 289 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,640 largely protected from marauding armies and political commissars, 290 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:10,000 are some of the least-changed communities in Europe. 291 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,760 Religion remains the focus of local life, 292 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:15,920 and the churches are works of art. 293 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:21,440 The walls of this one, the monastery at Moldovita, 294 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:25,840 are covered inside and out with frescos painted 500 years ago. 295 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,080 These ones here are a graphic account 296 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:33,040 of the siege of Constantinople, with Christian armies desperately fighting off the Turks. 297 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:36,440 It's like mediaeval news footage. 298 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:42,200 Every single wall is covered. Yes, every square inch, we can say, is covered with paintings, yeah? 299 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:48,400 What we see here, this is Last Judgment scene, always at the entrance to remind people about... 300 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,480 how important it is to take care of their next lives. 301 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:55,840 'Carolina is my guide to this extraordinary Byzantine masterpiece.' 302 00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:01,560 Presumably where the altar would be. Behind that wall would be the altar, where no men of other religion 303 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:05,120 and no women are ever allowed to go, except nuns sometimes. Yes. 304 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:09,280 And the wall here is called the Icon Wall, or the Iconostasis, 305 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:13,800 which is one of the most marvellous parts of this church, basically. 306 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,240 Is that gold leaf or gold? Yes, it's gold, yeah. 307 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:21,880 It's carved in wood and covered with gold. Yeah, yeah. 308 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:25,880 And they're still working. And they are still working on it, yes. 309 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,400 Gosh, such detail. 310 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,480 Yeah, so much detail, so much time consuming. 311 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:33,080 How long have they been working? 312 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,080 Just over 15 years now. 313 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:39,600 Since it's about 700 euros per square metre to clean it. 314 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:45,640 For centuries this has been a hidden gem, but in the new Europe it could be tourist gold. 315 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:48,920 BELL TOLLS 316 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:58,080 In the mountains of the Maramures region, it's All Souls' Day, and if evidence were needed 317 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:04,160 as to why communist atheism made so little headway here, look no further than this churchyard. 318 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:20,800 The graveyard in the village of Ieud is packed with families here to remember their loved ones. 319 00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:28,320 The priest blesses each grave in turn. 320 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,400 Candles are lit and bread specially baked. 321 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,440 Ionut, a local student, tells me why. 322 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:51,080 This is one of the most important days in the...of the year. 323 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:52,720 Yeah. 324 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:57,560 Because this is...this is the day when we celebrate death. 325 00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,600 Right, remember the dead. 326 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:04,920 Yes, just like we celebrate the birth, the wedding, 327 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,600 and this is the day when we remember the dead. 328 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:25,200 It's not just relatives of the living who are remembered. 329 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,880 Any member of a family who has died in the past 200 years can have their name read out. 330 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:40,240 It's a touching image of the power of remembrance and continuity, 331 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:44,520 and surely helps to make the work of the Grim Reaper seem a little less grim. 332 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:52,760 After the mass, I walked through the village 333 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:59,640 with Ionut and his father Filimon, who've invited me back to their house to carry on the celebrations. 