New.Europe.With.Michael.Palin.6.Of.7
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:30I'm approaching the city of Gdansk from the Baltic Sea.
00:43This unremarkable stretch of waterway has seen two seismic events in recent history.
00:50On September the 1st, 1939, World War II began over there on Westerplatte, when the German
00:56warship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish garrison.
01:01They held out very gamely, but within a matter of weeks, all of Poland was overrun.
01:09By the end of the war, the Poles had lost 20% of their population, a higher proportion
01:14than any other European country.
01:17Even when the Nazis were finally driven out of Poland by Stalin's Red Army, things didn't
01:22really get much better.
01:24The Poles merely exchanged one tyranny for another.
01:27So it went on through the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, until something quite remarkable happened
01:34here at the Gdansk shipyards, not ten minutes by small boat from where World War II began.
01:45An electrician called Lech Wałęsa led a series of strikes that were the beginning
01:50of the end of communism in Europe.
01:57Under the agreement that followed, free trade unions became legal for the first time in
02:02any of the Soviet bloc countries.
02:06The famous gates of what was then the Lenin shipyard are still decorated as they were
02:10in the days of defiance, with the name of Wałęsa's union, Solidarity, and his inspiration,
02:17the Polish Pope John Paul II.
02:22Lech Wałęsa helped maintain a fleet of electronic buggies like this one, a job which kept him
02:27in contact with workers all over the yard.
02:32The shipyards themselves, shorn of their socialist subsidies, later went bust.
02:38They were bailed out, but the workforce today is a shadow of what it once was.
02:46I ask Andrzej Buczkowski, the manager, if there's still a sense of pride about what
02:51happened here.
02:52What do the workforce here today think about Lech Wałęsa?
02:57Well, they are very proud, knowing that Mr Wałęsa was for a long time employed here
03:05in Gdansk shipyard, and he was trying to help afterwards while being a president of Poland,
03:11for example.
03:12Yes, yeah.
03:13I think they have very good links, knowing some good friendships still maintained.
03:18Yeah.
03:19Do they regard him as a good president?
03:22Definitely yes.
03:23Yeah, yeah.
03:24Definitely yes.
03:25Yeah.
03:26Gdansk, reduced to rubble in the war, has been restored to its former glories, and ex-president
03:31Wałęsa has been granted a grace and favour office in this imposing former royal residence.
03:40It's here that he's agreed to see me.
03:45Few living Europeans are as illustrious as Lech Wałęsa.
03:49Married to Danuta, eight children, loves computers, has a Nobel Prize, an airport named after
03:54him, a daughter doing well in Poland's Celebrity Come Dancing, is serious and hates small talk.
04:02Mr President, what is the best thing about your life now?
04:09The best things are good food, good wine, and women, but I must remember that I'm 63,
04:18so I have to watch myself.
04:21Well, I'd like to say, I'm 63 and much inspired, thank you.
04:32Remember what Churchill said, the things we like are either immoral or bad for us.
04:40Comparing Poland then and now, what has improved?
04:52It depends how you look at it, how you look at the benefits.
04:56For me, the main benefits are freedom and democracy, that people can travel freely,
05:07that you can go to church, that I can be president, anyone can become president.
05:18I think that these things are worth dying for, but there are other people, for them
05:24the important thing is jobs, how much money they have, they see the benefit in a different
05:33light from me.
05:45Trade made Gdansk rich, it shows in the harmonious grace of its Dutch-influenced squares.
05:52Down by the canal, the largest medieval crane in Europe still stands, but no longer lifts.
06:01An hour's drive away, and I'm at another waterfront.
06:10This is Elblanc, equally war-battered, but less well-restored than Gdansk.
06:16It's the starting point for what is to be a most remarkable journey, on the Elblanc-Ostruda
06:21Canal.
06:35Our boat is called Wabench, the Swan.
06:37It's functional rather than elegant, an ugly duckling might have been better.
06:45Either would be quite suitable, as we make our way through a nature reserve of marsh
06:50and woodland that's a haven for birdwatchers.
06:53Oh, he's found one.
07:11The canal opened in 1872, just before the railway that took away most of its trade.
07:18It has to cope with a rise of 360 feet from one end to the other.
07:25The engineers solved the problem in a most spectacular way.
07:36As we enter the lock, the Swan slides into an underwater cradle.
07:47In an engine room built beside the canal, mighty wheels are slowly powered into action,
07:52which turn a drive wheel, which turns a cable, which will slowly draw the boat, secure in
07:58its watery hammock, out of the water and up the hill.
