1 00:00:36,500 --> 00:00:39,980 For 50 years after the Second World War Soviet muscle - both 2 00:00:39,980 --> 00:00:43,780 military and political - dominated the Baltic States. 3 00:00:47,700 --> 00:00:50,980 But in 1991 they gained their independence. 4 00:00:50,980 --> 00:00:59,060 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were now free to live their lives, revive their culture and clear up the mess. 5 00:01:13,020 --> 00:01:15,820 This is Tallinn, capital of Estonia. 6 00:01:17,820 --> 00:01:21,900 From here I'll be travelling through the Baltics south to Kaliningrad. 7 00:01:21,900 --> 00:01:23,460 When I was last here, 8 00:01:23,460 --> 00:01:29,020 16 years ago, it was an unwelcoming Soviet republic. 9 00:01:29,020 --> 00:01:32,380 Left to its own devices Tallinn has boomed. 10 00:01:34,460 --> 00:01:38,060 Estonia has a population not much more than Birmingham, 11 00:01:38,060 --> 00:01:42,500 and everyone is doing rather nicely. 12 00:01:42,500 --> 00:01:45,900 I'm driving along the coast to meet some of these newly-affluent 13 00:01:45,900 --> 00:01:49,660 Estonians who are trying to come to terms with it all. 14 00:02:01,420 --> 00:02:04,860 The days of Communist conformity are long gone. 15 00:02:04,860 --> 00:02:08,300 Our hosts, Margus and Evelin and their family, live in a pyramid. 16 00:02:10,820 --> 00:02:12,580 What's it like, 17 00:02:12,580 --> 00:02:14,740 living inside a pyramid? 18 00:02:14,740 --> 00:02:16,860 It helps to find 19 00:02:16,860 --> 00:02:25,220 the way to do things and the way you find and feel the power inside you that, er, that's 20 00:02:25,220 --> 00:02:28,340 like the...like God. 21 00:02:28,340 --> 00:02:31,380 It helps to find God in you. 22 00:02:31,380 --> 00:02:34,540 God or good? God. 23 00:02:34,540 --> 00:02:37,980 God in you. God is everything. 24 00:02:37,980 --> 00:02:44,500 God is like the basic energy and if you find this God you can, er, 25 00:02:44,500 --> 00:02:46,220 you can create whatever. 26 00:02:46,220 --> 00:02:52,180 Are Estonians particularly interested in spiritual things? 27 00:02:52,180 --> 00:02:58,300 Many people are searching for spiritual enlightenment and 28 00:02:58,300 --> 00:03:01,580 looking for different practices, how 29 00:03:01,580 --> 00:03:03,380 to get their life 30 00:03:03,380 --> 00:03:05,580 getting...er, 31 00:03:05,580 --> 00:03:09,660 flowing easier, and to be happier. 32 00:03:11,300 --> 00:03:14,500 Living in a pyramid is clearly not the only way to make your life happier, 33 00:03:14,500 --> 00:03:17,980 and tonight friends and neighbours are here to try another approach. 34 00:03:21,260 --> 00:03:23,300 At the moment it mainly involves staring. 35 00:03:42,660 --> 00:03:44,620 The sun is at last beginning to set, 36 00:03:44,620 --> 00:03:47,860 and Margus, our host, is making final preparations. 37 00:04:05,500 --> 00:04:07,980 It looks like any summer barbeque but the only difference is that 38 00:04:07,980 --> 00:04:11,020 what's going on this barbeque, are the guests. 39 00:04:20,540 --> 00:04:22,380 DRUMMING 40 00:04:29,060 --> 00:04:30,740 Margus leads off. 41 00:04:37,140 --> 00:04:38,940 Intrepid ladies follow him. 42 00:04:43,900 --> 00:04:45,580 Some of the men are not so sure. 43 00:05:01,740 --> 00:05:04,220 Why do you think people do this, Margus? 44 00:05:06,260 --> 00:05:10,700 I think they do it because the same reason why I do that. 45 00:05:10,700 --> 00:05:12,980 It gives me good feeling 46 00:05:12,980 --> 00:05:14,180 and, um... 47 00:05:15,180 --> 00:05:17,900 ..my heart will be open. 48 00:05:17,900 --> 00:05:20,060 I know who I am better. 49 00:05:23,860 --> 00:05:25,980 Is it about conquering fear? 50 00:05:25,980 --> 00:05:27,980 Yes, yes. 51 00:05:27,980 --> 00:05:33,100 To understand that fear, how it can 52 00:05:33,100 --> 00:05:40,420 be without fear, we have to bring fear so close, if we can to look, what is fear? 53 00:05:45,060 --> 00:05:49,740 I feel, I scared at the moment more than... Really? 54 00:05:49,740 --> 00:05:51,740 Really. Really! 55 00:05:51,740 --> 00:05:54,380 It's so funny. Really. 56 00:05:54,380 --> 00:05:57,100 I feel pfff - "What I need to say, how can I say?" 57 00:05:57,100 --> 00:06:00,300 You did very well. Very well. Very good. 58 00:06:00,300 --> 00:06:02,980 It's a curiously emotional evening. 59 00:06:02,980 --> 00:06:06,700 But I'm afraid the only things I'll be putting on fires are chestnuts. 60 00:06:14,300 --> 00:06:17,060 Further up the coast are 100 concrete suitcases. 61 00:06:21,020 --> 00:06:23,660 They symbolise the plight of all those Estonians 62 00:06:23,660 --> 00:06:27,620 who fled abroad when the Red Army marched into their country in 1944. 63 00:06:29,340 --> 00:06:33,420 They're part of an art collection assembled by Jaan Manitski who, 64 00:06:33,420 --> 00:06:36,060 as a babe in arms, was caught up in it all. 65 00:06:36,060 --> 00:06:41,940 Just from this coastline here many small fishing boats 66 00:06:41,940 --> 00:06:46,220 left over the Finnish Gulf to Finland or the Baltics to Sweden. 67 00:06:46,220 --> 00:06:49,980 And most people could only bring with them 68 00:06:49,980 --> 00:06:57,580 a suitcase. And many times when the small boats were crowded they even had to leave them on the shore here. 69 00:06:57,580 --> 00:07:00,420 So this is some kind of... 70 00:07:02,020 --> 00:07:05,180 ..a reminder of what has happened on these shores. 71 00:07:09,980 --> 00:07:15,260 Having made his money as business manger of the pop group Abba, Manitski came back home 72 00:07:15,260 --> 00:07:18,780 and offered his expertise to Estonia's new free-market economy. 73 00:07:20,740 --> 00:07:23,660 Now all his energies are going into this arts centre. 74 00:07:27,300 --> 00:07:30,620 'His paintings by Estonian artists are a bit of everything. 75 00:07:30,620 --> 00:07:33,940 'The good, the bad and the ugly.' 76 00:07:35,700 --> 00:07:38,460 As my mother would say, I don't think I could live with that! 77 00:07:38,460 --> 00:07:43,660 I would neither put it in my living room. Exactly. 78 00:07:43,660 --> 00:07:45,100 Perhaps in the bathroom. 79 00:07:46,060 --> 00:07:50,980 'Jaan shows me his latest acquisition, and very topical it is. 80 00:07:50,980 --> 00:07:58,940 This is the painter's view of the organised - 81 00:07:58,940 --> 00:08:02,980 by individuals - demolishing of the monster. 82 00:08:02,980 --> 00:08:04,340 The monster being...? 