334 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:03,160 Meanwhile, with the dead remembered, the living go back to work. 335 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:26,000 Despite the beauty of the countryside, life here is hard, 336 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:32,080 and the way to find relief from the daily grind is usually with strong drink and a good knees-up. 337 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,360 I fear that Ionut and Filimon are no exceptions. 338 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:43,480 With Ionut's mother keeping a beady eye out in the background, 339 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,520 the first of several toasts is raised. 340 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:50,000 Cheese and sausage is on the table, and in the glass - palinka, 341 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,520 a fiery eau de vie made from apples and pears. 342 00:28:55,480 --> 00:29:00,040 And with an awful inevitability, one thing leads to another. 343 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:11,040 And another. 344 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,600 Why can't they just have afternoon tea just like anyone else? 345 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:06,440 Next morning, I find myself and my hangover aboard a horse and cart, 346 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:10,680 along with Clara, whom I'd met last night at the party. 347 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,800 We're in the town of Sapanta and, perhaps appropriately 348 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,920 in view of how I feel, on our way to another cemetery. 349 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,680 Are we here? Yeah, we are here, we're gonna stop here. 350 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:24,120 But one, as they say, with a difference. 351 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,840 Most of the graves are decorated by local artist Stan Patras. 352 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,840 It's nice that all... I mean, the usual symbols of death, 353 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:34,720 the skulls and the Grim Reapers, they don't have those things. 354 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:37,040 I mean, it's life. I mean, this one here... 355 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:38,640 Yeah, this one, it's very... 356 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,840 What's that? This sign is not so sad, actually. 357 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:45,880 Here it's about a very happy man who lived a very happy life. 358 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,640 He liked to drink wine and palinka 359 00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,040 and to entertain woman, you know? 360 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,560 So he's had a happy life, and when did he die? 361 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:56,600 Did he die when he was...? He died when he was... 362 00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:03,240 18? They don't say the age exactly, but he lived a very happy life, so I think he also died very happily. 363 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:07,440 I quite like that. I'd like that on my grave, actually. 364 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:12,360 Much better than "Here lies so-and-so so-and-so" to have a little sort of picture of me. 365 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:14,400 Yes, it's an idea to... 366 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:20,400 Wouldn't you? Some bit of your life celebrated rather than, you know, 367 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:25,760 just the word, "Died here," and all the grim stuff, celebrate life. 368 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,240 Ja, ja, I think it's very nice, ja. 369 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:32,080 And people are much more enjoyable when they read that about you 370 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:36,320 and what you did. I think that's what you want to remember. Of course. 371 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:42,520 Some of them, they are...let's say, happy, cheery, but some of them, they are quite, I think, 372 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:47,240 sad, let's say. Yes, accidents - this one here, for instance. 373 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,240 So it's a bittersweet combination. 374 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:51,680 What's that? What does that say? 375 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:57,400 It's a little kid, and it's about a cab driver, he drove a cab, 376 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:04,120 and the girl wondered, "Why that cab should stop near the house and kill me? 377 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,240 "From all this country he couldn't find another place 378 00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:12,240 "but next to our house where I was living and stayed nearby?" 379 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,360 And the cab killed her, so then she is also... 380 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,320 That describes what happened. 