08:14This is pretty remarkable, because we've been dragged out of the canal, onto dry land.
08:21It's not a lock system, it's a slipway system, and basically the boat has to be raised a
08:26hundred metres in the course of the canal, and this is one of these locks, and I've never
08:31seen anything quite like this, so instead of just being in a water lock, you're actually
08:34taken out of the water, and up the hill.
09:01What amazes me is that no one bats an eyelid at the sight of a boat going up a hill.
09:26Well, it has been doing this for 140 years, I suppose.
09:55Climbs over the hill were eased gently back into the water.
10:05This whole wonderful Heath Robinson process will happen four more times before they reach
10:09Ostruda.
10:10Amazing, we've come over the hill, the rails have led us up, we're now back in the water
10:17again, which ceased to be a railway, we're now on a boat again, extraordinary.
10:26Really delightful, if cumbersome machinery, raised above the countryside.
10:38I'm not going all the way to the end, as I have to be back in Elblanc for a professional
10:42engagement, with a top cabaret.
10:46Well, this could be another career break.
10:48I've been asked by a group called Annie Mroomroo.
10:51They're a Polish group, they're very popular, very successful.
10:54Annie Mroomroo means, shh, don't worry, or something like that, which I quite like that.
10:59Anyway, they know of Python, they know I'm in town, and asked me to come and do a small
11:03part, so I'll do my best.
11:12I'm rushed to wardrobe to discuss my costume with one of the stars.
11:15Martin, what do you think, shorts?
11:17Yeah, it's very nice.
11:18I brought them with me, because I knew they'd come in useful somewhere on my trip to Poland.
11:23Yeah, yeah, they're very nice.
11:25And what with the...
11:26From Milan or...
11:27From Milan, yeah, yeah, especially with that, I like that sort of hat.
11:30Jean-Paul Gaultier.
11:31Jean-Paul Gaultier, yeah.
11:32You know, it's like a codpiece, coming out of your hip.
11:35Yeah, it looks like.
11:36Cookie?
11:37Yeah, kind of weird.
11:40When you do these shows, is the humour satirical?
11:45I mean, what makes your audience laugh?
11:48You never know.
11:49It's like...
11:50Well, you know Monty Python.
11:51Yeah, yeah.
11:52You must have seen him.
11:53Lots of people in Poland know you.
11:59And now joining a Polish group.
12:01So there!
12:02Cleve, Idol, Jones, and another one.
12:08I've been given the role of a five-year-old boy, a big test for any method actor.
12:15Oh, dear.
12:17Upside, still upside.
12:20That's too grown up.
12:21That's too...
12:22Silly.
12:24I suppose silly is what it's all about.
12:26Oh, dear.
12:29Or maybe...
12:30I don't know.
12:31Anyway, darlings, if you just give me a moment, give me a moment, just give me a moment,
12:52yes, I'm ready.
12:56Yes, I'm ready.
13:04The sketch is a satire on pop stars who use sweet little children in their act.
13:22I've modelled my performance on the theme of overexcitement.
13:27And incontinence.
13:36Fortunately, I don't know the Polish for get off.
13:56Michael Pelling and Daniel Romulo.
14:18I hung around in ElblÄ…g for a while, but the phone didn't ring.
14:22So I'm off to Warsaw.
14:27Warsaw, the Polish capital, will be the midpoint of my journey,
14:31before carrying on to Poznań, then south to Kraków and the Slovakian border.
14:46Warsaw suffered dreadfully in World War II.
14:49In his fury at the uprising of 1944, Hitler ordered the city removed from the map.
14:55Over 800,000 citizens died or disappeared.
14:59After the war, Poland's capital was rebuilt by the communists.
15:18Stalin gave this palace of culture to the Poles to show how much they meant to the USSR.
15:24Did you want it?
15:25Apparently, he gave us a choice. You either get a metro system or a palace of culture.
15:29And he said, well, can we have metro, please? And he said, OK, I'll give you the palace.
15:32That's how it started.
15:33Perverse.
15:35My guide is Polish journalist Monica Richardson.
15:38Well, you can see, really, it sort of plonks itself down right in the middle of a city,
15:41like some alien creature. Do you feel that, as someone from Warsaw?
15:46Absolutely. It does cut the city right in half.
15:50Yeah. When you look out at your city from here, I mean, do you find it a little grey?
15:57I mean, do you think it's a beautiful city?
15:59No, it's not a beautiful city, but it's a working city. I have a lot of respect for it.