83 00:08:04,340 --> 00:08:06,900 The monster - this is the Soviet system. 84 00:08:06,900 --> 00:08:12,580 We started up in a very difficult situation. 85 00:08:12,580 --> 00:08:20,020 The Estonian economy and the whole society was so integrated in the Soviet system. 86 00:08:20,020 --> 00:08:25,660 For example, to illustrate it, a big shoe-making factory in Tallinn 87 00:08:25,660 --> 00:08:27,420 produced... Yeah. 88 00:08:27,420 --> 00:08:33,460 ..Left foot shoes number 44. 89 00:08:33,460 --> 00:08:39,460 The right foot shoes were made in Irkutzk, or Murmansk, or somewhere. 90 00:08:41,180 --> 00:08:43,380 Back in Tallinn the incoming ferries are 91 00:08:43,380 --> 00:08:47,460 full as yet more people discover the unhurried appeal of the old town. 92 00:08:47,460 --> 00:08:49,100 BELL TOLLS 93 00:08:50,740 --> 00:08:53,580 Across the Gothic roof-tops rises the new Estonia, 94 00:08:53,580 --> 00:08:58,220 a mini Manhattan, with a state-of-the-art electronic economy. 95 00:08:58,220 --> 00:09:00,100 But in Old Town Square 96 00:09:00,100 --> 00:09:03,700 I discover there are limits to the Estonian dream. 97 00:09:03,700 --> 00:09:07,580 Businessman Peter Knoll tells me that for the Russians 98 00:09:07,580 --> 00:09:12,380 who stayed on here, the government has devised an exquisite torture. 99 00:09:12,380 --> 00:09:15,100 Russians are obliged to learn Estonian, aren't they? 100 00:09:15,100 --> 00:09:17,980 That's correct. In order to become an Estonian citizen, 101 00:09:17,980 --> 00:09:23,580 you must pass a test in Estonian, which comprises about 3,000 characters. 102 00:09:23,580 --> 00:09:27,900 That's why we have still, I think it's around 10,000 or just slightly below, 103 00:09:27,900 --> 00:09:30,420 of residents in Estonia without nationality. 104 00:09:30,420 --> 00:09:34,020 So they're not citizens of Estonia but they're not Russians anymore 105 00:09:34,020 --> 00:09:36,620 because they've given up their Russian citizenship. 106 00:09:36,620 --> 00:09:39,780 So what rights do they have? 107 00:09:39,780 --> 00:09:42,340 They have the right to live here. 108 00:09:42,340 --> 00:09:46,540 They're mainly elderly people that are not learning the language 109 00:09:46,540 --> 00:09:49,180 any more, but the family are taking care of them. 110 00:09:49,180 --> 00:09:56,460 However this has been discussed by the European Union as well because you cannot have it that somebody 111 00:09:56,460 --> 00:10:02,420 is a resident in your country, who has been living all his life, and cannot have citizenship. 112 00:10:02,420 --> 00:10:05,060 So it's an issue on the European Union agenda. 113 00:10:12,220 --> 00:10:18,340 In Soviet times the Baltic States were seen as something of a bracing seaside sanatorium. 114 00:10:18,340 --> 00:10:21,500 I've been recommended a clinic outside Tallinn where all sorts 115 00:10:21,500 --> 00:10:24,540 of traditional treatments await the tired traveller. 116 00:10:24,540 --> 00:10:28,820 The lady I've come to see is one of those Russians who stayed on. 117 00:10:33,100 --> 00:10:37,620 Her name is Lyudmilla Agajeva and she's an hirudotherapist. 118 00:10:39,940 --> 00:10:43,980 Next. Hello. Ooh! Hello, how are you? 119 00:10:44,860 --> 00:10:46,220 Very bad. 120 00:10:46,220 --> 00:10:49,660 Oh, I'll help you. Let's go with me. 121 00:10:49,660 --> 00:10:52,180 I'm very bad because I've come here! 122 00:10:57,700 --> 00:11:01,660 What do you want me to take off? Shirt? 123 00:11:01,660 --> 00:11:03,580 Everything. Small striptease. 124 00:11:03,580 --> 00:11:05,180 Small striptease? Yes. 125 00:11:05,180 --> 00:11:06,700 OK. 126 00:11:11,060 --> 00:11:12,940 Right. There we go. 127 00:11:12,940 --> 00:11:14,540 It's here. 128 00:11:14,540 --> 00:11:16,340 What? And go behind the screens? 129 00:11:19,980 --> 00:11:22,020 There we go. 130 00:11:22,020 --> 00:11:26,020 Small, not very good striptease, is that OK? Enough? 131 00:11:26,020 --> 00:11:27,780 Is that OK? Enough? 132 00:11:27,780 --> 00:11:31,140 Very nice, very nice. 133 00:11:31,140 --> 00:11:34,900 Please? On back or front? 134 00:11:34,900 --> 00:11:36,460 No... Back. OK. 135 00:11:39,460 --> 00:11:41,500 You see, I've never done this before. 136 00:11:41,500 --> 00:11:44,300 This is the first time so I don't know what happens. 137 00:11:44,300 --> 00:11:48,140 Comfort? Do you have comfort? Yes, I'm comfortable, very comfortable. 138 00:11:48,140 --> 00:11:52,100 Yes, yes. My heart's beating rather fast. 139 00:11:52,100 --> 00:11:54,380 Isn't it? 140 00:11:54,380 --> 00:11:58,620 Quickly, quickly! Yes, I'm nervous. I've never had small creatures... 141 00:12:08,140 --> 00:12:09,700 You can see.... Yeah. 142 00:12:11,180 --> 00:12:12,580 Oh, right! 143 00:12:15,260 --> 00:12:17,900 Ooh, yes, that doesn't make me feel any better. 144 00:12:17,900 --> 00:12:21,580 Better, very better. But they work? 145 00:12:21,580 --> 00:12:25,020 They do work, to make me feel stronger? 146 00:12:25,020 --> 00:12:27,460 Yes. Translator? 147 00:12:27,460 --> 00:12:29,900 I've been doing so much travelling. 148 00:12:29,900 --> 00:12:32,220 It's just, is that on my body now? 149 00:12:32,220 --> 00:12:33,980 So it is. Ooh. 150 00:12:33,980 --> 00:12:38,220 I experienced a slight sting, nothing more than... 151 00:12:39,220 --> 00:12:41,380 ..having an injection. 152 00:12:43,500 --> 00:12:47,780 So it's, it's sucking out bad blood? Or...? How...? 153 00:12:47,780 --> 00:12:49,700 Yes, yes. 154 00:12:50,820 --> 00:12:53,460 Bad blood. It's stuck to you now, isn't it? 155 00:12:53,460 --> 00:12:56,100 Ah! Ooh! Oh! Jesus! 156 00:12:58,540 --> 00:13:02,180 Definitely like a little electric charge. Mm-hm. 157 00:13:04,380 --> 00:13:08,060 These special leeches? Leeches that... 158 00:13:08,060 --> 00:13:11,940 Yes, yes, special. It's not so bad. 159 00:13:11,940 --> 00:13:13,700 It's just... 160 00:13:14,580 --> 00:13:18,420 You start thinking about what is going on. 161 00:13:20,060 --> 00:13:24,140 Little black things with their heads into your body. 162 00:13:27,180 --> 00:13:30,940 It's like a series of quite sharp electric shocks. Oof! 163 00:13:33,860 --> 00:13:36,900 It's quite, um... 164 00:13:36,900 --> 00:13:39,380 It's quite a... 165 00:13:39,380 --> 00:13:41,620 strong stinging sensation. 166 00:13:45,860 --> 00:13:48,500 Put it this way, I won't be doing it again for a bit! 167 00:13:53,380 --> 00:13:55,100 Ah, I feel better. 