- 2 days ago
Danube
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00:07When I thought about doing this program, I thought of it really in the terms of
00:13sort of romantic blue Danube leaning on a cruise ship.
00:17I thought it might be a little bit placid.
00:19And I thought, hmm, are you going to love me going along looking lovely, looking neat all the time?
00:25And I thought, no, they don't want that.
00:26They want to see you looking like a hairy madwoman sitting in the front of a choppy boat.
00:31That's what they want.
00:32And look, we've got it.
00:33We'd do anything for you.
00:54I think this is one of the most dramatic parts of the entire Danube.
01:00It's astonishing.
01:02This is called the Iron Gates Gorge.
01:07A thousand miles into my Danube adventure, the mighty river becomes the border between Romania and Serbia for 130 miles.
01:16And because it's the Danube, it's bound to throw up some gigantic surprises.
01:25Look at this colossal statue.
01:29King Dechabal.
01:32Dechabal was right back in the early days the king of the whole of Dacha.
01:38And Dacha was what the Romans called these lands 2,000 years ago, when this brave king held off the
01:45might of their army for six years, until they finally defeated him.
01:49The Romans cut off his head and took it to Rome.
01:54On the whole, I'm sort of split about mountains and things being carved into faces.
02:01Secretly, I think I love it.
02:03I think there are enough rocky mountains in the world just to get a few faces on them.
02:06And this is one of the handsomest you'll ever see.
02:10Dechabal is a hero to Romanians.
02:13And he's finally been commemorated here by this rock carving created 20 years ago.
02:19But in the 1960s, under communist rule, this river was about to see an epic upheaval neither the Romans nor
02:27Dechabal could ever have imagined.
02:30In 1964, Romania and then Yugoslavia, now Serbia, on this side, decided to make a huge hydroelectric dam.
02:42And they created this colossal reservoir.
02:48It took eight years to build the dam.
02:50And when it was finished, the dictators of the two countries, Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia and Nicolae Ceaușescu of Romania,
02:58did what they did best.
02:59They showed off.
03:03It was a brave new world.
03:07But along with it came a kind of great sadness because down in the deep valley, there were farms, there
03:13were villages, there were churches.
03:15They're still under here.
03:17They're sailing over villages.
03:21This river just drags history with it everywhere you look.
03:28Perched over the Danube, called Dunarea in Romanian, is a little monastery that's been here in one form or another
03:35for a thousand years.
03:40The previous one is now drowned forever at the bottom of the Danube, but its latest incarnation continues its work,
03:48presided over by Sister Justyna.
03:52Oh, sister, this is so beautiful.
03:55Thank you very much indeed.
03:56Thank you very much.
04:31Thank you very much.
05:19I'm going to be travelling upriver, but not the Danube, the Cherna, which is one of the tributaries of the
05:25Danube.
05:25I'm going to be travelling upriver, but not the Danube, the Cherna, which is one of the tributaries of the
05:25Danube.
05:27You've got to be pretty fit to get up here.
05:29If they have a rush hour in Orshava, I think it's safe to say that we've managed to avoid it.
06:03We're leaving.
06:05But that's mine.
06:06But nature doesn't do that.
06:09It follows its rivers and mountains and migrating birds, migrating grandmothers.
06:20This huge gorge is taking me to somewhere that I am really longing to see.
06:26It's written on my ticket.
06:36It's written on my ticket.
06:38It's written Baal Herculane, but I think it's pronounced something like Boila Herculane.
06:45It's a spa.
06:47It was first discovered by the Romans, hot sulfurous water just springing out of the ground.
06:52And then much, much later, under Emperor Franz Josef, it became an amazing center of healing, of gaming, of relaxation,
07:02of holiday, R&R, perfect,
07:05and built into something quite magnificent.
07:11Nestled here in the charming valley of the River Cerna is a place that the legendary and elegant Austrian Empress
07:18Elizabeth,
07:19known as Sisi, called My Valley of Magic, and you can see why.
07:26It's not hard to imagine this town bustling with carriages and crowned heads, but this particular spa, built in the
07:341880s and called the Imperial Austrian Neptune Baths,
07:38is tragically a mere ghost of its former self.
07:51You know, when you see buildings like this, in this state of disrepair, your heart is absolutely torn.
07:57You start to see something so utterly spectacular, but it's in a terrible state.
08:04So many places in the world of five to midnight, this is one of them.