16:03It's, you know, a good down-to-earth city of people who have busy lives.
16:07Yeah. I mean, you get a great view of the city without having to see the palace of culture.
16:12I suppose, in that way, it's kind of...
16:14A blessing in disguise.
16:15It's better being in it than being out there looking at it.
16:17Absolutely. It's an awful place.
16:21Well, it's got a certain grandeur.
16:24An edifice like this brings to mind some form of architectural imperialism,
16:29plonked down to dominate the subjugated people.
16:33Very true, but it's become a symbol of Warsaw, whether we're happy about this or not,
16:37just like the fact that Warsaw's such an old, new city.
16:41An old, new city, yeah. It's good we're seeing it.
16:44So, it's kind of like an Eiffel Tower, in a sense. It's on all the postcards.
16:48Love it or loathe it.
16:52This is the Congress Hall.
16:53This is where the Communist Party would have its congresses every so many years,
16:57just to explain to people why things haven't turned out
17:00just quite as beautifully as they were going to.
17:03So, all the delegates would be sitting here from all over Poland,
17:06and the leaders would be up there talking for hours on end,
17:10and people sort of dozing away, as it's all televised live for days and days.
17:16The irony is that people like Bob Dylan have come and performed here now,
17:20and I'm sure they knew nothing about the history of this place.
17:23Yeah, it reflects the history.
17:24And, of course, a few days ago, this was Miss World.
17:27I know.
17:28It took place on the same stage that these fiery Communist leaders were given their rhetoric.
17:32How bizarre.
17:33What would Stalin make of that?
17:35I'm sure he's turning in his grave.
17:38That would make a sound.
17:39That would be a sort of 10.6 on the Richter scale, Stalin turning in his grave.
17:45Left in the wake of the onrushing Reds is the ruined city of Warsaw,
17:49scene of an indescribable five-year reign of terror.
17:52But at last the exiled population, though still alive,
17:56are able to return to the shells of their former homes,
17:59for once more the Polish flag flies over Warsaw.
18:03It is remarkable that this was rebuilt after the war.
18:07This is...
18:08This is complete rubble.
18:09This has been built in my lifetime rather than 300 years ago.
18:12Yes, it was rebuilt to the exact specifications of the way it had been in the 18th century,
18:18rather than directly after the war,
18:20because, for some reason, the architects decided that the 18th century
18:24was when the old town in Warsaw was at its biggest glory, highest glory,
18:29and that's how they did it.
18:30But, in a sense, it's completely artificial.
18:32It was supposed to be very beautiful, wasn't it, Warsaw?
18:35Yes.
18:36People compared it with Paris.
18:37Yes.
18:38Around here, it's really lovely.
18:40Actually, it's a testimony to the amazing effort of those people
18:44who, in 1945-46, decided to actually keep this the capital of Poland,
18:49which wasn't, if you think about it, all that obvious at all.
18:5385% of it was in rubble.
18:56Do you think places like this, these squares, that have been beautifully restored,
19:01is that sort of helping to remind Poland of a past, a golden past?
19:07Because, after all, there was a time when Poland was a big player in Europe,
19:11much bigger than Russia or Germany.
19:14Do people harp back to that?
19:16No.
19:17I think I can see where you're coming from asking that question,
19:22but, no, I don't think we've got any illusions of grandeur,
19:26past or present or future dreams of it.
19:29I think we just want to be taken seriously as a nation that's a force in Europe,
19:35as a nation that's got a fantastic history to it,
19:39as a brave nation that, however, has something to offer here and now,
19:43rather than being a martyr for generations and generations.
19:48Plenty of Poles have come to work in the UK,
19:51but I'm off to meet an Englishman who's happier working in Poland.
19:55He's a Cockney called Kevin Aston.
19:57He came here 15 years ago without a visa,
20:00doing whatever jobs he could find and picking up the language along the way.
20:04He's ended up in the Polish fire brigade.
20:08And when I got the hang of the Polish language and I felt confident enough,
20:13I knocked on the doors of the Polish fire brigade
20:16and said, hi, I want to be a fireman, can I?
20:19Passed all the tests and everything, they said, sure, come on in.
20:22And today I'm a section leader in the Polish fire brigade.
20:25You say lightly that, oh, I learnt the language,
20:28but it must have been very, very difficult.
20:30I find it a very difficult language indeed.
20:33Polish actually is amongst five of the most difficult languages in the world.
20:38And I don't know how I've done it.
20:40How did you do it? Did you do it from books or just from...
