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FunTranscript
00:01Buying a home abroad is a big step to take.
00:04This is my piece of heaven now.
00:07But imagine taking that to a whole new level.
00:10I'm down! Amazing.
00:13The ghost villages of Europe are crying out for help.
00:17It's just like Battle of the Somme, isn't it?
00:19And a strong-willed few have answered their calls.
00:22Our whole world, our whole life and belongings are now in Ichaka.
00:27In this series...
00:29There's a real sense of history and you can feel it.
00:32..we rediscover the settlement's time left behind.
00:36Like ten people living in the whole of Rabatana now,
00:39where once it would have been thriving with schools and shops.
00:43..and meet the intrepid Brits...
00:45Trying to get this board in the hole without falling through.
00:49..who are trying to save them.
00:51It is more tricky than you imagine.
00:55But can they turn these crumbling villages...
00:58This is going to be a big crash.
01:01..into beautiful homes...
01:04This is no longer a ruin. It is now a chateau.
01:07..and successful businesses.
01:10What are gorgeous.
01:13..or will it all prove to be...
01:15That was a close shave.
01:16..beyond their grasp.
01:18As it stands at the moment, in two years' time, it might collapse.
01:21..as they restore the past to build their future.
01:25The village has come back to life, and that's exactly what we set out to do.
01:35Today, in central France...
01:37You can still see the bathroom suspended in mid-air,
01:40..which is a little bit scary.
01:43..we catch up with Dan as he takes his chateau restoration...
01:46You wouldn't believe how much wood we've winched up here.
01:49..to dizzying new heights.
01:51It's been such a struggle to get to the top.
01:54For that to be finally done is going to be a great feeling.
01:57..and high emotions...
01:59The two of us have gone through quite a lot together.
02:04..and drama for an untiring Sussex couple.
02:07Unfortunately, he's caught it with that arm.
02:12So we've got a little dent and a scratch.
02:15In Romania, a water shortage threatens to derail one couple's battle
02:20..to save a historic Saxon settlement.
02:24I've never been imagining that in my lifetime
02:26..I'll be having to deal with such challenges.
02:29But it's very much real.
02:32And a former truck driver hits the road
02:35..as her journey as a village saviour begins.
02:38I can't stay here any more, wasting any more of my life
02:41..when I could be out living my life.
02:43Across Europe, lost villages stand as silent witnesses to history.
02:59Places that once provided refuge in the darkest of times.
03:03Few, however, can claim a story of protection as profound
03:11..as the lost French settlement of Chemin.
03:1660 miles from Limoges, hidden deep within the woods,
03:19..lies the ruins of a chateau whose walls echo with whispers of survival.
03:24During the war, it fostered a community of Jewish children and some families
03:31..fleeing the horrors of the Holocaust.
03:37These walls provided sanctuary for hundreds.
03:40But in the 1980s, fire reduced it to ruins,
03:43..leaving its legacy hanging by a thread.
03:46Now, only one man, Dan Preston from Portsmouth,
03:53..stands between its past and oblivion.
04:01It played a big part in keeping people safe.
04:03And a lot of people have gone on to be...
04:05..do amazing things from here who were saved by the chateau.
04:08And I think this is another big step in the history of the chateau.
04:12Not only has it been rebuilt, but it's been rebuilt
04:15with a real purpose going forward
04:17..and hopefully that'll save it for future generations.
04:24After a year battling nature's grip,
04:26..in 2023, Dan set his sights on rebuilding from the ground up.
04:33You can still see the bathroom suspended in mid-air,
04:36..which is a little bit scary walking under it.
04:40His goal? To make the structure watertight before winter arrived.
04:46And when the odds and the elements conspired against him...
04:51That's so scary.
04:52Gustav, 80 kilometres an hour.
04:55..he found strength by delving into its remarkable past.
04:59I was five years old when I found myself in the Chateau de Chaumont.
05:05..meeting a survivor who owed his life to the protection of the chateau.
05:10It means a lot to meet someone who benefited from the chateau.