381 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,160 Yeah, that describes over there, ja, how it happened, 382 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:25,240 how the kid drove into the fence and killed the little girl. 383 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:31,120 It's an odd combination, isn't it? Cos you feel, you know, an awful accident and a dead girl there, 384 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:35,600 and yet somehow it takes the curse off it somehow. It celebrates her short life. 385 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:37,400 Yeah, that's true, yeah. 386 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:42,360 They call this the merry cemetery, and I can see why. 387 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:46,400 There's no better place than this to learn about the pain, pleasure 388 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:49,000 and the preoccupations of life in Maramures. 389 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:11,480 It's a region that's not overflowing with job opportunities, 390 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:14,960 but the forest, high above one of its most remote valleys, 391 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:18,040 has for many years provided local men with work. 392 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:27,360 It's Monday morning, and I'm joining the train which takes about 80 lumberjacks up into the forest. 393 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:28,800 No comment. 394 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:38,800 Morning... Hi. 395 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,040 Well... 396 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:46,080 I don't have a ticket, do I need a ticket? No? 397 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,280 Just need an interest in trees. 398 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:50,520 WHISTLE BLOWS 399 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:34,800 The more beautiful it gets, the colder it gets, and the only heating's in the engine. 400 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:36,840 WHISTLE BLOWS 401 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:03,040 This isn't luxury travel, but they're lumberjacks - they're OK. 402 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:37,920 It may not look like it, but things have changed for the Romanian lumberjack. 403 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:40,040 The chainsaw has replaced the axe, 404 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:43,520 and environmental concerns have limited how much they can cut, 405 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:45,520 reducing the workforce by a fifth. 406 00:35:58,720 --> 00:36:05,240 At lunch, I'm introduced to a local delicacy - very useful, I'm told, for soaking up palinka. 407 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:08,040 What's this, by the way? This is slanina. 408 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:10,680 What's that? It's like the lard. White fat. 409 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:12,600 It's a fat, it's fat, yes. 410 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:14,840 It's from pig meat, it's a pig, 411 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:18,600 and usually you take a bit of this, and you must... 412 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,960 Do you? Yes, of course, let's do it. 413 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:24,120 Let's do it. Is this very...? Trust in me. 414 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,760 ..very sort of typical of Maramures? 415 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:30,400 Typical of Maramures, yes. 416 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:32,840 What do you do? You dip it in there? 417 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:35,640 No, no, no, no, just...bite it. 418 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:40,120 Oh, yeah. Cheers! Noroc! 419 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:42,120 Noroc! Noroc! 420 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:44,800 Mmm, yeah, quite salty and... 421 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:48,080 It's not spice, it's good. 422 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:51,960 Well, it's fat, but I like it, I like it. 423 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:53,760 It's fine, fine. 424 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:57,000 We used to have dripping when I was young. 425 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:00,240 In Sheffield, you'd have dripping on bread, we'd have that, 426 00:37:00,240 --> 00:37:04,200 but now nobody...ooh, nobody has it, it's kind of shocking. 427 00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:08,360 Far too much sort of bad things for you, 428 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:12,840 but I think it's... a little bit every now and then. 429 00:37:16,720 --> 00:37:22,120 Having probably shortened my life by a good few years, it's time to leave this otherwise delightfully 430 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:27,280 clean and healthy mountain air and head south with the timber. 