168 00:13:55,100 --> 00:13:56,620 How much blood do they take? 169 00:13:56,620 --> 00:13:58,860 One glass vodka. 170 00:13:58,860 --> 00:14:01,180 One glass of vodka? 171 00:14:01,180 --> 00:14:02,700 Yes please! 172 00:14:02,700 --> 00:14:07,180 200, maybe 300 millilitres. 173 00:14:08,780 --> 00:14:12,060 Are you enjoying it? Look, they're getting quite engorged. 174 00:14:14,900 --> 00:14:16,740 Is that growing? Full of blood? 175 00:14:16,740 --> 00:14:18,980 I stimulation. 176 00:14:18,980 --> 00:14:20,740 You're stimulating the leech? Yes. 177 00:14:24,100 --> 00:14:26,300 Oh Gosh. That's something I thought 178 00:14:26,300 --> 00:14:29,020 I'd never see in my lifetime, someone stimulating a leech. 179 00:14:29,020 --> 00:14:31,140 There's a first time for everything. 180 00:14:40,500 --> 00:14:43,140 Do they have teeth? 181 00:14:43,140 --> 00:14:45,180 Yes, teeth. I understand. 182 00:14:45,180 --> 00:14:49,060 Ah, 300 teeth. 300 teeth? 183 00:14:49,060 --> 00:14:51,260 Each of these little fellows? 184 00:14:51,260 --> 00:14:54,100 Yes, and three jaws. 185 00:14:54,100 --> 00:14:55,620 Three j...? 186 00:14:55,620 --> 00:14:57,940 Jaws. Jaws, oh jaws! Yes. 187 00:14:57,940 --> 00:15:00,100 Three jaws. 188 00:15:00,100 --> 00:15:02,620 That must give them some power. 189 00:15:02,620 --> 00:15:04,620 Three jaws? 190 00:15:04,620 --> 00:15:06,460 I mean, that's great! 191 00:15:06,460 --> 00:15:07,940 Breakfast, lunch and dinner! 192 00:15:07,940 --> 00:15:09,060 At the same time! 193 00:15:12,860 --> 00:15:19,500 After they finish taking the blood, then what? What happens then? 194 00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:20,500 Do you kill them? 195 00:15:20,500 --> 00:15:22,940 I kill they. 196 00:15:22,940 --> 00:15:25,780 I kill. Yes, why? 197 00:15:25,780 --> 00:15:28,060 Because... I'm very fond of them. 198 00:15:28,060 --> 00:15:31,300 They're my friends! Yes, yes. 199 00:15:31,300 --> 00:15:33,460 Well, I don't want you to kill them. 200 00:15:33,460 --> 00:15:37,140 No... Can they go somewhere to retire? 201 00:15:37,140 --> 00:15:39,620 Sit quietly in an armchair? 202 00:15:39,620 --> 00:15:43,860 It's surprise for you? Yes, yes. 203 00:15:43,860 --> 00:15:45,700 You're a hard woman. 204 00:15:45,700 --> 00:15:49,340 When they are hungry... Yes. 205 00:15:49,340 --> 00:15:53,420 ..You apart second. 206 00:15:53,420 --> 00:15:54,860 OK. 207 00:15:54,860 --> 00:15:58,900 Ah! They're still sucking away, those, aren't they? 208 00:15:58,900 --> 00:16:02,020 Imagine that - halfway through a nice little steak, 209 00:16:02,020 --> 00:16:04,500 and someone comes and pulls your chair away. 210 00:16:04,500 --> 00:16:06,220 Don't want! OK. 211 00:16:09,260 --> 00:16:11,900 Is that blood in them? Yes. 212 00:16:11,900 --> 00:16:13,740 Can I just touch them? 213 00:16:13,740 --> 00:16:17,580 Very nice blood! Yes, there you are, thank you very much. 214 00:16:17,580 --> 00:16:20,420 Thank you, Frank, thank you, Arthur. 215 00:16:20,420 --> 00:16:22,060 They're hermaphrodites? 216 00:16:22,060 --> 00:16:24,300 Thank you, Frank and Diana. 217 00:16:24,300 --> 00:16:26,140 Thank you Arthur and Elizabeth. 218 00:16:26,140 --> 00:16:29,100 Done a good job. 219 00:16:29,580 --> 00:16:30,820 There they go. 220 00:16:30,820 --> 00:16:33,540 Yes. They no alcoholics. 221 00:16:35,060 --> 00:16:37,100 Aw! Now that hurt! 222 00:16:41,380 --> 00:16:43,580 I don't want to watch them... 223 00:16:43,580 --> 00:16:45,620 Vodka, very strong vodka. 224 00:16:45,620 --> 00:16:47,260 That's what it is. 225 00:16:52,140 --> 00:16:53,740 You're right. 226 00:16:55,980 --> 00:16:58,100 Can I have some of that vodka? 227 00:16:58,100 --> 00:17:01,260 Do you want vodka? Now? 228 00:17:01,260 --> 00:17:03,220 Yeah, lovely. No. Don't want. 229 00:17:03,220 --> 00:17:06,140 They've had the vodka. 230 00:17:06,140 --> 00:17:07,500 I have vodka. 231 00:17:08,900 --> 00:17:10,580 Ooh. Ow! Ooh! Ow! 232 00:17:10,580 --> 00:17:11,660 SHE LAUGHS 233 00:17:11,660 --> 00:17:14,860 Now that is something - that is something else. Ooh! 234 00:17:16,700 --> 00:17:19,540 Ooh! Four breasts! 235 00:17:22,820 --> 00:17:24,580 See? 236 00:17:24,580 --> 00:17:27,460 Your friends. Gonna kill them? I don't want to watch that. 237 00:17:29,340 --> 00:17:31,420 All finish! 238 00:17:31,420 --> 00:17:33,340 Thank you. Thank you. 239 00:17:33,340 --> 00:17:36,260 They die like that. Yes. 240 00:17:36,260 --> 00:17:39,460 No long, drawn out suffering? 241 00:17:39,460 --> 00:17:44,180 No, I was mafioso. You were? You're a caring person. 242 00:17:44,180 --> 00:17:46,780 But when the moment comes you can... 243 00:17:48,980 --> 00:17:51,020 ..turn into a killer. 244 00:17:51,020 --> 00:17:52,860 Natasha! 245 00:18:10,140 --> 00:18:12,980 This is Ape. My idea of the perfect border post. 246 00:18:12,980 --> 00:18:15,900 First time? First time, yes. 247 00:18:15,900 --> 00:18:19,100 'No queues, no metal detectors, just a man in a hut.' 248 00:18:19,100 --> 00:18:21,100 Thank you. Thank you very much. 249 00:18:23,740 --> 00:18:27,820 Pausing only to correct my pronunciation to Ar-pay, not Ape, 250 00:18:27,820 --> 00:18:31,060 my courteous guard shows me into Latvia. 251 00:18:32,580 --> 00:18:34,580 Half as big again as Estonia, 252 00:18:34,580 --> 00:18:37,940 its population is little more than two million. 253 00:18:37,940 --> 00:18:39,820 Is this why their trains are so short? 254 00:18:43,380 --> 00:18:44,660 Something's missing. 255 00:18:44,660 --> 00:18:47,020 This is supposed to be the 7:50. 256 00:18:48,060 --> 00:18:50,380 Maybe it's a national holiday. 257 00:18:50,380 --> 00:18:52,980 Maybe they've heard about the leeches. 258 00:18:58,500 --> 00:19:00,900 Eventually an engine 259 00:19:00,900 --> 00:19:05,620 arrives and we become, officially, the 7.50 from Aluksne to Gulbene. 260 00:19:33,140 --> 00:19:34,940 INDISTINCT 261 00:20:01,420 --> 00:20:05,100 Our progress through this sylvan countryside seems unreal. 262 00:20:05,100 --> 00:20:09,060 Almost dreamlike. Which seems entirely suitable. 263 00:20:09,060 --> 00:20:12,220 For this is Midsummer's Eve and a big night for Latvians, as people 264 00:20:12,220 --> 00:20:15,460 up and down the country gather for the pagan festival of Jani. 265 00:20:22,580 --> 00:20:27,060 The Latvians converted to Christianity much later than most of Europe. 