05:14It's now exactly two years since Dan became the king of his humble castle.
05:26..and he's made remarkable progress.
05:32For the first time in nearly 40 years,
05:35..part of the chateau stands fully covered.
05:40Crowned once more with its elegant mansard roof.
05:44Inside, Dan and his team are making great progress,
05:49..reinstating the chateau's floors.
05:52The one thing that has changed is now we've finally got a staircase in.
05:55So before we were scaling the whole place with little ladders in between the rafters.
06:01And it's a rough replica of the staircase that ultimately is going to be there.
06:06And with friends Nick and Brian on site to help,
06:10..today they're hoping to reach a milestone.
06:13So the main thing we've been concentrating on is a race to get to the top,
06:17..to get all these floors back in so we can get to the top to put the roof on.
06:22And today, hopefully, we're putting the very, very last floor back in the chateau.
06:28It's been such a struggle to get to the top.
06:30For that to be finally done is going to be a great feeling.
06:36Landmark days are coming thick and fast.
06:39Today the chateau's final steel beam is being winched into place,
06:43..providing the backbone of its highest and largest room.
06:48What a difference, though, from when we were first lifting these in the chateau.
06:52Seven men on one I-beam wrestling it in.
06:56The stool must be fitted with precision.
07:00As eventually it'll be supporting the full weight of the chateau's grand roof,
07:05..which Dan hopes to restore to its original 19th-century splendour.
07:09..and every step brings Dan's dream a little closer.
07:15Yeah, that's all right.
07:17That'll hold up a chateau, I reckon.
07:19Very happy with that, yeah.
07:21It was the last kind of thing we needed to really work out and get right.
07:26So now that's up, we can just carry on putting the wood in between,
07:29..and this bit is going to actually go in super quick.
07:31Dan's now determined to have every joist and every noggin in place.
07:38You wouldn't believe how much wood we've winched up here.
07:41Because tomorrow he's hoping to host a celebration to mark its completion.
07:47Inevitably, once again the elements are doing their best to scupper his plans.
07:56It's absolutely bucking it down. Just stop.
08:03But if the past two years have taught this village saviour anything,
08:07..it's how to weather a storm.
08:10We're pretty used to it now, and the fact is, this just has to be done.
08:15That's it.
08:24Taking on the task of rejuvenating one of Europe's lost villages
08:28..requires drive and persistence,
08:31..as unmoving as the walls of these ancient buildings.
08:34For Lolly and Sean from Sussex,
08:38..it was a case of putting heart before head
08:40..when they decided to buy the village of La Gallisserie,
08:43..just north of Poitiers.
08:47I just loved it, and I knew potentially it had everything
08:49..that we would ever need and more.
08:52So, yeah, we just went for it, didn't we?
08:54Yeah.
08:56So the purchase was €141,000.
09:00Yeah, I can't quite still believe it, really.
09:04It's 2024.
09:06Lolly and Sean bought this former farming estate
09:08..two and a half years ago.
09:10And their progress since then has been astonishing.
09:15The couple have created not only a home for themselves,
09:18..but also two bed and breakfast rooms,
09:21..and a holiday let.
09:24Their ultimate goal is to establish a wellness retreat here,
09:27..the final piece of which will be an outdoor swimming pool.
09:32By the time the pool's gone in, so we've budgeted with all of that,
09:36..I think you're looking at, including the purchase,
09:39..about half a million.
09:41To soften the financial blow of restoring the village single-handedly,
09:46..the couple recently agreed to sell one of their biggest barns
09:49..to Lolly's brother, Greg,
09:51..who's also selling up in the UK to move to France permanently.
09:55Financially, it would be nice to start earning some money.
10:00Yeah.
10:02..to keep us afloat and that side of it.
10:04..but it's great that Greg wants to come here
10:07..and invest some of his money into finishing it.
10:10And also then, with that,
10:11..it moves the project along a lot quicker as well.