08:09The baths were last properly functional 35 years ago.
08:13Now they're locked for safety reasons, but I'm here to meet a young architect called Oana Kirila, who has the
08:20keys.
08:21Oh, Oana, this is splendid.
08:24Yeah, it's amazing.
08:26And wait to see the inside of the building.
08:36Oh.
08:39Oh, Oana, good grief, look at this.
08:42It's fabulous.
08:44It is.
08:45Paintings up here around the ceiling, balconies.
08:50It's immense.
08:51I don't think, well, from the outside, you can't really get a sense of how huge it is.
08:56Look, it goes off great corridors down there.
08:59Look at this.
09:02Extraordinary.
09:04It was a very beautiful place.
09:06Big mirrors.
09:08Oh, it felt huge.
09:10What were these?
09:11Little hot baths, and you would step, you'd get into it.
09:14Yeah, you would stay here in the hot bath for 30 minutes.
09:19Yeah.
09:19Franz Josef used to bathe here.
09:22Extraordinary.
09:23This was a waiting room, but it was also a place where cultural events took place.
09:28We have a chess board here, lots of chess competitions.
09:32Oh, look, you can see, black and white, yeah.
09:34Yeah, exactly.
09:35It's like in Harry Potter.
09:37Yes.
09:37With the chess board.
09:39Tell me the first time you came here and saw this.
09:41I entered the building through a broken window, and I stayed here.
09:47You fell in love with it?
09:48Yeah, I fell in love with it, and I said, OK, I want to do something more.
09:54Oana now heads up a team of enthusiastic volunteers who have a dream to restore the baths to their former
10:00glory.
10:01Whilst they have secured much of the unstable structure, the funds are tight.
10:07Oh, Lala, this is a huge project.
10:11It is.
10:12What are we looking at?
10:14To restore this extraordinary gem?
10:17Around 5,000 euro per square metre, which means around 15 million.
10:24In your heart, do you have hope?
10:26Yes, it's going to be saved by a lot of other people.
10:31Yeah.
10:31Who will invest.
10:33And I think that in the end, the community will be the actual saviour.
10:43Oana is an inspiration.
10:44If anybody can get this done, Oana can.
10:46But the young often get a rap for kind of not bearing things on their shoulders, not facing up to
10:52the future.
10:52They are, behind them must come, a fairy godfather or mother.
10:58Pots of money.
11:03And before I leave Boile Hecolane, there's something I've been meaning to do.
11:15Get ready.
11:16Oh, I'm getting ready.
11:18Oh, beautiful.
11:20She thought it was beautiful.
11:21Please wait.
11:22Developing photos.
11:23Santa Claus.
11:23Oh, my heavens.
11:31Admit it.
11:31It was worth it, wasn't it?
11:33It was worth it, wasn't it?
11:34It was worth it, wasn't it?
11:35It was worth it, wasn't it?
11:38300 miles northeast of the Danube lies the astonishing beauty of the land beyond the forest, Transylvania.
11:52Transylvania is dominated by the Carpathians, mountains that arc right across central and south-eastern Europe.
12:00They feed the many tributaries of the Danube and are one of Europe's last remaining pristine wildernesses.
12:10And my guide, conservationist Laszlo Gall, is going to show me where the wild things are.
12:18What were you looking for?
12:20A bear track.
12:21A bear track.
12:26And you can see here the footprints.
12:29This one.
12:30These are huge footprints.
12:33Yes.
12:33Look at that.
12:34It's a huge one.
12:36See, it's bigger than my hands.
12:38Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
12:40Or indicates that it was a heavy mare.
12:44There may be up to 6,000 bears in Romania.
12:47Getting a glimpse of one of them in dense forest isn't easy.
12:51But Laszlo is an expert bear tracker and knows all the signs.
12:56Like this rubbing tree.
12:58And you can see these are the chroma.
13:02Scratch, those look quite recent.
13:03And also up there.
13:05We cannot reach it.
13:08This is huge.
13:09More than two meters.
13:11My gosh.
13:13It's smooth, smooth where they've been rubbing.
13:15Yes.
13:16With the back.
13:17And like you see in the...
13:19In Mowgli.
13:20In the jungle book.
13:21Yes.
13:22Or Balu the bear.
13:22Yes.
13:23Yes.
13:23They are doing the same thing.
13:25And you can smell...
13:26The pine, the resin.
13:28Yes.
13:28Take care if it will be like a glue.