266 00:20:27,060 --> 00:20:29,620 So resolutely pagan were the local tribes 267 00:20:29,620 --> 00:20:32,900 that in 1198 the Pope launched a crusade against them. 268 00:20:39,340 --> 00:20:41,940 Here in the heart of the countryside, the pre-Christian 269 00:20:41,940 --> 00:20:45,980 traditions of Jani are being painstakingly revived. 270 00:20:45,980 --> 00:20:50,820 The women wear Garlands, which must contain at least 27 different flowers. 271 00:20:50,820 --> 00:20:52,060 THEY SING IN LATVIAN 272 00:20:52,060 --> 00:20:56,260 New arrivals at the celebration are ritually insulted, and then expected to reply. 273 00:20:56,260 --> 00:20:58,100 THEY SING IN LATVIAN 274 00:21:07,860 --> 00:21:11,940 Once you've shown you can hold your own, you're allowed to hug the host. 275 00:21:11,940 --> 00:21:13,140 HE SPEAKS LATVIAN 276 00:21:19,860 --> 00:21:23,020 Jani is a celebration of birth, growth and fecundity. 277 00:21:23,020 --> 00:21:25,940 And they do it in style. 278 00:21:25,940 --> 00:21:27,980 The Latvians have preserved 279 00:21:27,980 --> 00:21:32,860 1,200 - 1,200 melodies for this one night. 280 00:21:32,860 --> 00:21:34,660 To sing on this one night. 281 00:21:34,660 --> 00:21:35,900 SHE SPEAKS LATVIAN 282 00:21:35,900 --> 00:21:40,580 And 28,000, um, texts - little song lyrics. 283 00:21:40,580 --> 00:21:42,820 Are these written down? Or just handed down. 284 00:21:42,820 --> 00:21:47,060 Ja. Written down. Yeah, they're written down. There's a book. 285 00:21:47,060 --> 00:21:48,300 SHE SPEAKS LATVIAN 286 00:21:50,460 --> 00:21:53,860 Yeah. At the moment the sad thing is that people just get drunk. 287 00:21:53,860 --> 00:21:56,620 And they think that tradition's not necessary, 288 00:21:56,620 --> 00:21:59,860 and they don't know what to do on Jani, so that's all they do. 289 00:21:59,860 --> 00:22:01,540 WOMAN SPEAKS LATVIAN 290 00:22:01,540 --> 00:22:06,460 In the evening we say goodbye to the sun, in the morning we welcome the sun again. 291 00:22:06,460 --> 00:22:08,020 And you can't sleep tonight. 292 00:22:08,020 --> 00:22:10,820 I don't think we're going to. No! Are you staying here? 293 00:22:13,380 --> 00:22:18,020 Dancers circle the oak tree, symbol of strength and virility. 294 00:22:22,220 --> 00:22:24,860 Single women are entreated to find partners. 295 00:22:28,900 --> 00:22:32,500 The food consists of cheese and bread. 296 00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:36,620 A little severe, but bread and cheese were all that was left to eat before the new harvest. 297 00:22:39,460 --> 00:22:42,300 Mind you, there's plenty of home-brew to wash it down. 298 00:22:48,220 --> 00:22:51,260 I hear my name called out, and fear the worst. 299 00:22:54,220 --> 00:22:56,620 WOMAN SINGS, ALL JOIN IN. 300 00:23:25,420 --> 00:23:27,420 Thank you. 301 00:23:30,060 --> 00:23:31,780 What were they saying? 302 00:23:31,780 --> 00:23:37,460 They were saying to you that you are now Michelis, not Michael, 303 00:23:37,460 --> 00:23:41,060 which is the Latvian version and the oak 304 00:23:41,060 --> 00:23:45,500 is always the symbol of strength and virility 305 00:23:45,500 --> 00:23:49,540 and on Midsummer Night, in the circle, 306 00:23:49,540 --> 00:23:52,820 it's concentrated on your head. 307 00:23:52,820 --> 00:23:56,700 So, you are crowned with strength, virility, 308 00:23:56,700 --> 00:24:01,820 and their singing, and wishing that you will see everything well. 309 00:24:01,820 --> 00:24:03,980 You will hear everything well, 310 00:24:03,980 --> 00:24:06,060 and you will film everything well. 311 00:24:08,060 --> 00:24:11,100 And the filming part is part of the tradition. 312 00:24:11,100 --> 00:24:13,940 Do I have to wear this throughout the rest of the filming? 313 00:24:13,940 --> 00:24:15,540 Of course! 314 00:24:15,540 --> 00:24:18,020 And the rest of the night. The rest of the night. 315 00:24:18,020 --> 00:24:21,500 SINGING IN LOCAL LANGUAGE 316 00:24:24,820 --> 00:24:28,540 Believe me, it's not easy to dance with half a national park on your head. 317 00:24:55,580 --> 00:25:00,220 The setting of the Midsummer Night's sun is the most important moment of the evening. 318 00:25:02,300 --> 00:25:06,940 Just before 11 o'clock we process up the nearest hill to watch and to celebrate. 319 00:25:08,780 --> 00:25:11,420 BAGPIPES PLAY 320 00:25:17,540 --> 00:25:19,980 This is developing into quite a test of stamina. 321 00:25:22,780 --> 00:25:24,860 And I've lost my National Park. 322 00:25:32,100 --> 00:25:36,460 As darkness falls, last years' Jani wreath is ceremonially burnt. 323 00:25:46,540 --> 00:25:48,780 And a symbolic new fire is lit. 324 00:26:06,580 --> 00:26:10,740 A blazing wheel of hopes and fears and thanks bowls down the hill. 325 00:26:10,740 --> 00:26:12,140 And we all cheer. 326 00:26:24,980 --> 00:26:30,460 Riga, the Latvian capital, rich in buildings from Stalinist grandeur to Medieval Gothic, 327 00:26:30,460 --> 00:26:35,620 has recently acquired a reputation as a safe place for summit meetings. 328 00:26:40,780 --> 00:26:45,260 To find out more about Riga's status as a world host, 329 00:26:45,260 --> 00:26:50,380 I'm on my way to meet one of the Baltic's top chefs, Martin Ritins. 330 00:26:50,380 --> 00:26:56,660 A Latvian who learnt his trade in Canada and Corby, Northants, he now cooks for the world's most powerful. 331 00:26:58,380 --> 00:27:01,660 This is a starter that we did for George Bush when he was here. 332 00:27:01,660 --> 00:27:03,180 Crayfish. 333 00:27:03,180 --> 00:27:05,580 It is very traditional. 334 00:27:05,580 --> 00:27:08,420 Did he ask for this? No, he didn't. 335 00:27:08,420 --> 00:27:13,500 But we talked to his, to his... 336 00:27:13,500 --> 00:27:16,380 Look - I mustn't get too fond of it. 337 00:27:16,380 --> 00:27:19,500 You can take this home with you. Lovely. 338 00:27:20,500 --> 00:27:23,460 So, Baltic crayfish? 339 00:27:23,460 --> 00:27:25,500 It's a freshwater. 340 00:27:25,500 --> 00:27:31,380 It's a team work. And Bush has a team, so do we here. 341 00:27:31,380 --> 00:27:36,460 So, the sauce... 342 00:27:36,460 --> 00:27:42,940 it's onions... With Latvian produce. 343 00:27:42,940 --> 00:27:49,660 ..carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic and Cognac. 344 00:27:49,660 --> 00:27:52,700 Cognac? Cognac. 345 00:27:52,700 --> 00:27:56,340 Now, I want to see how can you... 346 00:27:58,220 --> 00:28:01,020 Oh, right! 