10:15It's November, and having spent the summer concluding work on their gite,
10:24..Lolly and Sean are beginning the next phase of their plan for La Galisserie,
10:28..hosting yoga retreats.
10:32And they think the top floor of the biggest of their barns
10:35..would be the perfect spot for classes.
10:38It's just such a fantastic space,
10:42..and it just lends itself, obviously, to be a studio.
10:45I think the boys wanted a gym, but that's not happening.
10:49Really?
10:51So, I just love it.
10:54Creating a single space for yoga lessons
10:57..should be more straightforward than their previous barn-to-home conversions.
11:01But decades of neglect still need to be undone.
11:05When we first bought the village,
11:07..we got a surveyor to walk around with us
11:09..to have a look at everything.
11:11Because in England, if you can put your finger in a gap,
11:14..everyone goes, oh, that's terrible.
11:16But as you can see, we have a huge crack in the wall here,
11:20..which we were really worried about.
11:22So we had someone look at it, and he just turned around and said that
11:25..it's perfect, it's fine,
11:28..and it's probably been like this for one to two hundred years.
11:30So I have the duty of repairing it.
11:36All righty. Let's get going.
11:37All right, Tony.
11:39Yoga retreats will begin next summer,
11:42..giving Lolly and Sean just seven months
11:45..to transform this space into a studio.
11:48Hello.
11:50Anything in there?
11:52Because it's a nice little holiday home, isn't it, for somebody?
11:56A little family of mice or something.
11:58Meanwhile, over in England...
12:01There you go.
12:03..Lolly's brother Greg has two buyers interested in his London home,
12:06..and a sale looks imminent.
12:10The idea really is to get out of here by December this year,
12:14..that's 2024.
12:16..and cross your fingers.
12:20Greg is swapping this impressive London pad
12:22..for a barn conversion in the village, which has buckets of potential,
12:26..but still requires months of work.
12:31People have said to me, you know, what's the reason for moving to France?
12:34..and a part of it is, you know, understandably, the sort of space that, you know, you're afforded to obtain.
12:45But the other thing as well is because of Lorraine, my twin, and it is, you know, it's a big pull.
12:49Because the two of us, um, oh, you know what, I think I might well up.
12:56So, yeah, the two of us have gone through quite a lot together.
13:02So, I think from my point of view, it's just wonderful to have that connection, you know, which we've always had.
13:11For Greg, the spiritual call of La Gallisserie was as strong for him as it was for his sister.
13:18But he knows that he's giving up a comfortable life in London
13:21..for what will initially be a Spartan life in France.
13:27But I think sometimes you've just got to go for it.
13:30It's fair to say the future of this once-forgotten village is in safe hands.
13:36Coming up, at the mercy of Mother Nature, one couple are forced to get resourceful as climate change threatens their business in Romania.
13:51In the last three weeks, we needed to close a couple of apartments because there was no water.
13:59And a fresh start for a former truck driver trading Bournemouth for Bulgaria.
14:04So, today is the day that I am leaving to drive to Bulgaria.
14:11Yeah, excited. Can't wait.
14:25Romania is a country with a complex and difficult history.
14:28One shaped by centuries of change and, in more recent times, by a brutal dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu.
14:40Between the 1970s and 80s, his systemisation programme aimed to modernise Romania by demolishing thousands of rural villages, relocating their inhabitants to state-controlled housing.
14:53It was widely seen as an attempt to weaken ethnic communities and tighten communist control.
15:02To fund the struggling regime, many Saxons were sold in a mutual government scheme to West Germany in exchange for cash.
15:10Many villages never recovered.
15:11But in Transylvania, the Saxon village of Kund is beginning a new chapter, thanks to the work of a German couple who fell in love with its story.
15:24Many, many nations used to live together in peace and respect. And to me, Transylvania was always like a historical showcase of Europe. So many different cultures, people, attitudes.
15:43Yeah, that diversity, which makes it such a worthwhile place to be in.
15:50Yeah.
15:52Ulrike and Jonas came here more than two decades ago, but stayed to give the village something to not just survive, but thrive. Tourism.