13:31Oh, it's glue now.
13:32Yes.
13:33Well, that's that.
13:33I'm stuck now.
13:34Yes.
13:35Don't touch the tree.
13:37No.
13:37And there are some bear hairs you can see anywhere here.
13:41You see, you can take it.
13:43Look at that.
13:45The bears cleverly use the pungent tree resin to repel biting insects.
13:50But they're also fond of eating ants and larvae.
13:53In fact, they mostly eat vegetation, herbs and grass in areas like this delightful meadow.
13:59And they rarely eat meat.
14:02What a gorgeous thing to see a bear out in a meadow eating, I don't know, grass and alfalfa.
14:13I'm afraid I've got glued to everything now.
14:15I'm stuck now.
14:16Look, I...
14:20In your bear van, your bear truck.
14:22I have soap and you can wash your head.
14:25Will it come off?
14:25Yes.
14:26Because I don't want my...
14:27Can you take my bear threat now?
14:36I told you.
14:37You did.
14:38I know, but I didn't know I was going to pick a flower as well.
14:41I suspect Laszlo is the sort of person who prefers his own company.
14:45So I'm quite honoured.
14:47And he spends most of his time out here in the wilds in his unique bear van.
14:54Oh, look at a little kitchen.
14:58I told you I live here.
15:00You do.
15:01And this is how you cook when you're out here on your own?
15:04Yes, I have here milk.
15:06Fridge?
15:06Is that a fridge?
15:07Yes.
15:08Under your bed you keep a fridge?
15:10Yes.
15:11So we can watch a movie while we are drinking coffee.
15:14Let's do that.
15:15Yes, please.
15:16Let's do that.
15:18Let's do that.
15:19Laszlo set up several camera traps so he can monitor the bears remotely.
15:26The bear cubs are praying with their mother.
15:30Oh!
15:30And she just jumps the water.
15:36You said like a stepping stone.
15:38Yes.
15:39Oh, look at that.
15:44Happy bear.
15:46Yes.
15:48It's in shot.
15:49Very comfortable.
15:51Thank you so much.
15:53You're welcome.
15:54This is miraculous.
15:56It's beautiful.
15:59It is deeply moving to see these images of bears living their best lives out here.
16:04And it's comforting to know that people like Laszlo are working tirelessly to preserve their habitat.
16:14But there's always been a dark and distressing side to our relationship with bears.
16:21The nearby Liberty Bear Sanctuary was set up by Cristina Lapis to help the victims of that cruelty.
16:28A place where they have a chance to recover.
16:34Cristina.
16:36Nice to meet you.
16:37This is the most enormous sanctuary.
16:39There are 80 hectares of forest and the wild space because the Liberty is a gift that we received when
16:48we are born.
16:48All of us.
16:49Animals and human beings.
16:54These bears have all been rescued from horrific lives in cages or chained up as attractions and mascots in fairgrounds,
17:03zoos, castles and even factories.
17:07There was a bear named Max.
17:09He stayed 10 years chained in front of the castle by a man who put needles in his eyes.
17:17So, to blind him.
17:21Maya was the first bear that I met.
17:24She ate her paws because she couldn't bear anymore the cage.
17:31She died in my arms and I couldn't save her with all the efforts that we have made.
17:39And I promised her that no other bear will die like this.
17:44A child is promised to a bear.
17:50You are marvellous.
17:52I wish the world was stuffed with people like you.
17:55Sometimes I think that I'm crazy.
17:57You're not.
17:58You're sane.
17:59But I never thought that one day there will be so many bears.
18:03How many?
18:04How many have you?
18:05130 bears there now.
18:07My gosh.
18:09I can tell you that no one of them tried to get out.
18:14Five stars, all inclusive, without hunters.
18:18Hello, you beautiful creatures.
18:21This gives me the power to go on, you know, seeing that we saved another life.
18:32This is my destiny, my dream, my vision, and I shall do it until my last breath.
18:44This is my destiny.
18:47God bless people like Christina.
18:49The world needs more of them.
18:50The world needs us to support them.
19:02Here in Transylvania, it seems you are never far away from a terrifying legend.
19:07None more potent than the one depicted by an Irish writer,
19:11called Bram Stoker, in 1897.
19:16This is Castle Bran.
19:22But it's known by a much more blood-chilling name.
19:28This is pretty exciting because,
19:30having been in a Dracula film, to arrive at Dracula's castle...