347 00:28:01,020 --> 00:28:03,580 Up, up, up, up, higher! 348 00:28:10,460 --> 00:28:13,300 When George came he only had an hour and a half. Well... 349 00:28:14,940 --> 00:28:17,580 Now, can I show you the trick? 350 00:28:17,580 --> 00:28:20,340 Like tennis. 351 00:28:20,340 --> 00:28:23,900 You don't shake the pan, you shake the wrist. 352 00:28:23,900 --> 00:28:25,900 It's so heavy, oops... 353 00:28:27,460 --> 00:28:28,940 It's incredibly heavy. 354 00:28:32,940 --> 00:28:35,420 Now, how do you think... Wow, that is heavy. 355 00:28:35,420 --> 00:28:37,420 Respect to you guys who do that. 356 00:28:37,420 --> 00:28:39,500 How do you think Fanny Cradock did this? 357 00:28:41,620 --> 00:28:44,900 I think she must've had a few pints beforehand or something stronger. 358 00:28:44,900 --> 00:28:46,540 And a bit of colour. 359 00:28:46,540 --> 00:28:49,780 When you have someone like the President of the United States, 360 00:28:49,780 --> 00:28:57,700 or whatever, well, not whatever, but your friend George and Laura to cook for, is it a big palaver? 361 00:28:57,700 --> 00:29:01,780 Have you got security people coming around? 362 00:29:01,780 --> 00:29:04,620 It's very much so. 363 00:29:04,620 --> 00:29:10,100 We do all the state dinners but never anything has been like this. 364 00:29:11,700 --> 00:29:16,580 We had three days with their security people, their chefs. 365 00:29:16,580 --> 00:29:18,700 Three days for one meal? For one meal. 366 00:29:18,700 --> 00:29:21,020 Yes, I was with their chefs for three days. 367 00:29:21,020 --> 00:29:25,740 We discussed the menu, we went through it in very much detail and 368 00:29:25,740 --> 00:29:29,180 I had to show them where everything came from. 369 00:29:29,180 --> 00:29:32,700 Have you any juicy details? Absolutely no, no. 370 00:29:32,700 --> 00:29:36,420 Personal habits? Don't give him apricot jam cos his leg starts to wobble... 371 00:29:42,780 --> 00:29:46,020 Now, here we'll try again. Your tennis. 372 00:29:51,740 --> 00:29:53,340 No, it's in the wrist. 373 00:29:59,260 --> 00:30:01,380 It's not shaking... 374 00:30:05,540 --> 00:30:07,620 That's embarrassing. 375 00:30:07,620 --> 00:30:09,180 Let me see your wrists. 376 00:30:09,180 --> 00:30:12,900 Look at that - that is a wrist! 377 00:30:12,900 --> 00:30:14,500 It's the tennis, it's the tennis. 378 00:30:14,500 --> 00:30:16,300 I'll work on it, I'll work on it. 379 00:30:20,780 --> 00:30:22,420 The whole lot? 380 00:30:22,420 --> 00:30:25,020 Not the whole lot. As you... 381 00:30:33,460 --> 00:30:36,340 We nearly had a Molotov cocktail. 382 00:30:40,940 --> 00:30:48,180 You were telling me in the kitchen that the process is, he vets, his chefs are with you for three days. 383 00:30:48,180 --> 00:30:51,940 Three days. We cook for 22. 384 00:30:51,940 --> 00:30:55,740 And I couldn't say this, I usually say the nicest one, 385 00:30:55,740 --> 00:31:00,100 that's for our President, or that's for that Prime Minister. 386 00:31:00,100 --> 00:31:02,220 But we weren't allowed this time. 387 00:31:02,220 --> 00:31:03,820 I had to keep my mouth shut, 388 00:31:03,820 --> 00:31:08,300 which is difficult for me! 389 00:31:08,300 --> 00:31:10,140 And they said, that's the one, 390 00:31:10,140 --> 00:31:12,820 even if it's the most horrible one. 391 00:31:12,820 --> 00:31:15,220 Because this is, we're under stress, 392 00:31:15,220 --> 00:31:19,700 very quick, it was all cooked in the last minute. 393 00:31:19,700 --> 00:31:21,820 It wasn't pre-cooked. 394 00:31:21,820 --> 00:31:24,540 And that was the one that he had. 395 00:31:24,540 --> 00:31:27,580 Another one I had to taste, 396 00:31:27,580 --> 00:31:31,220 and another one, one of his security people tasted. 397 00:31:31,220 --> 00:31:32,900 Really? Yes. 398 00:31:32,900 --> 00:31:35,140 So it was very exciting. 399 00:31:35,140 --> 00:31:36,940 It was like a movie. 400 00:31:39,140 --> 00:31:41,540 And that's the way they do it. That's it. 401 00:31:50,180 --> 00:31:55,260 On Latvia's Baltic coast stands an abandoned cluster of concrete housing blocks, 402 00:31:55,260 --> 00:31:59,900 the remains of a once substantial Soviet presence. 403 00:32:12,300 --> 00:32:16,060 Once they spoke of pride, achievement and a better future. 404 00:32:17,700 --> 00:32:19,420 Now they're turning to dust. 405 00:32:30,740 --> 00:32:33,100 And this is the reason why they were here. 406 00:32:33,100 --> 00:32:37,500 This was one of the Soviet Union's most important ears on the outside world. 407 00:32:39,300 --> 00:32:40,540 So here we are. 408 00:32:42,540 --> 00:32:44,660 In the belly of the beast. 409 00:32:44,660 --> 00:32:50,100 It was so important that, when the Cold War ended, the people who built it tried to destroy it. 410 00:32:50,100 --> 00:32:52,420 But they reckoned without world opinion. 411 00:32:52,420 --> 00:32:57,020 In the old control room Yuris Zagars, a Latvian astronomer, 412 00:32:57,020 --> 00:33:02,460 explains how they saved the Ventspils Radio Telescope in the nick of time. 413 00:33:02,460 --> 00:33:05,100 It was like in a fairytale, 414 00:33:05,100 --> 00:33:09,780 some 15 minutes before execution, 415 00:33:09,780 --> 00:33:14,940 the order of destroying was changed, for some kind of 416 00:33:14,940 --> 00:33:19,340 electrical immolation but not touching the important parts of it. 417 00:33:19,340 --> 00:33:25,220 It was because the world's radio astronomical societies was making 418 00:33:25,220 --> 00:33:30,100 some protestations, as well as Russian Academy of Science. 419 00:33:30,100 --> 00:33:33,380 That to destroy the best radio telescope in Northern Europe, 420 00:33:33,380 --> 00:33:37,660 only on political reasons, it's some kind of vandalism. 421 00:33:37,660 --> 00:33:41,860 Instead they sent in a wrecking team to make it impossible to use. 422 00:33:41,860 --> 00:33:46,300 This is one of the examples of electric sabotage, 423 00:33:46,300 --> 00:33:51,620 because all these connections has been dismounted and disconnected. 424 00:33:51,620 --> 00:33:56,580 And no paper, no diagram, how to connect them. 425 00:33:56,580 --> 00:34:03,260 So, it was some scientific puzzle for our engineers, some challenge to put them to, 426 00:34:03,260 --> 00:34:05,260 and this is not the only box. 427 00:34:05,260 --> 00:34:11,740 We have at least four such boxes, eight panels, but how to connect it was a hard job. 428 00:34:11,740 --> 00:34:17,300 And this demolition work was performed during one week. 429 00:34:17,300 --> 00:34:20,740 We worked four years to put them back. 430 00:34:23,140 --> 00:34:28,620 How does this compare in size and scale to other radio telescopes? 