Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Great Continental Railway Journeys, Portillo, Michael, Used; Good Book at the best online prices at eBay! At the time of his guidebook it was a magnificent terminus, but today it stands ruined and derelict. [1] In the early series, Portillo explores the railway networks of continental Europe, but in later series he also ventured further afield. The first series proved a success and a second series followed a year later in January 2011. Michael Portillo embarks on a scenic thousand-mile rail journey from the Swedish capital, Stockholm, to Abisko in the northern reaches of the Arctic Circle, steered by his 1936 edition of Bradshaws Continental Railway Guide. His destination lies close to his heart: the ancient kingdom of Spain and land of his father. In GREAT CONTINENTAL RAILWAY JOURNEYS, British broadcaster and journalist Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes . . He begins by weaving among the capital city's landmarks on the back of a 1950s Vespa, before boarding the train south to Naples, where he finds out about the first railway to be built in the country, and ventures into the crater of Mount Vesuvius. Then he takes the super fast train to . as the hour and the miles unfolded. Following in the footsteps of Bradshaw's travellers, Michael explores the cradle of the Renaissance through Edwardian eyes but learns in Florence that the tourists' 'Italietta' was far removed from the new Italy envisaged by the futurists of the time. 6 / 6 Michael Portillo samples the delights of the French and Spanish Atlantic coast. In Palermo, Michael takes in the art and architecture of the Futurists and feasts on a Sicilian speciality, spaghetti and sardines. Moving south to the city of Arles, he learns how its light and the famous mistral drew artists from all over Europe. The first series is notable in that it featured the first television travelogue by comedian and comic actor Michael Palin ("Confessions of a Trainspotter"), who would go on to become as well known for his travel series (such as Pole to Pole and Sahara) as for his comedy. Michael Portillo, I said, seemed slimy . He then heads to Poznan and rides one of the few remaining steam-powered commuter trains, visits a factory in Wroclaw that manufactures car bodies for locomotives, and ends his journey in Krakow, where he takes a tour in an iconic vehicle of the communist era. They just have to make sure Portillo and the sartorial choices I suspect someone must once have assured him add a cheery charm to his overwhelming urbanity stand well enough to the side. Steered by his 1913 railway guide, Michael journeys through a prosperous pre-war Europe of emperors, kings, pomp and elegance. Backstage at the legendary Folies Bergere, Michael asks the 'enfant terrible' of fashion, Jean Paul Gaultier, about his homage to the black American dancer, Josephine Baker, and goes backstage to meet the stars of the show. Great Continental Railway Journeys: With Michael Portillo, Andrew Martin, Mitch Waite, Clive Lamming. Among its cobbled streets and classical buildings Michael discovers the seeds of Ukrainian nationalism in song. In Bologna, he embarks on a doomed search for spaghetti bolognese - until a cookery teacher takes pity on him and shows him how to make a much more authentic tagliatelle al ragu. Michael's journey takes him through a patchwork of nations which a century ago formed part of the Austro Hungarian empire.
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