19:34I mean, our film had him in London.
19:37It was called Satanic Rites of Dracula.
19:39Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing. Me, Jessica Van Helsing.
19:44Bride of Dracula. Can you imagine?
19:50And it all started off from here.
19:52Spectacular castle.
19:54So I'm not only a Bond girl, I'm a Dracula girl.
19:57Think about it.
20:03Mate Petrosor has really sunk his teeth into the history
20:06of this 650-year-old castle.
20:09Giovanna.
20:10Welcome. Good morning.
20:12Oh, Mate, am I standing in Dracula's castle?
20:14Yes.
20:16Royal by day and wicked by night.
20:19Right now it's royal.
20:21It's royal.
20:21Tell me about this place.
20:23Did Bram Stoker come here?
20:25No. He never visited Transylvania.
20:27But Dracula actually exists.
20:29He exists as a person.
20:30And when Bram Stoker wrote the book,
20:32he inspired his story from a real Romanian character.
20:36His father was Dracul, which is devil in Romanian.
20:40Draculash, basically, it's the son of the devil.
20:43Is this a common surname here?
20:45No.
20:45Dracul?
20:46I mean, what kind of mom will name...
20:48Exactly.
20:49Okay, Vlad, you will be the son of the devil.
20:51No, I don't want...
20:52It was a nickname.
20:53If you are a king and you name yourself Richard the Fluffy One...
20:56Or Ethelred the Unready.
20:58Oh, yeah.
20:59Yeah, so people will not get scared.
21:01So in order to scare his enemy,
21:03he got this nickname, the son of the devil.
21:05The son of the devil.
21:06Which, it's scary.
21:07It works, doesn't it?
21:08Yeah.
21:08You already want to run away.
21:09And he's very courteous and looks quite nice.
21:12Yes.
21:12What's not to like, really, I know.
21:14We're led down the primrose path to hell.
21:17Ooh.
21:18But first of all, will you show me this castle?
21:20Yes, of course.
21:21Thank you so much.
21:22Allow me.
21:23I want some kind of creepy music and a bit of smoke, perhaps.
21:26Well, that's what people expect when they come in Transylvania.
21:33But this castle holds so much more...
21:35Little stone staircase.
21:37...than the legend of Dracula.
21:39So instead of coming for one story,
21:43a wicked, creepy, spooky one,
21:45people go out with two stories,
21:47and a beautiful one about the most beautiful Queen of Romania ever.
21:52And here she is.
21:54Yes.
21:54Her name and title was Her Royal Highness Maria Alexandra Victoria of Saxe, Coburn, Gotha,
22:01Princess of Great Britain and Ireland.
22:04She got married with our king when she was 18.
22:07Queen Marie of Romania,
22:08daughter of the Duke of Edinburgh,
22:10brother of King Edward VII.
22:12In her day, Queen Marie was wildly popular all around the world.
22:17She was an extraordinary woman, wasn't she?
22:19Oh, yes.
22:20She became a nurse.
22:21She did everything, didn't she?
22:22She became a soldier.
22:23Oh, yes.
22:24Well, she got involved.
22:25We were in a very bad situation.
22:28In 1916, almost 90% of Romania was occupied by the Germans.
22:35At the peace conference in Paris,
22:37she was sent there as our last chance.
22:40So she got 50 different dresses,
22:43and she used to walk around on the streets of Paris
22:46with her entourage around 50 Romanian beautiful girls,
22:51and of course that really had a huge impact.
22:54There was a saying in America,
22:56who do you think you are?
22:58Marie of Romania,
22:59the Queen of Romania.
23:02Fantastic.
23:03She didn't live here, did she?
23:05The Queen used to come a couple weeks in the summer to relax.
23:09And so she put her touches everywhere, feminine touches.
23:12Yeah.
23:12Have a sense of her still being here, don't you?
23:15I would have given you a court curtsy right down like that.
23:26Ooh, little creepy top of the ladder.
23:32Ah!
23:38Look at this view.
23:40This is exceptional.
23:44A vast castle, wild hillside.
23:48Having been in a Dracula film,
23:50you furnish the whole character and the whole story with exactly this.
24:00Dracula climbing headfirst down the walls,
24:03blood dripping off his teeth.
24:05But actually, the fable that endures with me now
24:08is the story of Queen Marie of Romania
24:10and her bravery and her beauty and her courage,
24:14her kindness.
24:16And she died so young, 60-something.