20:43No books, no... Over a pint with a guy?
20:45Over a pint, Michael, over about...
20:47I wouldn't even like to think about it,
20:49because I'm sure I've drunk a car learning this Polish language.
20:52But the best way to learn Polish, really,
20:54is to buy a beer, buy the Polish guy a beer, sit down and chat with him.
20:57How similar are the Poles to the English, or how different?
21:00Oh, they're very different. I wouldn't say similar.
21:03They're not similar at all.
21:05They're very, very, very opposites, I would say.
21:07But they're opposites which attract, really.
21:09The Poles like the English, the English like the Poles.
21:13Poles, for example, they're very gallant if you're talking about women.
21:16They kiss women on the hand for hello and goodbye.
21:19An English guy does this, you know, hi, how are you doing?
21:22So it's a little bit cold and stuff.
21:24The Poles are very hospitable if you go to their house.
21:26They'll empty out the whole fridge and knock on the neighbour's door
21:29to get their fridge empty to put on their table in order to entertain you.
21:32I mean, what about your love life here, if it's not a rude question?
21:35Were girls easy to meet?
21:37Yes! Yes, I did.
21:39When I came out here I was 21, 21, 22.
21:43Not married.
21:45The Polish women are really beautiful.
21:48They really are.
21:50Also very hospitable.
21:52They love English.
21:54They love the English men as well, not only their language.
21:57But I'm married, so I can't say too much now.
22:00Because I'm sure my wife's going to watch this film.
22:03I'm married to a Polish woman, building a house now in the forest,
22:07which is coming up very nicely.
22:09I would not be able to do that in Great Britain, I'm sure of it.
22:12And we have a lovely daughter, whose name, by the way, is Chelsea.
22:15So there's a nice piece of English heritage still being implanted in Poland
22:21and it is being raised in Poland.
22:24So I've still got Great Britain close to my heart and everything,
22:28even though I'm a long way away.
22:30But I would say this one thing for the Poles that are in my country,
22:33is that I hope that Great Britain treats them as well as Poland
22:36has treated me here.
22:38That's the best that I could ever wish them, really.
22:40There's something I've always wanted to do.
22:42Michael?
22:44I don't like these gates, they look very serious.
22:46This one is quite serious.
22:48It's a long way down from here, isn't it?
22:50It certainly looks a lot further from here than it does the other way round.
22:52But we're going to get you down there, Michael,
22:54and we're going to get you down there safely.
22:56What you've got to do on this zeszlisk, in Polish it's a fire pole,
22:59is first, let me put it right, throw that into your shoulder.
23:02Throw that into your shoulder, here, here.
23:04Do not hold it with your hands because you'll burn them going down.
23:07Do it with your sleeves, one leg, two legs, and you go.
23:11You got it?
23:13You nearly went then.
23:15Nearly? I'll go after you.
23:17All right, so in like that.
23:19Throw it into your shoulder.
23:21That's it.
23:23Go down, let gravity take over.
23:25That's brilliant.
23:27Not so bad, eh?
23:29It's like sandpaper.
23:32Now let go of the pole, Michael.
23:34Let go of the pole?
23:36Yes.
23:38Oh, don't take it with me.
23:40How was that?
23:42Absolute mon blanc.
23:44So simple.
23:46I can't wait to try it again.
23:52This could be my chance.
24:03SIREN BLARES
24:19I eventually catch up with Kevin at Polish television,
24:22where he's something of a star.
24:24He says he can get me on a top morning TV show.
24:27This could be the break I've been waiting for.
24:30HE SPEAKS POLISH
24:46He thinks it will be a good wheeze
24:48to test my Polish pronunciation on camera.
24:55We're going to be on after an item about ladies' hairdressing.
25:01HE SPEAKS POLISH
25:06Back in make-up, I ask Kevin how on earth he got into all this.
25:10I signed a contract for three episodes.
25:13What of? A comedy show?
25:15Yeah, yeah.
25:17And that was four years ago.
25:19On Friday, we're recording the 100th episode.
25:22Amazing. You do stage stuff as well?
25:25Yeah. Stand-up comedy as well?
25:27In Polish? To the Polish audience?
25:29My hero in Great Britain are...
25:32Heroes are Jimmy Jones.
25:34Jimmy Jones. Jimmy Jones.
25:36Roy Chubby Brown. No, Lee Evans.
25:38Lee Evans. I love Lee Evans.
25:40So, let's go to the studio.
25:42Shall we go, Michael? We're done, OK.