431 00:34:28,620 --> 00:34:32,500 From the point of the scale, it's not the biggest one in Europe. 432 00:34:32,500 --> 00:34:38,180 Three to five is bigger, radio telescopes of the scale of 70 metres. 433 00:34:38,180 --> 00:34:43,220 As in Jodrell Bank, and in Spain, and in Effelsberg in Germany 434 00:34:43,220 --> 00:34:46,140 but the value of the telescope is not only the size but 435 00:34:46,140 --> 00:34:52,540 also the accuracy of the surface, and the accuracy of the surface is very high for this telescope. 436 00:34:52,540 --> 00:34:55,820 It's the best radio telescope of Northern Europe. 437 00:35:03,740 --> 00:35:07,580 Let's come. OK. 438 00:35:07,580 --> 00:35:12,060 It's like a submarine in the sky. 439 00:35:12,060 --> 00:35:15,660 And now the next level. 440 00:35:28,460 --> 00:35:30,180 And here's our submarine. 441 00:35:30,180 --> 00:35:35,060 Looks like a submarine and it's tilting when we are working. 442 00:35:35,060 --> 00:35:38,300 This chamber tilts, does it? 443 00:35:38,300 --> 00:35:42,140 Yes. You can walk on the left hand as well, so it is... 444 00:35:42,140 --> 00:35:45,620 How far does it tilt? How many degrees? 445 00:35:45,620 --> 00:35:48,420 About 100. More than 90 degrees. 446 00:35:48,420 --> 00:35:50,380 Must be a weird sensation. 447 00:36:16,660 --> 00:36:19,700 Be careful. You could have got a lift! 448 00:36:19,700 --> 00:36:21,740 Wow! 449 00:36:21,740 --> 00:36:24,380 Fantastic! 450 00:36:24,380 --> 00:36:25,900 Pointing at the heavens. 451 00:36:28,180 --> 00:36:30,700 I really feel, 452 00:36:30,700 --> 00:36:34,340 well done to you and your team, you have saved this thing. 453 00:36:34,340 --> 00:36:40,340 Yes, we have saved the thing, saved it for, there is not so many beautiful radio telescopes 454 00:36:40,340 --> 00:36:43,900 in the world, and this is one of the top instruments. 455 00:36:43,900 --> 00:36:50,780 So it's to be used for extra-galactic radio astronomy. 456 00:36:50,780 --> 00:36:54,020 It's the best application we can hope. 457 00:36:54,020 --> 00:36:57,460 And it's a wonderful sun trap. 458 00:36:57,460 --> 00:37:00,740 Yes, as well as for... 459 00:37:00,740 --> 00:37:03,580 You could have a few loungers round here, 460 00:37:03,580 --> 00:37:05,820 you could make all the money you need. 461 00:37:05,820 --> 00:37:10,100 But this surface is the most valuable part of the telescope. 462 00:37:10,100 --> 00:37:13,700 Its accuracy is better than one millimetre. 463 00:37:13,700 --> 00:37:16,980 Saving the telescope was a rare victory for common sense. 464 00:37:20,460 --> 00:37:25,740 Across the border is the largest of the Baltic Republics - Lithuania. 465 00:37:25,740 --> 00:37:29,980 Influenced more by Poland than Sweden, it's staunchly Catholic, 466 00:37:29,980 --> 00:37:34,900 and in the middle of its green and pleasant countryside is a remarkable religious site. 467 00:37:41,700 --> 00:37:48,860 This is the Hill Of Crosses - a symbol of Lithuanian defiance for over 150 years. 468 00:37:48,860 --> 00:37:55,420 The Communists bulldozed it three times and once even flooded the area with sewage before a Papal visit. 469 00:37:55,420 --> 00:37:58,300 Which only served to make it even more popular. 470 00:38:27,500 --> 00:38:31,180 The skyline of the capital, Vilnius, shows Lithuania's mixed fortunes. 471 00:38:31,180 --> 00:38:34,700 One of the most enlightened empires of medieval Europe, it's since 472 00:38:34,700 --> 00:38:40,260 fallen under the sway of Poland, Sweden, Germany and Tsarist Russia. 473 00:38:44,300 --> 00:38:48,300 In the Second World War alone it was occupied three times, 474 00:38:48,300 --> 00:38:50,020 by the Soviet Union, 475 00:38:50,020 --> 00:38:53,260 then by the Germans, then again by Soviet troops. 476 00:38:53,260 --> 00:38:56,100 These are the names of Lithuanians who tried to resist. 477 00:38:58,740 --> 00:39:01,820 In this building in the heart of Vilnius, once a courthouse, 478 00:39:01,820 --> 00:39:06,380 once even a boys' school, the occupiers dealt, brutally, with that resistance. 479 00:39:18,940 --> 00:39:23,740 The basement where prisoners were kept and often tortured is now open to the public. 480 00:39:23,740 --> 00:39:26,980 I put on a headset to let me know what I am about to see. 481 00:39:26,980 --> 00:39:31,620 VOICEOVER: Welcome to the Genocide Victims Museum. 482 00:39:31,620 --> 00:39:34,980 Housed in the former KGB headquarters, 483 00:39:34,980 --> 00:39:40,180 the museum is the only one of its kind in the Baltic States. 484 00:39:40,180 --> 00:39:43,260 Object number one, 485 00:39:43,260 --> 00:39:45,900 the padded cell. 486 00:39:45,900 --> 00:39:49,140 This is one of the grimmest places in the prison. 487 00:39:51,060 --> 00:39:54,260 The walls are padded and soundproofed, 488 00:39:54,260 --> 00:40:02,100 with a straitjacket on the wall used for those who resisted or who were deranged with torture. 489 00:40:03,740 --> 00:40:08,700 The walls absorbed their cries and shouts for help. 490 00:40:08,700 --> 00:40:15,100 This cell was fitted out in 1973, though there were similar cells before that. 491 00:40:28,540 --> 00:40:30,980 Object number two. 492 00:40:30,980 --> 00:40:33,860 This is a guard post. 493 00:40:33,860 --> 00:40:42,740 From the far end of this room, the guards watched the outside window of the cells round the clock. 494 00:40:42,740 --> 00:40:46,180 In 1964 when the prison premises were reduced, 495 00:40:46,180 --> 00:40:53,300 four guard booths remained, three inside and one in the courtyard. 496 00:40:53,300 --> 00:40:57,780 There were telephones and alarm systems in the booths for armed guards. 497 00:40:57,780 --> 00:41:00,820 It was a high security prison. 498 00:41:00,820 --> 00:41:03,060 Only one escape is known. 499 00:41:07,700 --> 00:41:09,940 Object number three. 500 00:41:09,940 --> 00:41:18,580 The next room contains two cells with concrete pools in the floors, fitted out in about 1945. 501 00:41:18,580 --> 00:41:24,220 Witnesses say that they had to either stand in ice cold water and 502 00:41:24,220 --> 00:41:28,860 ice in winter, or on a small stand. 503 00:41:28,860 --> 00:41:32,340 When they dosed off they fell into the water. 