24:21Exceptional, but her legend lives on.
24:24And so does Dracula's.
24:35Hotfoot from the legendary haunt of Count Dracula,
24:38I've got an appointment to meet another,
24:40altogether more real Count, here in Transylvania.
24:47I'm going to be spending the night in a rather special guest house,
24:50deep, deep out in these beautiful hillsides.
24:54And it belongs to King Charles.
24:56When he was the Prince of Wales,
24:57he came to this region, he came to Romania
24:59and fell completely in love with it, longed to return.
25:01And I think he comes here every year for a holiday.
25:04I can't wait to see it.
25:07In tune with his enthusiasm for breathing new life
25:10into old traditions,
25:12King Charles renovated a dilapidated farmstead.
25:15You can stay there too,
25:17but there's no guarantee you'll be greeted by the landlord
25:20and distant cousin of our king,
25:21Count Thibor Kauneki.
25:28Thibor, I'm Joanna.
25:30How are you, dear Joanna?
25:31How good to see you.
25:32Thank you very much indeed.
25:33Well, welcome at the king's Transylvanian retreat.
25:36A bit of an understatement maybe for a king.
25:39Yes, it's adorable.
25:41His room is there in the middle.
25:42And look, Prince of Wales, Ixteen his sign up there.
25:46We'll have to update this.
25:48Of course.
25:49And add the royal badge now.
25:50Oh, of course.
25:51This is your land, isn't it?
25:53The Kauneki family has been around for 800 years
25:55and we are related to the king
25:58through Queen Mary's grandmother.
26:02I know him personally since 20 years
26:05and he stayed with us in another village
26:07where we have a small castle and guest house.
26:10And you do castles?
26:11And we do.
26:12Well, I have, the family has two,
26:13so we have to take care of it.
26:14I love that.
26:15That's quite a casual remark.
26:16The family has two castles.
26:19And what was it he loved about this particular area,
26:21do you think?
26:22The fact that you can step out of your room
26:24and you find yourself in a wild flower meadow.
26:28Can we go now?
26:29Please.
26:30Let's do it.
26:31The king walks fast, doesn't he?
26:33Oh, my God.
26:34His security data has problems keeping up with him.
26:39Oh, look at this view from here.
26:45Look at that.
26:46And this just goes on forever.
26:50Full of biodiversity.
26:52So what do you have in here?
26:53You have deer and...
26:55And bear.
26:55Bear?
26:56Lynx.
26:57Lynx?
26:58Wolf.
26:58Wild boar.
26:59Red deer.
27:00Roe deer.
27:01This is living history also.
27:04What we are in consumer society hasn't really reached us yet.
27:10Actually, the king is very much involved in all sorts of projects now
27:14in Romania and Transylvania.
27:16And that goes from heritage preservation
27:19all the way to landscape
27:21and wildlife
27:23and to do ecological tourism
27:25because this brings you so much more.
27:29It's the most extraordinarily beautiful country.
27:32Dazzling.
27:43Look at my darling room.
27:45This is simply the most adorable farm cottage.
27:48I've put out several hats, which I might wear later.
27:51I don't know why I've got hats on there.
27:52Anyway.
28:02We've all known about the king when he was the prince
28:04so far ahead of his time
28:06and everything that he thought about
28:07which was hard work
28:09which was hard work, artisanship,
28:10understanding nature,
28:13doing everything the old-fashioned way
28:15which is quite often the best way.
28:17And here, in this little place that he's chosen,
28:20just absolute silence and sunshine and sweetness.
28:26It's adorable.
28:28He started bowing again.
28:30It's rather sweet.
28:31I said, don't use the scythe.
28:33You can turn the moaning machine on.
28:57This country is so beautiful.
28:59It's quite hard to explain.
29:01I mean, we've tried to show you a bit through the lens.
29:05The charm of Romania is that the present lives in harmony with the past.
29:11Old ways of life endure here
29:13and one in particular that has survived
29:15belongs to the Roma or Romani people
29:18who sometimes call themselves gypsies.
29:24For centuries they suffered persecution
29:27and yet Romani women have always inspired girls
29:30like the very young me
29:32drawn to the romantic vision
29:34of a travelling lifestyle
29:36and a carefree existence.
29:39These are powerful women
29:40who can heal with magic
29:42and tell fortunes.
29:44of the people doing so without dying,
29:57the film is about to bring joy and power,
30:04the energy of the world
30:08has been in place.