25:44HE SPEAKS POLISH
25:55HE SPEAKS POLISH
25:57Hello, Rafał. Hello.
25:59Michael Paliń? Michael Paliń is Rafał.
26:01Hello, Rafał. Hello.
26:03HE SPEAKS POLISH
26:07This is my honour, really.
26:09I've never thought I can shake your hand
26:11because you've created my sense of humour.
26:13Really? That's it.
26:15Is that a good thing?
26:17HE SPEAKS POLISH
26:19Thank you for being here with us.
26:21HE SPEAKS POLISH
26:23So, we're going to try and do some Polish.
26:25HE SPEAKS POLISH
26:27OK.
26:29HE SPEAKS POLISH
26:31Very good.
26:33HE SPEAKS POLISH
26:39HE COUGHS
26:41That's a difficult one.
26:43HE SPEAKS POLISH
26:45Very good.
26:47HE SPEAKS POLISH
26:49It's your handwriting that's so bad.
26:51HE SPEAKS POLISH
26:53Almost, almost.
26:55HE SPEAKS POLISH
26:57This is going to be one of your favourites.
26:59HE SPEAKS POLISH
27:01Show this to the camera first.
27:03HE SPEAKS POLISH
27:05We've got this. What is that, Michael?
27:07HE SPEAKS POLISH
27:09Close.
27:11HE SPEAKS POLISH
27:15Can he just say goodbye to the viewers?
27:17Of course.
27:19Right here.
27:21Bye-bye.
27:23HE SPEAKS POLISH
27:27HE SPEAKS POLISH
27:29Oh, dear, now it's just back to normal life.
27:31HE SPEAKS POLISH
27:33The moment of glory is over.
27:35Polish television conquered.
27:37Tomorrow, the world.
27:41The world, in this case,
27:43being the great European plain
27:45where Poland was forged over 1,000 years ago.
27:47It grew strong and successful
27:49until the Russians, the Austrians
27:51and then the Germans swallowed up their land.
27:53It's only now, in the new Europe,
27:55that Poland is regaining
27:57its stability, confidence
27:59and its history.
28:03Poznań is another picture-postcard
28:05piece of restoration.
28:15Its old square,
28:17where past meets the present,
28:19is the perfect place to watch the world go by
28:21and sort out the mobile phone offers.
28:25No, no, the thing is,
28:27I was on your two-for-one
28:29and I now want to change to
28:31four-for-three,
28:33which is tariff
28:35five, so
28:37four-for-three and tariff five
28:39and I'm going on to
28:41Czestochowa and then crack off southern Poland
28:43so I believe that change
28:45is
28:47to the
28:49special offer then, which is like
28:51and I only want it
28:53for a week then, I don't want it for the full three months.
28:55Yeah, I see, that would be
28:57Ah, oh, do you?
28:59Ah, that's interesting.
29:01Okay, right.
29:03So this is the
29:05ten-for-one.
29:07That's wonderful. And that's only in
29:09this part of...
29:11Oh, right.
29:13That's in where? That's in Moscow.
29:15No, well, I'm not...
29:17I'm not going to Moscow, but that's
29:19a fantastic rate.
29:21Ah, ten-for-one, I think I might go to
29:23Moscow. I'll have a word with the director anyway, yeah.
29:27Poznań Central Station.
29:29The 858 to Wolsztyn prepares
29:31to leave with a very new
29:33driver.
29:35Well, this is it. This is the mighty
29:37oily beast that I shall be driving
29:39and I've got the outfit.
29:41I might look a bit like a gent's hairdresser,
29:43but this is actually the PKP
29:45driver's jacket. PKP meaning
29:47Polish Regional Railways
29:49and this, the great thing is, this is a scheduled
29:51service. There will be passengers
29:53on board. They haven't been
29:55told that a member
29:57of a comedy troupe from England is actually going to be driving
29:59them, and probably just as well.
30:01Anyway, I can't wait to get on, so here we go.
30:03See you later.
30:05Englishman Bob Wyatt was one of the
30:07inspirations behind a very bold operation.
30:09An Anglo-Polish
30:11engine driving school.
30:13Good morning. Michael.
30:15Janusz. Janusz. OK, great.
30:17Thank you. So...
30:19Mike, are you going to drive
30:21to Wolsztyn? So I'm told.
30:23If you'll let me drive to Wolsztyn, I think
30:25it seems a dangerously
30:27big thing for me to be
30:29in charge of, so...
30:31OK.
30:33I can also be fireman
30:35if I want to, so I've been
30:37allowed to practice
30:39getting the coal on.