431 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:29,080 HORN BLOWS 432 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:36,400 BELLS RING OUT 433 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:42,960 Well, I've come south from Maramures, with its merry preoccupation with the dead, 434 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:48,240 to Transylvania, with its rather more sinister preoccupation with the undead. 435 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:55,080 This is Sighisoara, in the very heart of Romania, 436 00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:58,600 and the word "heart" reminds me this is Dracula land. 437 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:07,920 The town was fortified by Saxons from south Germany, 438 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,960 hence the Brothers Grimm, fairytale-like appearance. 439 00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:16,360 It was intended as a bulwark against invaders coming through the Carpathians, 440 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,480 Europe's last line of defence. 441 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:23,360 Ioanna, my guide, tells me the Germans lived here happily for centuries, 442 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:27,480 but the Communists made them unwelcome, and now they've all left. 443 00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:33,120 One of the most legendary figures in history was born here 444 00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:38,160 and is still remembered. Ioanna has mixed feelings about his legacy. 445 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,080 They've really got Dracula... 446 00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:49,240 Look at all these! Dracula has taken over your town. 447 00:38:49,240 --> 00:38:56,040 Yes, this was the house of the father of Vlad the Impaler. Yeah. 448 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:58,680 Maybe he was born right here. 449 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:00,680 But who was he? 450 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:02,960 He was a great voivode, you know? 451 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:05,960 Voivode, no, what's a voivode? A prince. 452 00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:09,680 A prince, yeah, yeah. And a great leader. 453 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:15,320 So he was quite a hero for the Romanian people, he fought the Turks. A big hero. 454 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:21,840 He defended very well his people, and he beated the Turks. Yeah. 455 00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:26,320 He did a bit of impaling, though, didn't he? He wasn't very nice, was he? 456 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:31,360 It was a good thing, because he loved justice, and it was a habit, you know, all around. 457 00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:34,640 Was it? Everybody was impaling everybody else? Yes. 458 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:37,960 We think the medieval times are charming, don't we? 459 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:41,720 This is all Bram Stoker's work, isn't it? Yes. He's responsible for this. 460 00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:43,880 What do you think of all this? 461 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:47,800 These are pretty kitsch, huh, don't you think? That's what I like. 462 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,480 Yes, it's funny. I like these especially. 463 00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:53,760 OK, buy them. Would you mind? Turn your back if I just... 464 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:58,160 I'll be your witness. Keep the Dracula business going. Please buy them in front of me. 465 00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:00,120 Maybe I can have these two here. 466 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:01,480 Whoops! 467 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:03,520 There we are. 468 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:09,880 A coffee for me and the wife. That will be nice in the morning, before impalings. 469 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:13,200 Can we have those? Thank you. How much? 470 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,440 300. OK, 300. 471 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:17,640 It's good, this. 472 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:19,920 OK, fine. 473 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:25,200 And if you want, I have a colleague performing Count Dracula. 474 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:27,120 Oh. The character of Bram Stoker. 475 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:29,160 Is he scary, your friend? 476 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:31,120 Very. Very scary. 477 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:33,040 If you want to be scared. 478 00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:38,520 Combining history and local superstitions, Irish writer Bram Stoker 479 00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:44,120 created a character responsible for a tourist industry that has brought wealth 480 00:40:44,120 --> 00:40:48,280 and car parks to the gentle Transylvanian countryside. 