30:13Many Romanians still believe in the power of witchcraft and the ability of the
30:19Roma witches to influence their lives.
30:43I understand that you are the most powerful witches in Romania, is that true?
30:49Yes, because we will practice the most oldest witchcraft from all of the world.
30:57It's the magic, gypsy traditional magic, part of all the Roma people.
31:02They live on the world, three miracle powers when was created.
31:08One is a doctor, a priest and a witch.
31:10The doctor, the priest and the witch.
31:14And to these three miracle powers, a person can find help.
31:21Normal people, political people, they come and ask for our help.
31:27Soon we will open the first school of magic and the Roma tradition for people from all
31:35of the world that wants to discover our beautiful tradition.
31:40Like a museum with everything about the Roma.
31:44The discrimination is the principal reason that makes us to open this school for our minority,
31:52for our Roma people and to give them the opportunity to have a job, to learn here, to try to
32:01do something in our country.
32:03Discrimination is so big in Romania against the Roma.
32:12Once complete, the school Mihaela and her family are building is designed to provide much needed employment, security and a
32:21sense of pride in their community.
32:22We will perform a ritual for blessing and protection for you.
32:28I would love that.
32:48We will invoke the good spirit to follow you.
32:52Amen.
32:54Amen.
33:02Amen.
33:04Amen.
33:04Amen.
33:05Amen.
33:05Amen.
33:13And we will give you a magic talisman from our altar to bring you...
33:21Success in everything what you will do.
33:27Okay.
33:29May our protection to bring you luck...
33:32Thank you so much.
33:34I'm very, very touched.
33:44That was so overwhelming, so moving, so fascinating.
33:48And please don't turn off, because we're going to have a fabulous end to this film.
33:52Because the witches said so.
34:09As the Danube rolls inexorably towards the Black Sea, it broadens, and the river traffic grows in proportion, until we
34:19reach this port on the Romanian side, called Issaccia.
34:25There's nothing unusual about the port of Issaccia itself.
34:28Goods lorries come and go, like they do in ports all over Europe.
34:33But the country across the water is Ukraine.
34:39In the past two years, this has taken on an extreme significance.
34:43That is country at war, and here is the place of peace and safety, and an exit into other countries.
34:58When the Russians invaded Ukraine in 2022, hundreds of thousands of people rushed to its borders to flee the bombardment
35:06unleashed on them.
35:13And in Romania, this little reception centre did its best to embrace them.
35:18Carolina.
35:20Hello.
35:20Nice to meet you.
35:21I love you to meet you.
35:22I'm Joanna.
35:22So this is the welcoming hub for mothers and children.
35:27Everything for emergency.
35:30We offer psychological first aid, but also the basic needs.
35:35And a lovely play area, so the children can take away the trauma of what they've been going through, and
35:41can see...
35:42Hello.
35:43Hi, hi.
35:43Hello.
35:44Hello.
35:45But just as Christina is explaining how it all works, two Ukrainian mothers and their children arrive on their way
35:51to Bulgaria to get away from the relentless war for a few weeks.
35:56Nice to meet you. I'm Irina.
35:58Irina, how lovely to meet you. Hello. I'm Joanna.
36:02I'm Olga.
36:02Olga.
36:03They've driven over 500 miles through an active war zone to get to this port on the Danube.
36:10Can we sit down on these tiny-tiny chairs? Come and sit down.
36:14Can I just say the noise of the small elephants is actually the two girls on a slide directly behind
36:19the camera?
36:26So sweet.
36:45What was it like when war first broke out in Ukraine?
36:53For kids... Well, for my older son, there were such moments that at night he cried.
37:03It was a shock. We cried for the first two weeks. We just cried.
37:13Are you okay?
37:15I'm okay.
37:17I left my dog.
37:18You want me to to stop?
37:21You want me to stop?
37:22You've all I want to stop.
37:23Well, now I don't want me to cry.
37:29I want to cry for a while.
37:30Our so-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to
37:37-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to.
37:42It's all. It's the only wish of all Ukrainians.
37:47It'll come.
37:54Thank you so much.
38:01All will be good. All will be well.
38:06I think the important thing to remember is that they are exactly like us.
38:10They wanted to stay in Kyiv and bring their children up, and suddenly this horror was visited on them.
38:15Can you imagine how ghastly it is? There's no defense of these invasions.