30:45That's why you have to practice.
30:55It's 8.58,
30:57and as the commuters pour into Poznan,
30:59it's time to go.
31:01Regulator goes down.
31:03There's always a bit of a gap between the regulator moving
31:05or changing, moving off.
31:13There we are.
31:15I'm screaming into
31:17Poznan.
31:19Now I've got to just concentrate.
31:31This isn't Thomas the Tank Engine.
31:33This is the real thing,
31:35on a real railway.
31:39With real passengers.
31:43Once we're clear of the main line,
31:45Janusz puts me into the driving seat.
31:49A little break.
31:51A little break.
31:53At the station ahead.
31:55A little break.
32:07All right, it's not
32:09Grand Central, but it's my first station.
32:11I'm rather proud of it.
32:15OK.
32:17Beautiful.
32:23OK.
32:31This is just stopping.
32:33Stopping.
32:35Starting is the bit I like.
32:45There we go.
32:53OK.
33:07OK, fixed it.
33:13There we are.
33:23I need to get the hang of it.
33:53There we are.
34:23OK.
34:53Phew!
34:55Well, we're in the depot,
34:57Walston, and we're back,
34:59and almost on time.
35:01I think we're about two minutes late.
35:03I mean, once you get over the actual
35:05fear of being on the footplate
35:07of this enormous, hurtling bit
35:09of massive metal,
35:11once you get over that,
35:13it's actually, it's very exhilarating.
35:15But, I mean, normally now,
35:17we just press buttons,
35:19and it's like,
35:21I mean, normally now,
35:23we just press buttons,
35:25and things happen on this.
35:27You have to pull a lever,
35:29which presses a flange,
35:31which pulls another valve,
35:33which turns some wheels,
35:35and it's really hard physical work.
35:37So I have great respect for these guys,
35:39and, you know,
35:41I suppose they are a bit dodos like this,
35:43but it was a great, great run,
35:45and I do apologise to any passengers
35:47who've had heart attacks.
35:50I always wanted to be an engine driver,
35:52and now my dreams come true.
35:54It's going to be a real anticlimax
35:56being a TV presenter again.
36:07This is Jasnogora Monastery
36:09in Czestochowa,
36:11the most important religious site
36:13in a deeply religious country.
36:19At the entrance is the powerful figure
36:21of Cardinal Wyszynski,
36:23the Catholic primate
36:25who refused to compromise
36:27with the Communists.
36:31So many hundreds of thousands
36:33of pilgrims come here every year
36:35that special days have to be
36:37organised for them.
36:39This is interesting.
36:41Throughout the year,
36:43the various pilgrim groups
36:45have their own special days,
36:47and, I mean,
36:49the year is almost packed
36:51with different groups coming in,
36:53and we are...
36:55That's ours now,
36:5728th Kapolani WP,
36:59who are the chaplains of the Polish Army,
37:01and that, I'm told,
37:03Leszniczy Forest Guards,
37:05so they all have their special
37:07day of pilgrimage.
37:09It doesn't say BBC.
37:13What they've all come to see
37:15is the mysterious Black Madonna,
37:17a likeness of the Virgin Mary
37:19said to have been painted by St Luke
37:21on a beam from Jesus' home
37:23in Nazareth.
37:29Pilgrims process on their knees
37:31around the chapel where it's displayed.
37:33The Madonna has been associated
37:35with some great Polish victories
37:37over the years, and is believed
37:39to have miraculous powers.
37:45Monks of the Pauline Order,
37:47whose monastery this is,
37:49celebrate Mass almost non-stop throughout the day.
37:51The climax is always the moment
37:53when the Madonna is revealed.
38:15The Great Moment is announced
38:17with a drumroll.
38:31A screen of beaten gold
38:33slowly rises.
38:45And the Black Madonna,
38:47nestling in jewel-encrusted robes,
38:49is at last revealed.
38:57My guide, Father Tomon,
38:59tells me what it means.
39:01It's meaning
39:03the Queen of Poland,
39:05Mary,
39:07was elected,
39:09proclaimed, Queen of Poland,
39:11and the Queen of Poland
39:13was elected, proclaimed,
39:15Queen of Polish Nation.
39:17And after the nine wars,
39:19martial war proclaimed
39:21by General Jaruzelski,
39:23after this period of Communism,
39:25we have this place
39:27where we were free.
39:29This holy icon
39:31is a sign of presence,
39:33her presence here.