16:01Their award-winning restaurant and diffused hotel has welcomed guests from around the world, including long-time admirer of Romania, King Charles.
16:15It evolved from charity work to becoming the biggest employer in the region. And this is something we are proud on and we hope we'll be able to do in the future.
16:31It's September and restoration projects across the village are currently on hold.
16:37Hello there. Hey, Jonas.
16:40Summer is the busiest time for the resort. And today, Jonas and Ulrike are hosting a large group of cyclists who've been visiting the village since 2007.
16:51Back then, his riders were trailblazers in a country largely untouched by tourism.
16:57These days, cycling tours are big business for Jonas and Ulrike, who today are hosting a team of 20 gravel bikers.
17:04This is my first time in Romania, so I'm really excited. We'd heard good things about the gravel riding here and it's that combined with an adventure in a rural place that isn't something quite unlike the UK that appealed to us.
17:23After a long dry spell of weather, conditions are perfect for cyclists, but not for Jonas and Ulrike.
17:32Like everybody in the world, we are really depending on the water. And in the last three weeks we needed to close with a couple of apartments because there was no water. This is, this is a big issue.
17:50The village's water supply relies on a fragile system of wells. Some neglected for decades, like much of Romania's infrastructure under communism. With 39 guests staying tonight, it's a worrying time.
18:06Yesterday and the day before, it wasn't sufficient to ensure the supply for the restaurant and the rooms over here. When a big group is here, we are consuming about 1500 litres of water per day.
18:21With the resort well running dry, Jonas and Ulrike's team must transport 1000 litres of water daily from another nearby supply to keep the resort running.
18:36But this is only a temporary fix. Across the village household wells are nearly empty.
18:43We have always heard that water will be one of the most precious, precious resources that in our time we will have to deal with.
18:53I've never been imagining that in my lifetime I'll be having to deal with such challenges, but it's very much real.
19:03For centuries, Kund has fought to survive from war, dictatorship and abandonment.
19:09Now it faces a new battle against climate change that could be its toughest yet.
19:21Like its neighbour Romania, Bulgaria experienced rapid rural decline at the hands of a brutal post-war communist regime, spearheaded by dictator Todor Zhivkov.
19:32But when the Soviet Union began to collapse in 1989, calls for change rang out across Eastern Europe.
19:40And on November the 10th, 1989, the day after the Berlin Wall was breached, Zhivkov was ousted.
19:52Four decades on, the scars left by 50 years under communist control are still plain to see.
19:58But with a low cost of living and laid-back atmosphere, it recently became a hotspot for relocated Brits.
20:07After losing her husband, Kate from Bournemouth recently joined ten other families in moving to Ores,
20:13a historic village just south of the Romanian border.
20:16For what I want, the type of life I want for myself now, being a single woman going forward, it absolutely made sense to come to Bulgaria.
20:30I'm just kind of walking away from everything that happened in my past, and it is just a fresh start.
20:36It really is just a fresh start.
20:40Originally built by the Romans as a trading post between the port of Shistov and the Volk.
20:46the fortress of Béliné, Ores has a history dating back to the first century.
20:52But over the past two decades, one in three homes here has been deserted,
20:57meaning property prices are some of the lowest in Europe.
21:01For only 11,000 euros, Kate purchased an abandoned estate here with an acre of land,
21:07two farmhouses and multiple outbuildings.
21:10I love the character of the place.
21:14Yeah, it's great. I don't want to bring England to my village.
21:19I want it traditional. I want to live the Bulgarian lifestyle.
21:23It's late January, and back in Bournemouth, Kate is preparing to say goodbye to her home of the past 14 years.
21:36So today is the day that I am leaving to drive to Bulgaria.
21:41The trucks outside, Frank's ready. Yeah, excited. Can't wait.
21:47Joining her on the cross-continent trip will be Davey, who's offered to drive Kate's car to Bulgaria.
21:55Originally from the northeast, he bought his home in Ores 15 years ago and helped Kate find hers.