38:20Anyway, they're off on a long drive now with those two adorable little girls,
38:23who seem, as all children do, to take these things in their stride.
38:44We've reached one of the most important landscapes, not just in Romania, but in the whole of Europe.
38:51It's a vast, shallow wetland, which is home to hundreds of species of birds and fish, plants, grasses and animals.
39:00And one way to view it all is from this houseboat.
39:11This is a map of the Danube delta.
39:15You can see here, marked clearly, Marea Neagra, which means the Black Sea, which is where we're heading.
39:20And, of course, all this in the middle here is going to be wetlands and weedlands and masses of tiny
39:27lakes.
39:27Look at these names. Bratul Sulina, Crissan.
39:35It's been pretty peaceful out here on the delta, but as we approach a place called Mila 23,
39:41because it's 23 miles from the very end of the Great Danube,
39:47I've found myself in the middle of a rather joyful-looking festival,
39:55involving many fishing boats and a great deal of fish.
39:58And perhaps more remarkably, all of the anglers here are women.
40:04Because this is a women's fishing competition for the community known as Lipovans.
40:09They're descended from Russian Christians who fled religious intolerance in the 17th and 18th centuries.
40:15One kilo gram, 500 to the
40:18Go!
40:21Go!
40:26These people Laigna
40:45やった
40:57I just wanted to show you my cabin on this dear little boat.
41:03People sometimes say to me,
41:04do you have costume, wardrobe, makeup and things on these trips?
41:09Well, self-evidently, I don't.
41:11Nick, we're going to look at your room. You'll get marks.
41:13Nick is our second cameraman.
41:15Oh, look, it's not too bad, but this is a boy room.
41:18Do you see the difference? Here's another untidy boy room.
41:21A pair of pants hanging by the window, tilted picture.
41:23It does make me laugh.
41:24They all emerge in slightly crumpled T-shirts,
41:27thinking they're looking fresh.
41:29It doesn't work.
41:34It's important to get a good night's sleep
41:36because tomorrow I'm going birdwatching.
41:41It's going to be a very early start.
41:44I hope those jackals out there don't keep it up all night.
41:54That's it.
41:55So, Joanna.
41:56Yay.
41:57How do the adventure begin?
41:58Let's see them.
42:00When we both go.
42:06Daniel was born and bred here.
42:10He definitely knows all the shortcuts by motorboat.
42:26So, we are arriving at the lake.
42:28There are pelicans there.
42:30That's about ten.
42:31If you see them sitting on that piece of wood.
42:35I can.
42:36It's a log in the water.
42:39Yeah, they are majestic birds.
42:42They look prehistoric, don't they?
42:45That thing is just about almost three meters in wingspan, giant.
42:53Absolutely gorgeous.
42:55It's the largest population outside Africa, because there are...
42:58Really?
42:59Yeah.
43:00Great.
43:14If you listen, this is what people would say is a very peaceful lake.
43:19But just listen to the sound of wildlife, frogs, cuckoos, chittering birds, the beating of wings,
43:28the occasional slush of a frog or a fish jumping in the water.
43:46In the past, the delta was treated as a wild resource that needed to be tamed.
43:52An untold damage was done to the ecology of this region.
43:57But now this is a biosphere reserve, and the community is doing its best to coexist and enjoy
44:03some of the benefits of ecotourism.
44:07This is one of those communities, a little port called Sulina.
44:13And it's here that I'm looking for something very specific, something that is actually nothing at all.
44:19Zero.
44:22I think this is it.
44:23Zero miles.
44:24That means this is technically the end of the Danube.
44:28I can't believe it.
44:30About 1,800 miles long, and this is the end of it.
44:34Zero miles to go.
44:35Down there, the Black Sea.
44:38Ah!
44:40Journey nearly over.
44:44And now, after 1,800 unforgettable miles, there's one last promise to keep.
44:58So this is it.
44:59So this is it.
45:00This is the Black Sea.
45:01Finally, we've arrived here.
45:02We've traveled through gorges.
45:04We've traveled under mountains, through vast countryside.
45:09We've traveled through major, major cities.
45:12It's been utterly, utterly brilliant.
45:17And so I'm now going to add this water, which I got from the spring, you remember, from the source,
45:23right up in the Black Forest.
45:24First, I'm going to give this water back to the Black Sea where she belongs.
45:33Here you are, water.
45:35Return to your mother.
45:43Done.
45:44To be continued...
46:09¶¶