39:35She is here,
39:37and we believe that she is
39:39as a mother, as a Queen of Polish Nation,
39:41as a Queen of Poland.
39:51Then the time comes
39:53for the Queen of Poland
39:55to be hidden again.
40:11Two hours from the monastery
40:13is one of the most infamous places
40:15in Europe.
40:17Occupied Poland
40:19was where the Nazis
40:21put their most notorious
40:23concentration camps.
40:25The concentration camps
40:27were located
40:29on the outskirts
40:31of the city.
40:33The concentration camps
40:35were located
40:37on the outskirts
40:39of the city.
40:43This one of the earliest
40:45is in the town of Oswiecim,
40:47in German Auschwitz.
40:55Converted in 1940
40:57from a Polish army barracks,
40:59Auschwitz I
41:01is where the techniques
41:03of mass killing were honed.
41:05This was one of the gas chambers,
41:07and these were some of the first
41:09ovens developed to destroy
41:11quickly and efficiently
41:13all traces of organized murder.
41:21In the rooms where men, women
41:23and children were incarcerated
41:25are displays of what was found
41:27when the camp was finally liberated.
41:36Canisters of the killing gas
41:38Cyclone B.
42:02Piles of human hair.
42:05Piles of human hair.
42:26And somehow most moving of all
42:28for me, the bags and suitcases
42:30that once contained someone's
42:32last possessions.
42:36And on them the names
42:38of their owners,
42:40written in hope.
42:58I suppose it's good
43:00that places like this are still here,
43:02with the evidence of brutality
43:04and a good condition.
43:06But I wish I could believe that people
43:08will never be like this again.
43:14I've reached Krakow.
43:16My conveyance this morning
43:18is the Trabant.
43:20Made in East Germany,
43:22it was the people's car of Communist Europe.
43:25Thank you. Thank you very much.
43:28Hello there. Good morning.
43:30I'm Michael.
43:34Let's go.
43:36Reverse.
43:39Great.
43:42Among some young Poles,
43:44the humble Trabant has acquired cult status.
43:46Entrepreneurs like my driver
43:48Kuba Bialek are using them
43:50to offer less conventional city tours.
43:53Tell me about the car, Kuba,
43:55the great Trabant.
43:57Well, here we just
43:59got the speed meter.
44:01There's temperature of oil,
44:03which, of course, doesn't work.
44:05And the most tricky thing about Trabant
44:07is that it doesn't have a fuel gauge.
44:09It doesn't have a fuel gauge.
44:11There's no fuel gauge,
44:13and the gas tank is under the hood.
44:15So we've got the hood, the engine,
44:17and the gas tank.
44:19The gas tank is just by the engine.
44:21Some people claim that it's not too safe.
44:23What is over there?
44:25This...
44:27This?
44:29That knob.
44:31You have to turn on the light.
44:33You better have that,
44:35because I don't know quite how to use it,
44:37where it goes.
44:39Me neither.
44:41Keep that in your pocket for later.
44:43Yeah, maybe.
44:45Hang on.
44:47What's next to it?
44:49The next is for the windscreen...
44:51This is for lights.
44:53Yeah, this one is for lights.
44:55That's good.
44:57Windscreen wipers, that's fine.
44:59But the lights don't work properly,
45:01so I just don't use them
45:03until it's dark.
45:05It's too dark.
45:07So there's a heating.
45:09Of course, it's not air-conditioned,
45:11it's just a basic heating.
45:13But the thing is,
45:15I've been doing this for the last six months,
45:17and I have no idea how it works.
45:19So we don't know how it works.
45:21For a small car,
45:23the Trabant leaves a hell of a carbon footprint.
45:26But Kuba seems undeterred.
45:28It's a minor worry
45:30compared to some of his problems.
45:32Quite often,
45:34maybe once in a month or something like that,
45:36the wheels, they fell off.
45:38I mean, not all of the wheels.
45:40It's just the one wheel.
45:42But we've got four of them,
45:44and in two of them,
45:46the wheels fell off five times.
45:48So, of course, it happened during the tour.
45:50So we drive a Trabant,
45:52like now 60 or something,
45:55and suddenly, well,
45:57you are without the wheel.
45:59So you're in the middle of the road,
46:01in the middle of the traffic,
46:03and you're in big problem,
46:05because it's not so easy
46:07to keep it running quite straight
46:09with three wheels only.
46:11It's not just the car that's different
46:13on Kuba's tour,
46:15it's the destination.
46:17A suburb called Nowa Huta,
46:19built in the 1950s
46:21as the ideal socialist city.