504 00:41:32,340 --> 00:41:35,780 A political prisoner recalled, 505 00:41:35,780 --> 00:41:38,300 "I did everything not to freeze to death. 506 00:41:38,300 --> 00:41:44,700 "Though I was weak with illness, I would walk, run or try to stand. 507 00:41:44,700 --> 00:41:47,900 "But I kept slipping off onto the ice. 508 00:41:47,900 --> 00:41:54,220 "Eventually I curled up, exhausted, on the bloodstained ice floor." 509 00:41:54,220 --> 00:41:57,900 Some prisoners were kept there for five days and nights. 510 00:42:00,860 --> 00:42:05,420 The television tower above Vilnius has become a shrine to Baltic liberation. 511 00:42:11,580 --> 00:42:16,420 In 1991, 13 unarmed Lithuanians were killed by by the Red Army 512 00:42:16,420 --> 00:42:21,260 as they tried to protect the freedom to broadcast Lithuania's independence vote. 513 00:42:21,260 --> 00:42:24,300 It was the climax of three years of protest. 514 00:42:28,060 --> 00:42:32,260 Two years earlier an estimated two million men, women and children 515 00:42:32,260 --> 00:42:36,700 from all the Baltic Republics joined hands in a human chain 516 00:42:36,700 --> 00:42:39,860 which stretched over 300 miles from Tallinn to Vilnius. 517 00:42:45,140 --> 00:42:48,340 The chain marked 50 years of smouldering resentment. 518 00:43:00,060 --> 00:43:04,940 ONE SINGER BEGINS, CROWD JOINS IN 519 00:43:04,940 --> 00:43:08,380 Song Festivals, which were permitted, provided an outlet 520 00:43:08,380 --> 00:43:10,540 for anti-Russian feeling. 521 00:43:15,100 --> 00:43:19,340 The protest, which became known as the Singing Revolution, 522 00:43:19,340 --> 00:43:25,060 was something quite unique in politics, and it led to the freedom of the Baltic States. 523 00:43:25,060 --> 00:43:28,500 We are a singing nation. I've heard a lot about this... 524 00:43:28,500 --> 00:43:32,660 'Algis Greitai is a Lithuanian TV star.' 525 00:43:32,660 --> 00:43:35,020 I want to see how it works. 526 00:43:35,020 --> 00:43:36,860 Can you just get people to sing? 527 00:43:36,860 --> 00:43:38,460 Well, it's very easy. 528 00:43:38,460 --> 00:43:40,300 HE SPEAKS LITHUANIAN 529 00:44:16,420 --> 00:44:18,460 Convincing? Very good. 530 00:44:26,540 --> 00:44:28,300 Beautiful, I'm convinced, yes. 531 00:44:28,300 --> 00:44:31,100 Maybe they could stay and we could get some other people. 532 00:44:36,260 --> 00:44:38,420 Have a sit down and we'll find... 533 00:44:38,420 --> 00:44:42,500 That's very good. If you get a little choir to do that I'd be very impressed. 534 00:44:47,700 --> 00:44:49,340 Not that one. No? 535 00:45:05,380 --> 00:45:06,700 Do you know this man? 536 00:45:06,700 --> 00:45:07,540 Do you know him? 537 00:45:07,540 --> 00:45:10,460 Yes. Yes. Wasn't very enthused - "ye-es." 538 00:45:27,420 --> 00:45:30,300 They will sing together the same song? 539 00:45:30,300 --> 00:45:32,420 HE SPEAKS LITHUANIAN 540 00:46:02,700 --> 00:46:06,820 Enough? Maybe another song? We don't know the words. Very good. You've made the point. 541 00:46:06,820 --> 00:46:09,300 I think that's excellent. Charge $50! Very good. 542 00:46:09,300 --> 00:46:11,420 Eurovision Song contest next year! 543 00:46:11,420 --> 00:46:15,100 This is Nida in southern Lithuania. 544 00:46:20,820 --> 00:46:23,420 The chunky boat taking me out of the harbour 545 00:46:23,420 --> 00:46:25,420 is an old Baltic fishing barque. 546 00:46:39,220 --> 00:46:43,180 We're heading towards one of Europe's most intriguing landscapes, 547 00:46:43,180 --> 00:46:48,180 a 60-mile long, two-mile wide sandbank they call the Curonian Spit. 548 00:46:54,260 --> 00:46:57,340 This formidable wall of sand is one of the most extraordinary 549 00:46:57,340 --> 00:47:00,780 and fragile environments on the continent. 550 00:47:01,180 --> 00:47:04,740 Now protected as a National Park, 551 00:47:04,740 --> 00:47:08,300 these still-shifting sands curve away to the south and west 552 00:47:08,300 --> 00:47:12,780 with the Baltic waves on one side and lazy lagoons on the other. 553 00:47:36,740 --> 00:47:42,820 Forests have been planted to help hold this young and delicate strip of land together. 554 00:47:42,820 --> 00:47:46,460 As I follow the paths and roads that lead through them, 555 00:47:46,460 --> 00:47:48,900 I find that the curiosities of nature 556 00:47:48,900 --> 00:47:51,740 are matched by a few political surprises. 557 00:48:00,980 --> 00:48:03,940 In one of the odder twists of post-War politics, 558 00:48:03,940 --> 00:48:07,460 this part of East Prussia was ceded to the victorious Russians. 559 00:48:07,460 --> 00:48:13,020 They kicked out the Germans and re-named the ancient city of Konigsberg, Kaliningrad. 560 00:48:13,020 --> 00:48:15,900 But now their neighbours have won independence, 561 00:48:15,900 --> 00:48:17,940 Kaliningrad is marooned. 562 00:48:17,940 --> 00:48:21,100 A Russian island in a European sea. 563 00:48:26,860 --> 00:48:31,540 But today the mood in Kaliningrad is resolutely optimistic. 564 00:48:31,540 --> 00:48:35,860 It's exactly 60 years ago today that the old Prussian city of Konigsberg 565 00:48:35,860 --> 00:48:38,940 was consigned to history and Kaliningrad, 566 00:48:38,940 --> 00:48:42,540 named after a Stalinist president of the USSR, took its place. 567 00:48:45,220 --> 00:48:51,060 Today it's the red, white and blues of the Russian Federation that are the colours of celebration. 568 00:48:55,020 --> 00:48:58,260 As a result of the ethnic cleansing of the Germans, 569 00:48:58,260 --> 00:49:01,620 everyone gathered here can trace themselves back to Mother Russia. 570 00:49:05,100 --> 00:49:09,140 The opening ceremony in front of the new Victory monument 571 00:49:09,140 --> 00:49:11,980 owes more to Eurovision than any memories of Red Square. 572 00:49:16,260 --> 00:49:20,140 Note the brand new Orthodox cathedral in the background, 573 00:49:20,140 --> 00:49:23,580 of which the old communist regime would certainly not have approved. 574 00:49:23,580 --> 00:49:27,220 SINGING 575 00:49:39,220 --> 00:49:40,940 SINGING CONTINUES 576 00:49:55,500 --> 00:49:57,100 Now it's the turn of the suits, 577 00:49:57,100 --> 00:50:00,340 followed by a press circus hanging on every word. 578 00:50:03,500 --> 00:50:06,660 The Mayor of Kaliningrad welcomes, amongst others, 579 00:50:06,660 --> 00:50:11,500 President Putin's man from Moscow. Putin's wife, by the way, is a Kaliningrad girl. 580 00:50:11,500 --> 00:50:15,540 Also on parade is a Russian Orthodox priest, 581 00:50:15,540 --> 00:50:19,020 and a much be-medalled veteran of the great patriotic war. 582 00:50:21,300 --> 00:50:25,940 Representing Russian power today is the Admiral of the Baltic Fleet, 583 00:50:25,940 --> 00:50:28,300 whose nuclear submarines lie just up the coast. 