481 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:59,520 Dracula's most blood-curdling deeds were set here at Bran Castle. 482 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:02,160 It certainly looks the part, 483 00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:04,760 and attracts some strange people. 484 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:07,680 Welcome to my castle. Thank you. 485 00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:09,600 Come with me. Thank you. 486 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,800 Be my guest. 487 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:14,360 'Johanna's friend Peter has to be one of them. 488 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:15,800 'He doesn't look well.' 489 00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:21,360 Come with me...my friends. 490 00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:24,720 You first. 491 00:41:24,720 --> 00:41:27,760 No, you first! 492 00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:31,000 Oh, dear. Into-the-little-passageway syndrome. 493 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:32,440 Bring the garlic! 494 00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:39,360 It's strange. 495 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:42,200 Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! 496 00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:45,000 HE CONTINUES LAUGHING 497 00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:52,320 It's death. 498 00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:03,480 These rooms were done up in the 1920s by Queen Marie, wife of King Karol, 499 00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:06,120 when Romania had a royal family. 500 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:08,560 Sorry, back to the story. 501 00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:10,800 Old vampire. Girl! 502 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:13,440 Ssh, girl! 503 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:30,840 Aaargh! 504 00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:40,800 Transylvania, oh, Transylvania. 505 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:44,640 In Transylvania you can see very strange things. 506 00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:46,080 'Telling me!' 507 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:50,760 But I have more. 508 00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:55,280 My revenge is begun. 509 00:42:55,280 --> 00:42:58,560 I spied it over the century, 510 00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:01,240 and time is on my side. 511 00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:12,400 I've seen a lot of Romania's unchanged rural byways. 512 00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:18,280 Now it's time to head for the capital, Bucharest, to find out how modern Romania has been shaped. 513 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:23,320 And, as happens on trains, I end up learning a thing or two on the way. 514 00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:27,600 I notice the book you're reading is by Cioran. 515 00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:33,120 Yeah. In my guide book there's a great bit here about 516 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:39,960 Emil Cioran, the philosopher, who published On The Heights Of Despair, setting out nihilist anti-philosophy 517 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:43,880 that the only valid thing to do with one's life is to end it. 518 00:43:43,880 --> 00:43:49,040 But continued to expound this view until he was 84. Yeah. 519 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:51,760 Yeah, quite so. So is he well known? 520 00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:54,720 It is, actually, it is. 521 00:43:54,720 --> 00:43:57,840 It's one of the Romanian biggest philosopher. 522 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:03,360 He's part of the golden generation of Romanian spirituality, 523 00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:06,040 built up between the wars. 524 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:12,120 Europeans seem to be able to respect and admire philosophy more than they do in England. Is that so? 525 00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:15,160 Really? We don't really have great philosophers. 526 00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:19,000 You have Shakespeare, which explains everything. 527 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:21,400 Maybe that's it. Yeah, yeah. 528 00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:27,120 We have this sort of conceit in the West that we are Europe. 529 00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:31,000 And I've discovered from this journey that it's not like that. 530 00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:36,680 The culture and history is all entwined. And Romania must have felt itself to be part of Europe. 531 00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:42,480 Romania has...in one way, in one time in its history, 532 00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:48,800 elected to be in eternity, to have no connection with historical time because it's a tear-off of history. 