22:02It's a nice little community. We all work together and help each other.
22:07When everybody found out I was in the cross to England, it was shopping lists at the ready in.
22:12Kate will need to return to the UK within the next 90 days to finalise her visa.
22:18But her mind is made up that her future lies in Bulgaria.
22:23It's a shame that I'm doing all this on my own, you know, because that was never the plan.
22:26But it is what it is, and it's the way it's got to be.
22:30So, you know, I can't stay here any more, wasting any more of my life when I could be out living my life.
22:40Once they cross the English Channel, Kate and Davey face a 30-hour drive to Ores.
22:47Passing through six countries and crossing three time zones.
22:50Four days later, Kate's horse box emerges on a ferry crossing the River Danube, the last leg of her epic journey.
23:07But the extended European road trip proved too much for Kate's car, which broke down in Hungary and couldn't be recovered.
23:18The car didn't make it, the car died.
23:23Just been chaos.
23:25But we're here.
23:27So I don't care!
23:29Finally, it's time to explore for both Kate and her cat, Frank.
23:36Four days in a truck.
23:38Look, what's this?
23:40Look at your new garden!
23:43Oh, my God! Come see!
23:44He doesn't know what to look at first, does he? He's like, where am I going? Right, where's he going to go?
23:49While Frank takes in his new surroundings, after four days on the road, Kate is ready for bed.
23:57I don't have beds and stuff here. I didn't bring them over. So I'm going to set up my tent.
24:05The start of Kate's life as a village saviour hasn't been without its challenges.
24:12But they do say that from humble beginnings come great things.
24:17The last four nights I've slept in the truck, literally huddled myself into a little corner.
24:23So it's going to be nice to sleep on this tonight and for the foreseeable future.
24:29But it'll be good. It'll be cosy.
24:36Coming up...
24:37This is the very last section of floor joists to cut. Ever!
24:43It's a landmark day for Dan's chateau restoration.
24:47It's the first time we'll have ever been up that high.
24:50But at La Gallisserie, Lolly and Sean find themselves in a tight scrape.
24:56It's like a snowstorm in there. Never easy, these jobs.
25:00In La Gallisserie, Lolly and Sean want to make the most of a boom in wellness tourism by hosting yoga retreats in the village.
25:20They're making headway converting the top floor of the biggest of their outbuildings into a yoga studio.
25:25But today they need to turn their attention elsewhere.
25:30It's an exciting day. The windows and doors are arriving for our jeet.
25:34And they should be arriving in the next half an hour.
25:37So today I really want to get all of them in.
25:40But I would like just the window and the door indefinitely.
25:43That's my main goal today is to get those two in.
25:46The interior of the jeet was finished several months ago.
25:50But their window order was delayed.
25:51And they have an added incentive to make sure the jeet is watertight.
25:56Lolly's brother Greg has agreed to sell his home in London and will soon be moving to the village.
26:01He's going to be chasing the solicitors this week for an exchange date.
26:11And this will be his little home with his dog for, well I've got to kick him out actually by the end of March because that's when we have our first paying guests in the jeet.
26:21Centuries ago, the windows may have had flattened animal skins drawn across them.
26:27But Lolly and Sean have opted for double glazing and brushed aluminium frames.
26:32Oh, it is a big wagon.
26:35At a cost of 12,000 euros, this is the biggest expense of the whole jeet renovation.
26:41Magnifique!
26:42And Lolly and Sean have just been informed that today's driver is in training.
26:49It's good when they've got training day.
26:52Yeah, why are they doing training day on our delivery of windows and doors, which we really don't want anything to go wrong.
26:58The delivery makes it to the ground without incident.
27:07But as the operator raises the mechanical arm, there's a problem.
27:12He's caught it at the back a little bit.
27:17They're putting him to task with quite an expensive set of windows and doors and unfortunately he's caught it with that arm.
27:25An awkward conversation with the windows company later, the truck is on its way.
27:35They're insured, so they get it sorted, so it is what it is.