46:23And here we are,
46:25old part of Nowa Huta,
46:27shape of the semicircle,
46:29like a fan.
46:31I can show you a few photos,
46:33because it's good to see
46:35how big achievement it was.
46:37Because back in the 50s,
46:39so please remember, 1949,
46:41beginning of the whole construction,
46:43first settlers.
46:45That's just farmland.
46:47Just the farmland, exactly.
46:49Greenfield, nothing on it.
46:51But in the 10 years,
46:53well, take a look what they did.
46:55We've got this central square
46:57that we can see on the map.
46:59It's here.
47:01And you see how grand it is.
47:03Very formal.
47:09Kuba shows me the grand arcades
47:11of Nowa Huta,
47:13designed to prove that the proletariat
47:15could have a city just as beautiful
47:17as anything in snobby, priest-ridden Krakow.
47:19But in the 1980s, he tells me,
47:21it all went wrong.
47:23Like the shipyard workers of Gdansk,
47:25the steel workers of Nowa Huta rose in protest,
47:27turning on the party
47:29and looking instead to the West.
47:37The sight of mountain peaks
47:39comes as quite a shock after weeks on the plain.
47:41Ahead are the high Tatras,
47:43half in Poland, half in Slovakia.
47:45I'm in the village of Biała Toczanska,
47:47where the highland wedding
47:49is about to take place.
47:59Two all-singing masters of ceremonies
48:01are delivering the bridegroom,
48:03a ski instructor,
48:05to the home of his bride-to-be,
48:07also a ski instructor.
48:09He's escorted by two bridesmaids,
48:11quite possibly ski instructors.
48:18On arrival at the house,
48:20Mariusz is welcomed by his bride Berta,
48:22wearing a heavy, metre-long headdress,
48:24which he's not allowed to take off
48:26until the end of a wedding day.
48:35They're serenaded into the house
48:37and up to the bride's bedroom.
48:48Here, amidst total lack of privacy,
48:50Mariusz has to take off his shirt
48:52and put on one prepared by his bride.
49:02No fumbling goes unrecorded.
49:41At some point in the day's crowded programme,
49:43Mariusz and Berta actually get to church
49:45and marry each other.
50:04After the wedding, I take a walk in the hills,
50:06only to find the photographers
50:08got them up here as well.
50:16Berta's being photographed
50:18with all the men she hasn't married today.
50:24She seems to be rather enjoying it.
50:30But who am I to talk?
50:46Hello!
50:56I keep trying to get away,
50:58but the photographer's insatiable.
51:07Now the wedding action shifts,
51:09bizarrely, to the local fire station.
51:12In small villages like this,
51:14it's often the only place
51:16with a room big enough for a party.
51:22I really feel for Berta.
51:24Ski instructing must be a doddle after this.
51:33It's very hard to dance when you are drunk.
51:35Yeah, exactly.
51:37Better not drink too badly.
51:40I'm dainty.
51:44A supercharged vodka,
51:46specially bottled for this great day,
51:48keeps the 200 guests going.
51:50And going.
51:53This is supposed to be a bit of a comedy performance.
51:55It's supposed to be serious.
52:03We also have kozloweczka.
52:06Kozloweczka means wedding vodka.
52:08Alright.
52:12What is wedding vodka?
52:14Is that different from normal vodka?
52:16Yes, it's much stronger, I have to say.
52:18It's almost 90%.
52:20This is what these people have been drinking
52:22for the last six hours.
52:24Yes, like two bottles per head.
52:26Wow.
52:28They prepared 1,600 bottles for this wedding.
52:31And they come back tomorrow, don't they, some of them?
52:33Tomorrow is after Friday,
52:35and they will be after tomorrow.
52:41They have to drink all these bottles they prepared.
52:43They know how to get married.
52:49I'm very happy for Mariusz and Berta.
52:51This is a night they'll never forget.
52:53And probably never remember.
52:56I'm in the gorge of the Dunajec River,
52:58which, after my long journey through the country,
53:00will take me out of Poland.
53:04And as I've learnt here in the Tatras,
53:06mountain people have a special way of doing things.
53:26A small village lies here,
53:31called the Slomovci.
53:39This, for me, is the last of Poland.
53:41I mean literally the last of Poland,
53:43because this river marks the southern border of the country.
53:48So farewell, and thank you for everything to Poland.
53:52Here we come, Slovakia.
53:55On the other side, on the other side,
53:57they are singing songs.
54:00Every morning they are singing
54:02to the sun and the stars.