533 00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:55,960 We are in the middle of the crossroads of all nation invaders, empires and everything else. 534 00:44:55,960 --> 00:45:02,840 And to survive, the Romanian people choose to be suspended in eternity. 535 00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:06,360 I'm not entirely sure what that means. 536 00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:11,040 When I set out to see Bucharest next morning, I'm not entirely sure where I am. 537 00:45:21,560 --> 00:45:25,000 Have I been flown back to London overnight? 538 00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:42,080 Perhaps I never left Maramures. 539 00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:52,040 Ah, now I understand! Of course, I'm in the American West! 540 00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:54,680 Hello, you're Bogdan. 541 00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:56,960 Very good. Very good to meet you. 542 00:45:56,960 --> 00:46:01,200 I feel I have been all over the world in the last two minutes trying to get here. 543 00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:06,720 Bogdan runs the many make-believe worlds here at Castel Film Studios. 544 00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:08,920 It's a Romanian success story, 545 00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:11,960 with international hits like Cold Mountain shot here. 546 00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:15,000 And another American movie currently in production. 547 00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:16,200 Action! 548 00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:21,920 How did it come to be you? Post communism was very chaotic. 549 00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:28,440 Most of the industry is trying to find pace, trying to find direction, markets were collapsing, 550 00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:31,480 systems were collapsing and changing. 551 00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:37,800 So it seems to be crazy for a young DOP at that time called Vlad Paunescu to start a business like that. 552 00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:43,040 You know, it seems crazy but in the end, now, 553 00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:46,720 it seems to be a very successful business. 554 00:46:55,040 --> 00:47:01,640 Bucharest - a sprawl of some 2 million people, has been a capital for 350 years. 555 00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:09,840 But it's the traumatic recent history, shaped by the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, 556 00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:14,360 who ran the place for 25 years, that is stamped all over it. 557 00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:20,400 That building in front of us there, the white building, was the central committee of the Communist Party. 558 00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:27,680 This is where the revolution in 1989 started in Bucharest. 559 00:47:27,680 --> 00:47:34,040 This is where a big crowd of people was gathered in December 1989, 560 00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:38,480 by Ceausescu, strangely enough, in a big rally, 561 00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:43,240 to support communism actually. 562 00:47:43,240 --> 00:47:50,480 And people started to boo him, and in a way to attack him verbally, 563 00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:55,080 and then, gradually, literally attacked this building 564 00:47:55,080 --> 00:48:01,240 and from the top of the building is a very famous shot of his helicopter taking off from the Palace. 565 00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:05,680 Within days he was executed. 566 00:48:05,680 --> 00:48:08,520 The Communist system in Romania was probably, 567 00:48:08,520 --> 00:48:13,800 if not the toughest, definitely one of the toughest in Eastern Europe. 568 00:48:13,800 --> 00:48:18,080 It was very similar... and he actually had models 569 00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:24,080 from those areas in North Korea and Vietnam at that time, in Iraq. 570 00:48:26,200 --> 00:48:30,840 He became a very good friend with all these dictators. 571 00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:34,760 And this was the result - Ceausescu's palace of the people. 572 00:48:34,760 --> 00:48:39,000 After the Pentagon, the second largest building in the world. 573 00:48:42,360 --> 00:48:46,600 It now houses, amongst other things, the Romanian parliament, 574 00:48:46,600 --> 00:48:48,960 and I'm shown around by another Bogdan, 575 00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:53,200 MP and current president of the Chamber of Deputies, Bogdan Olteanu. 576 00:48:57,360 --> 00:49:00,720 Frankly, everybody hated it because of its history, 577 00:49:00,720 --> 00:49:04,160 because of the people that were brought here by force. 