27:39We're going to put it in and then they can work out and replace it how they replace it, so it's down to them now.
27:45Yeah.
27:47And now there's another problem.
27:50It doesn't go anyhow.
27:52Is it too wide?
27:53But this one isn't caused by human error, but rather the quirks of this centuries-old building.
28:00It might get wider in that corner, actually.
28:04It's still heavy-ish, so just be careful.
28:07But Lolly's feeling more confident.
28:11It should go in. It's as tight as anything. You might need to chisel a bit out there.
28:16They measured where it would go into the recess.
28:20But of course the walls going into the recess at 94 and this is 95, so we're going to have to make a couple of adjustments to get it in.
28:29And by a couple of adjustments, what Sean means is cutting into the stone walls, showering their newly decorated jeet in dust and dirt.
28:43It's like a snowstorm in there. I'm just keeping myself to myself.
28:49But Sean has soon removed enough stone to squeeze the window frame into the recess.
28:56Well, that's positive. It's where I want it to be.
29:02This is level. So if I can get a screw this side, screw that side, then I know it's level.
29:07Never easy, these jobs.
29:09As the sunlight begins to fade, what should have been a 15-minute job has now taken three hours.
29:21That's the wrong way round. That's always good.
29:24But finally, the first jeet window slots into place.
29:28Oh my gosh! Yay!
29:30That one's in.
29:31That's amazing. Well done, darling.
29:34I want to go home.
29:35You are. Oh, yeah.
29:39Sean was determined to get one window and one door in today.
29:46And though the sun may have deserted them, Lolly and Sean battle on, bringing their jeet one step closer to being watertight.
29:55It just uplifts it again.
29:57It makes such a difference, actually, even though there's only half a door on, but seeing the window as well together looks amazing.
30:02It looks magical. So it's good.
30:05Tante.
30:06She's good.
30:07Have a good day. Well done.
30:09It looks magical.
30:19140 miles away in Chamon'.
30:25Fellow village saviour Dan is about to reach dizzying heights with his progress.
30:28with his progress.
30:30This is the very last section of floor joists to cut, ever.
30:39With the weather finally on their side,
30:42work to finish the chateau's highest floor
30:44is just hours from completion.
30:47So we're on the last two little segments of floor now,
30:49so I'm just cutting them down here,
30:51passing them up to the boys.
30:52Hopefully in a few hours,
30:54we'll have that whole floor finished and boarded
30:57and we can stand on the highest point of the chateau.
31:00We can have a little celebration,
31:01a little barbecue with a few friends
31:03just to celebrate the fact we've finally got them all back.
31:08And after cutting more than 600 joists
31:12and 1,200 noggins,
31:17the lads are ready for a well-earned break.
31:21I am looking forward to just silence.
31:25No sore signs in the background.
31:27No noggins.
31:31And in two weeks, we'll be stirring it all again.
31:34Fortunately for the moment, the end is in sight.
31:39Well, that's all the wood cut,
31:40all the little noggins cut as well.
31:42So all we've got to do is basically put this jigsaw together up there.
31:49Dan has scoured historical records
31:51to ensure this grand space is restored as faithfully as possible.
31:58During the war, it's believed to have served as a dormitory
32:00for the older girls in the refuge.
32:04Before that, it's likely to have been the boudoir of its original owner.
32:09The chateau was built in 1886
32:11for wealthy opera singer Eugénie Bardet,
32:14who lived here with her daughter, Gilberta.
32:18No expense was spared in its design,
32:20and legend has it, it played host to her lavish soirees.
32:27Dan's celebration today may not be as opulent,
32:31but for him, it's just as momentous.
32:34It really is, the floor has just gone in party.
32:38I mean, normally when people host parties in chateaus,
32:41the last-minute stuff is like,
32:42have we got the right forks on the table?
32:43Have we got the floor in?
32:45Have we got the floor in?
32:50At last, the job is done.
32:55And Dan wants to share the special moment...
32:59Whoa!
33:01This is weird.