584 00:50:43,020 --> 00:50:45,380 Then it's time for the Russian national anthem. 585 00:50:45,380 --> 00:50:47,260 Old tune, new words. 586 00:50:47,260 --> 00:50:50,300 RUSSIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS 587 00:51:23,820 --> 00:51:26,740 The rest of the celebrations are delightfully un-solemn. 588 00:51:29,940 --> 00:51:34,620 A Bride's Bus cruises the streets, disgorging a dozen young girls 589 00:51:34,620 --> 00:51:39,460 all with one cry "Prazdnikom!" - happy holiday. 590 00:51:39,460 --> 00:51:43,220 CHEERING AND SHOUTING Prazdnikom! 591 00:51:46,380 --> 00:51:49,620 What is there not to like about Kaliningrad? 592 00:51:52,300 --> 00:51:57,420 I ask my guide Olga Danilova whether Kaliningraders feel Russian or European. 593 00:51:57,420 --> 00:52:00,580 Erm, we feel Russian. 594 00:52:00,580 --> 00:52:04,780 This goes without saying. 595 00:52:04,780 --> 00:52:10,980 But maybe special Russian, different from Russians living in the mainland Russia. 596 00:52:10,980 --> 00:52:17,740 Due to this geographical location we found ourselves in. 597 00:52:17,740 --> 00:52:23,500 In what way would you say you feel different from the others in what you call "mainland" Russia? 598 00:52:23,500 --> 00:52:29,620 Because we are so close to Europe. We are a geographical part of Europe and we travel more 599 00:52:29,620 --> 00:52:33,700 to Poland and to Lithuania, further to Europe than we travel to Russia. 600 00:52:33,700 --> 00:52:36,140 And some of children living here, 601 00:52:36,140 --> 00:52:38,380 they have never been to Russia. 602 00:52:38,380 --> 00:52:42,060 But to go to Poland or Lithuania is quite a common thing. 603 00:52:42,060 --> 00:52:46,740 Is there any appetite here for independence from Russia? No. No way. 604 00:52:46,740 --> 00:52:50,780 We don't even have this idea in our minds. 605 00:52:50,780 --> 00:52:53,100 It's not possible - we are Russians. 606 00:52:53,100 --> 00:52:58,060 Though we travel to Russia, not very often, most of us, but we are Russians. 607 00:52:58,060 --> 00:53:01,940 BAND PLAYS MELANCHOLY WALTZ 608 00:53:33,180 --> 00:53:37,380 So, is this open air singing, dancing, a big thing? 609 00:53:37,380 --> 00:53:43,340 Yes, yes it is. It is very popular, especially among older generations. 610 00:53:43,340 --> 00:53:46,620 Or just, enjoying themselves. 611 00:53:46,620 --> 00:53:49,860 And women, women a lot, see the women. 612 00:53:49,860 --> 00:53:53,940 Thank you. Is that because of the... 613 00:53:53,940 --> 00:53:56,260 lack of men? 614 00:53:56,260 --> 00:53:58,020 Correct, correct. 615 00:53:58,020 --> 00:54:01,620 The war - legacy of the war, is it? Yes, yes. Well spotted. 616 00:54:01,620 --> 00:54:05,700 I shall be leaving from this dockside early next morning. 617 00:54:05,700 --> 00:54:10,220 Very hospitably, the captain of this venerable old banana boat, Vityaz, 618 00:54:10,220 --> 00:54:13,260 has agreed to let me use his cabin as a temporary base. 619 00:54:15,460 --> 00:54:16,380 Famous ship? 620 00:54:16,380 --> 00:54:21,660 Ah! Hello! Captain - how are you? 621 00:54:21,660 --> 00:54:24,820 Thank you very much indeed for letting us come here. 622 00:54:24,820 --> 00:54:26,500 Very kind of you. 623 00:54:26,500 --> 00:54:32,260 After its banana boat days the Vityaz evacuated 20,000 Germans from here in 1945. 624 00:54:32,260 --> 00:54:36,220 It was given to the British who in turn gave her to the Russians, 625 00:54:36,220 --> 00:54:41,860 for whom she ended up mapping the world's deepest sea-bed, the Mariana Trench in the Pacific. 626 00:54:44,580 --> 00:54:50,860 This is quite a tour, isn't it, to get to the captain's cabin? The bridge... 627 00:54:50,860 --> 00:54:54,260 'It's now the centrepiece of Kaliningrad's Museum Of The World Ocean.' 628 00:54:57,500 --> 00:55:00,140 Look, it's your room. Oh, thank you. 629 00:55:00,140 --> 00:55:02,660 Where you will be sleeping, it's your bed. 630 00:55:02,660 --> 00:55:05,940 Fantastic. Captains' cabin, thank you very much. 631 00:55:17,060 --> 00:55:22,580 'Not wanting my last night to be an anti-climax, Olga's laid on a cultural visit.' 632 00:55:25,660 --> 00:55:27,780 SWORDS CLANG 633 00:55:30,420 --> 00:55:32,860 ROCK MUSIC PLAYS 634 00:55:41,820 --> 00:55:44,860 Part historical re-enactment, part general punch-up, 635 00:55:44,860 --> 00:55:49,580 this homage to the Teutonic Knights ends in group hugs and a huge bonfire. 636 00:55:55,460 --> 00:55:59,860 It may be European rather than Russian history they're celebrating, 637 00:55:59,860 --> 00:56:02,340 but tonight in Kaliningrad nobody really cares. 638 00:56:13,500 --> 00:56:20,780 It seems strange to be marking in such flamboyant style a city named after Michael Kalinin, 639 00:56:20,780 --> 00:56:24,180 a Soviet bureaucrat who no-one remembers. 640 00:56:35,340 --> 00:56:38,900 Hi, hello there. Poland, I gather. 641 00:56:40,860 --> 00:56:44,060 Let me give you that. That's great, thanks. 642 00:56:44,060 --> 00:56:45,740 Thank you... OK. 643 00:56:48,820 --> 00:56:51,100 I'd hoped to sail down the River Pregel 644 00:56:51,100 --> 00:56:56,140 and across the Bay of Gdansk to my next destination and 17th country, Poland, 645 00:56:56,140 --> 00:56:59,380 but a sudden maritime tiff between the Russians and the Poles 646 00:56:59,380 --> 00:57:02,020 has resulted in a resounding "Nyet" to my plan. 647 00:57:09,380 --> 00:57:11,620 While I think of what else to do, 648 00:57:11,620 --> 00:57:16,460 I settle for a farewell cruise with Max and Sergei along the Kaliningrad waterfront. 649 00:57:18,300 --> 00:57:21,300 Past disused wharves and idle cranes, 650 00:57:21,300 --> 00:57:26,100 past my old friend, Vityaz. 651 00:57:31,460 --> 00:57:35,140 Remnants of the Baltic Fleet are in for refits 652 00:57:35,140 --> 00:57:37,380 but on the whole this is a ghost port. 653 00:57:43,900 --> 00:57:46,780 Kaliningrad, more than anywhere else I've seen, 654 00:57:46,780 --> 00:57:48,540 is a victim of its history. 655 00:57:48,540 --> 00:57:50,980 Physically European, 656 00:57:50,980 --> 00:57:55,860 but emotionally, spiritually and politically clinging to the Kremlin.