578 00:49:04,160 --> 00:49:09,280 Some of them died. Thousands of houses had been demolished in this area 579 00:49:09,280 --> 00:49:14,360 and people were forcibly removed, so, basically Romanians hated it. 580 00:49:14,360 --> 00:49:19,040 There was a long debate in the early '90s about what to do with it 581 00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:21,840 and one of the ideas was to bomb it. 582 00:49:21,840 --> 00:49:27,200 To bomb it? To demolish it, OK. The idea was to bomb it from a plane. 583 00:49:33,840 --> 00:49:35,720 In the end it was easier to keep it. 584 00:49:35,720 --> 00:49:40,320 A headache for Bogdan and his colleagues now is how to fill the space. 585 00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:54,600 The statistics are staggering. 586 00:49:54,600 --> 00:50:00,360 Begun in 1984, 20,000 labourers and 700 architects 587 00:50:00,360 --> 00:50:02,680 worked 24 hours a day 588 00:50:02,680 --> 00:50:08,600 to build over 1,000 rooms, hang 4,500 chandeliers, 589 00:50:08,600 --> 00:50:13,440 lay 1 million cubic feet of marble, and it's still not finished. 590 00:50:19,360 --> 00:50:22,080 One carpet alone weighed 14 tons. 591 00:50:22,080 --> 00:50:26,000 There's a nuclear bunker dug 70 ft below ground 592 00:50:26,000 --> 00:50:32,240 and 26 churches and 7,000 homes were demolished for this and the civic centre that surrounds it. 593 00:50:34,600 --> 00:50:39,800 You can see the grand scheme here from this balcony. 594 00:50:39,800 --> 00:50:42,960 Yeah. Here, he can address the people, and they will never know 595 00:50:42,960 --> 00:50:46,360 who's addressing them because they can hardly see you from there. 596 00:50:46,360 --> 00:50:49,200 That's a bit of a mistake. Was he illuminated? 597 00:50:49,200 --> 00:50:51,640 Minor mistake! Minor mistake. 598 00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:55,520 If he had the time, probably he would have built a second building. 599 00:50:55,520 --> 00:50:58,360 Was that based on the Champs Elysees? 600 00:50:58,360 --> 00:51:03,080 I wouldn't say it's based on the looks, but it's certainly based on the size. 601 00:51:03,080 --> 00:51:09,320 He wanted to have a boulevard longer and wider, and he managed to have it longer and wider. 602 00:51:09,320 --> 00:51:12,160 It's a little bit wider and a little bit longer. 603 00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:14,200 Nobody compares them, obviously. 604 00:51:14,200 --> 00:51:18,280 Fragments of the old city can still be seen 605 00:51:18,280 --> 00:51:23,800 but, in truth, there's little left of the golden days of the 1920s and '30s, 606 00:51:23,800 --> 00:51:26,800 when Bucharest was known as Little Paris. 607 00:51:32,240 --> 00:51:37,000 Of course, there have been golden days for Romania since then, 608 00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:43,240 many of which involved their world number-one tennis player of the 1970s, Ilie Nastase. 609 00:51:44,840 --> 00:51:46,400 Oh! 610 00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:48,120 Oh, I say! 611 00:51:48,120 --> 00:51:52,160 I've never been in a tennis superstar's home before. 612 00:51:52,160 --> 00:51:56,840 So show me these... I'm not any more. I'm no superstar. 613 00:51:56,840 --> 00:51:59,760 Well, there you are. That was the superstar days. 614 00:51:59,760 --> 00:52:02,840 There's one with the ugly chap. Oh, my God! 615 00:52:02,840 --> 00:52:05,280 How long have you been in this house? 33 years. 616 00:52:05,280 --> 00:52:07,680 Have you ever wanted to live in another city? 617 00:52:07,680 --> 00:52:12,680 Yeah - New York. And also Rome, but I was in New York the first time. 618 00:52:12,680 --> 00:52:14,720 I don't have time for Rome after. 619 00:52:14,720 --> 00:52:20,000 I feel I know you because I've seen you so often and followed your... 620 00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:22,640 I think I saw you, too. Seriously. 621 00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:24,400 Not playing tennis? No, no. 622 00:52:27,120 --> 00:52:31,640 I know your face, I don't know from when, but your face, I saw, yes. 623 00:52:31,640 --> 00:52:33,480 Way back, way back. Way back? 624 00:52:33,480 --> 00:52:35,520 Me too. Yeah. 625 00:52:35,520 --> 00:52:39,000 When you were a tennis superstar in the '70s, 626 00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:42,560 what was it like here in Ceausescu's Communist Romania? 627 00:52:42,560 --> 00:52:47,080 Yet being able to leave the country and go to the bright lights of the West? 628 00:52:47,080 --> 00:52:49,120 Did you feel a bit in two worlds? 629 00:52:49,120 --> 00:52:54,920 It was difficult for me because, you know, I was living mostly in the West. 630 00:52:54,920 --> 00:52:57,160 And I play in the West all the time. 631 00:52:57,160 --> 00:53:03,560 And when I play Davis Cup, I have to come back, and I know the situation not very good. 632 00:53:03,560 --> 00:53:06,760 Because my parents told me what's happening. 633 00:53:06,760 --> 00:53:09,280 They have a good life, but other people not. 634 00:53:09,280 --> 00:53:12,080 We're looking at new Europe, and how it's changing. 635 00:53:12,080 --> 00:53:15,240 How much has Romania changed, since the fall of communism? 636 00:53:15,240 --> 00:53:18,880 Unfortunately, I think the people have more freedom 637 00:53:18,880 --> 00:53:21,640 but they have less money, unfortunately. 638 00:53:21,640 --> 00:53:27,200 I'm talking about general people, not the few who are very rich, 639 00:53:27,200 --> 00:53:31,760 and they have not millions but billions, some of them. 640 00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:36,320 But unfortunately, like I said, freedom is there, but they cannot travel. 