33:02..and take his first-ever steps on the highest balcony
33:06with the lads who made this happen.
33:09Been looking up at this for two years nearly.
33:13We did it.
33:17Well done, sir.
33:19For Dan, it's the first glimmer of this becoming a home.
33:24Bath, right there.
33:27It's a view we've never seen before
33:29and we keep looking around in every different corner,
33:31there's something new to see, which is just amazing.
33:34And standing underneath that arch,
33:36which we've been looking up at for so long now,
33:39it's just the best feeling.
33:43After two years of solid graft,
33:45Dan has experienced his fair share of lows.
33:48This is going to go for miles, this cork.
33:53That's my joke.
33:55Whoa!
33:57But as highs go, this could take some beating.
34:00Hello!
34:01What about you?
34:03After months of solitude,
34:04Dan finally shares this milestone with friends.
34:06Amazing!
34:08How are you?
34:09This is amazing.
34:10This might actually be the best chateau.
34:11It's the best view.
34:12Look at that view there.
34:13Bringing life back into these long, silent walls.
34:15You did it.
34:16Literally no idea of how beautiful it would be looking down here.
34:17No.
34:18Heralding the dawn of a new chapter
34:19in this chateau's unfinished legacy.
34:22To finally get to this stage is really good.
34:49is a success I think. After this we can now get the roofs on, we can get it dry
34:53and that's a massive step in a project like this. It's no longer a ruin, it is now a chateau.
35:04Coming up, a breakthrough for Jonas and Ulrike as they battle to restore the village's water supply.
35:10A local community got together on this project and they started to dig and then saw the pipe is
35:17going in that direction. And a close encounter for Kate in Bulgaria. Through the night you could hear
35:23scratchy scratchy, so obviously there's an animal or something up in the roof, which was interesting.
35:40In Bulgaria it's February and Kate is waking up in the village of Ores for the very first time.
35:47But it seems that she didn't spend the night alone in her new home.
35:52I do have friends that live above me, so through the night you could hear scratchy scratchy, so obviously
35:58there's an animal or something up in the roof, which was interesting. But yeah, it was good,
36:03it was really good, I slept really well. And then to wake up to just cockerels, it's so peaceful.
36:10This smallholding dates back to the early 20th century and consists of two farmhouses, one of
36:18which is still standing, and multiple outbuildings. The newest addition to the estate was built in 1959.
36:26And though this house was recently updated, it still lacks many modern essentials.
36:32So I've got no plumbing at the moment, so I've got no washing machine, I've got no sink,
36:38I've got no toilet. Well, I have got a toilet outside, I've got an outside toilet.
36:43I've got no kitchen, I've got no bathroom, and I've got no heating.
36:47So the first things that I want to do is get the plumbing sorted,
36:51so that I can put in a little kitchen and my shower and toilet.
36:58Kate has lofty ambitions for this abandoned estate. This crumbling farmhouse will be rebuilt,
37:05and together with the outbuildings, will be turned into a collection of holiday cottages.
37:11But her own needs must come first. So today, Kate's meeting with local electrician Josef,
37:17and plumber Ilya. The house has no running water and is too remote to be connected to the mains sewer
37:35network. So fixing this has just become her top priority. We have to put a septic tank in for
37:42the toilet and the dirty water, and we're just trying to work out where.
37:45Former truck driver Kate has never project managed a major build before,
37:50and is keen to take baby steps. Fitting the septic tank will be step one.
37:56In a... An estimate.
37:58For materials, how much? Yes. For wages, how much? Yes. And do I buy
38:03the toilet, shower and sink, or how does that work? Who?
38:09Yeah. Yeah. And then everything. And then they know I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
38:21Yeah, yeah, yeah. Amazing.
38:24Josef and Ilya will help lay the groundwork for the future of this derelict estate,
38:30but Kate's budget is not limitless, and she's keen to make do and mend wherever possible.
38:38The essentials need to go in, you know, you need a bathroom, you need a shower, and you need a little
38:43bit of a kitchen area. It's only me, so, you know, I don't need the best of everything, just the basics,
38:50and I'm good to go, you know. So, yeah, it'll be nice to have those bits in.
38:57For now, Kate is really going back to basics, washing her clothes in the same way as the
39:02original owners would have done just after World War I.
39:08This, to me, is heaven. No noise, no people. It's so nice, honestly, so nice.
39:16Kate moved to Ores for a fresh start following the death of her husband, and though her first
39:22few days here have felt like an extended camping trip, today marks the start of a bright new future
39:29for both herself and this forgotten corner of rural Bulgaria.
39:34This is my piece of heaven now. This is it, you know. All the pain that I've been through,
39:40it was worth it just for this piece, you know. So, it's just lovely. It's
39:46stunning here. I don't want a lot in life. I really don't.
39:59In Kund, Jonas and Ulrike are facing a similar battle to Kate as they fight to boost their
40:05village's fragile post-communist infrastructure. Wells across the village recently ran dry,
40:13but luckily, as a group of cycling guests set out on a five-day tour,
40:17the couple are breathing a sigh of relief. Last night, the resort's water supply held out.
40:23There is something that we learned, which basically is things always work out in the end.
40:34But the recent drought weighs heavily. The challenge now is to find a lasting solution.
40:39We want to develop infrastructure in the village, so running water, sewage system. It would be pioneering. It would
40:48involve getting many people together, which still is a huge issue in many rural communities, unifying a community.
40:58Since the fall of communism, many villagers have been wary of collective projects.
41:03But with the water shortage threatening the health of their livestock,
41:09they recently came together to search for new water sources.
41:13What we knew was there is a pipe from here that is connected to a spring somewhere.
41:22So the local community got together on this project and they started to dig and then saw
41:29the pipe is going in that direction.
41:31What they uncovered was an old groundwater well.
41:36Now pipes have been laid to reconnect the spring to the village's water system.
41:42Next week, we will be able to connect also the resort back to this spring,
41:47and we will not have to bring over a thousand litres in by tractor every day.
41:54By working together, the villagers revived the spirit of their forefathers.
41:59The Saxons fostered strong social bonds within their settlements,
42:04forming organised groups known as Nachbarschaften,
42:08who tackled communal tasks like well construction.
42:14For Jonas, rebuilding that deep sense of community is essential for the village's future.
42:22One thing that this crisis has shown us, the power of doing things together,
42:29of a community getting together and solving a problem that threatened
42:36the lives of so many animals and our business.
42:43The wells are slowly replenishing, just in time for the cyclist return,
42:47and another group enchanted by this land of beauty and mystery.
42:53It's definitely my first time in Transylvania. I think a bike trip is a great way to see a wide
42:59swath of both villages but also the countryside. You know, I could be definitely encouraged to come
43:04back. It was such a lovely time and so I would love others that I love to also come and experience it.
43:11Tourism in Romania is rapidly growing, now welcoming more than 13 million visitors each year.
43:18It's great news for Jonas and Ulrike, but as the last few days have shown,
43:23it comes with great responsibility. As one grows, it's very important to
43:32not forget that we also have to create an infrastructure that supports all our new ventures.
43:38Sustainability is something that is very close to our hearts. And I think we have to see,
43:50possibly at some point, how far we can push the boundaries
43:55in order to not affect village life. Saving Europe's lost villages is a delicate balancing act.
44:05A lasting solution to the region's fragile infrastructure may take gears.
44:10But like the Saxons before them, they won't give in without a fight.
44:15Next time, it's the dawn of a new era for Lolly and Sean.
44:24It's the first day, what I would say, to me anyway, in paradise.
44:28Dan turns content maker. We're able to use social media and gain attention.
44:35In Romania, it's a case of delicate demolition.
44:38If we could save this original organ, this would be such a joyous experience.
44:44And has Kate's journey hit a dead end?
44:47I have to leave after 90 days, unless I can sort my visa, which isn't going to happen.
44:54Music
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