641 00:53:36,320 --> 00:53:39,920 Before, they have the money to travel, they do not have the passport. 642 00:53:39,920 --> 00:53:42,320 Sorry, this is a slightly different tack. 643 00:53:42,320 --> 00:53:47,960 It may be rather personal, but I read a quote where you said you had slept with 250,000... 644 00:53:47,960 --> 00:53:51,480 Sorry, no, 250,000 women. No, 2,500. 645 00:53:51,480 --> 00:53:56,120 2,500 women. Well, it's not exactly like that, but I just said it. 646 00:53:56,120 --> 00:54:02,000 I cannot tell you the story because then the autobiography, it not sell my books! 647 00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:06,800 No, I did with David Beckham, and she's English, the lady I did the book. 648 00:54:06,800 --> 00:54:10,880 And of course... Was that a round figure? 649 00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:15,760 He came to me, and asked me, how many girls do you think you sleep with? 650 00:54:15,760 --> 00:54:20,600 I said, I don't know, I never count them, but I said, for 30 years, 651 00:54:20,600 --> 00:54:26,120 I didn't put more than 30 years, but 30 years, maybe three a month, 652 00:54:26,120 --> 00:54:30,800 four a month, five a month, it's, you know, almost 2,000. 653 00:54:30,800 --> 00:54:33,240 No, I said, 800, 900. 654 00:54:33,240 --> 00:54:38,440 And she said, no, it cannot be like this. First, it doesn't look good for your reputation, 655 00:54:38,440 --> 00:54:41,960 it does not look good for my book, can't sell the book, 656 00:54:41,960 --> 00:54:44,160 and then I said, OK. I said 2,500. 657 00:54:44,160 --> 00:54:46,680 "That sounds very good!" 658 00:54:46,680 --> 00:54:49,440 So, that's what I said. It is a joke, you know? 659 00:54:49,440 --> 00:54:53,200 I think I'll try and say that. You can get away with it, I can't. 660 00:54:53,200 --> 00:54:56,560 No, but it's, you know, you never count. 661 00:54:56,560 --> 00:55:00,280 For me, the one that counts is the last one. 662 00:55:02,320 --> 00:55:08,040 In the villages and towns of northern Romania, we saw the legacy of the past respected. 663 00:55:08,040 --> 00:55:13,320 Ceausescu, the son of peasants, signally failed to do the same for Bucharest. 664 00:55:13,320 --> 00:55:18,640 He treated the capital as his plaything, destroying lives and history in the process. 665 00:55:24,400 --> 00:55:30,920 The time has come for me to leave this rather oddly endearing mess of a capital. 666 00:55:30,920 --> 00:55:35,240 It seems to have got over the indignities of the Ceausescu years 667 00:55:35,240 --> 00:55:40,720 and is coming well on the way to becoming Little Paris again, or maybe Little Milan. 668 00:55:40,720 --> 00:55:45,160 It's time to head on back to the Danube - my highway through Europe. 669 00:55:50,680 --> 00:55:55,720 At the spot where a Roman bridge once spanned this far frontier of their empire, 670 00:55:55,720 --> 00:56:00,240 I walk with Dan Badorau, who was born and brought up here. 671 00:56:00,240 --> 00:56:05,760 A National Theatre actor, he's also much in demand to play baddies in American action movies. 672 00:56:05,760 --> 00:56:10,320 The ideal person, perhaps, to escort me out of Romania. 673 00:56:14,480 --> 00:56:19,080 A massive Hydro-Electric plant has transformed this dramatic stretch 674 00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:22,760 of the Danube from a turbulent gorge called the Iron Gates, 675 00:56:22,760 --> 00:56:25,160 to a wide, windswept sea. 676 00:56:35,440 --> 00:56:40,800 The gorge is...there? Where those rocks are, yes. 677 00:56:40,800 --> 00:56:42,520 You'll see. 678 00:56:42,520 --> 00:56:46,600 It's fantastic. The whole thing narrows, very, very tight. 679 00:56:46,600 --> 00:56:49,440 The Danube here is like a big lake. 680 00:56:49,440 --> 00:56:53,400 'Ahead of me and Dan, another gorge waits to be navigated.. 681 00:56:53,400 --> 00:56:57,080 And now you will see, in one minute, 682 00:56:57,080 --> 00:57:00,120 a huge statue of, er... 683 00:57:00,120 --> 00:57:03,800 of our ancient king, Decebalus. 684 00:57:03,800 --> 00:57:09,520 Really? Yeah. Where is it? Just round the inlet there? Yes. 685 00:57:13,960 --> 00:57:16,840 Strange place for a statue. 686 00:57:16,840 --> 00:57:19,400 I still can't see anything. 687 00:57:19,400 --> 00:57:22,560 The eyes. Oh, yes! 688 00:57:22,560 --> 00:57:24,880 Nose! Yes! 689 00:57:26,920 --> 00:57:29,560 Huge... That's very good. 690 00:57:31,080 --> 00:57:33,440 And what does it say? 691 00:57:33,440 --> 00:57:38,920 It says in Latin, "Decebalus Rex. Dragan fecit." 692 00:57:38,920 --> 00:57:43,600 Dragan made it. Dragan made it. Who's Dragan? 693 00:57:43,600 --> 00:57:49,520 He made his fortune in Italy and he gave a gift for the Romanian people. 694 00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:52,400 Gift to the Romanian people? Yes. 695 00:57:52,400 --> 00:57:55,200 King Decebalus is a hero? 696 00:57:55,200 --> 00:57:59,640 He's a hero, he fight with the Romans. Ah, right, yeah. 697 00:57:59,640 --> 00:58:02,600 With Trajan, Emperor Trajan. 698 00:58:02,600 --> 00:58:04,520 Trajan, yeah. 699 00:58:04,520 --> 00:58:06,520 Trajan, yes. 700 00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:09,680 As we approach the gorge, 701 00:58:09,680 --> 00:58:14,040 I experience a feeling the Roman legionnaires might have shared, 702 00:58:14,040 --> 00:58:16,680 of leaving a far-off outpost, 703 00:58:16,680 --> 00:58:19,360 as the Danube carries me onwards.