Copenhagen to Oslo: Part 2

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0:00:02 > 0:00:05I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take me

0:00:05 > 0:00:07across the heart of Europe.

0:00:10 > 0:00:12I'll be using this -

0:00:12 > 0:00:17my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, dated 1913, which

0:00:17 > 0:00:22opened up an exotic world of foreign travel for the British tourist.

0:00:22 > 0:00:26'It told travellers where to go, what to see and how to navigate

0:00:26 > 0:00:30'the thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossing the continent.

0:00:30 > 0:00:32'Now, a century later,

0:00:32 > 0:00:36'I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,

0:00:36 > 0:00:41'where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.'

0:00:42 > 0:00:47I want to rediscover that lost Europe that, in 1913, couldn't know

0:00:47 > 0:00:52that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.

0:01:06 > 0:01:10'On the second part of my journey through Denmark, Sweden and Norway,

0:01:10 > 0:01:14'I have a Highland fling, Scandinavian style...'

0:01:14 > 0:01:16ALL: Skal!

0:01:18 > 0:01:23'I discover the tiny origins of one of Sweden's greatest icons...'

0:01:25 > 0:01:28'Rediscover a powerful waterfall...'

0:01:29 > 0:01:32That is spectacular!

0:01:32 > 0:01:34'And brave a white-knuckle ride

0:01:34 > 0:01:38'based on a winter sport invented by Norwegians.'

0:01:38 > 0:01:41Whee-hoo!

0:01:41 > 0:01:44One of the great experiences of my life.

0:01:46 > 0:01:50'My adventure began in Denmark's capital Copenhagen, crossed

0:01:50 > 0:01:54'the famous Oresund Bridge to Malmo in Sweden.

0:01:54 > 0:01:59'I'm now travelling north along Sweden's west coast to Gothenburg,

0:01:59 > 0:02:01'then on to Trollhatten

0:02:01 > 0:02:04'before heading to Norway's capital Oslo.

0:02:04 > 0:02:06'I'd been told that in the countryside

0:02:06 > 0:02:08'just outside the town of Lund,

0:02:08 > 0:02:11'there's an attraction of appeal to a railway buff like me.

0:02:11 > 0:02:14'Marina Merle will direct my tracks.'

0:02:14 > 0:02:15Hi. Nice to meet you.

0:02:15 > 0:02:18- What a very nice day for a picnic. - Yes, very nice.

0:02:18 > 0:02:22- So, we're going to cycle on these contraptions.- Yes.

0:02:22 > 0:02:24What is the history of this device?

0:02:24 > 0:02:27The device itself was invented in the 1840s,

0:02:27 > 0:02:31so the track inspectors could see

0:02:31 > 0:02:33if there was anything wrong on the tracks.

0:02:33 > 0:02:38And they actually stopped using them when the trains became too fast.

0:02:38 > 0:02:41I've never seen this before as a tourist attraction.

0:02:41 > 0:02:44Are there many places where these bikes are available?

0:02:44 > 0:02:47- It's not that common.- Well, it's absolutely a first for me.

0:02:47 > 0:02:50Um... Do you know a nice spot to go picnicking?

0:02:50 > 0:02:54- Yes, three kilometres down the road.- Excellent! Um...

0:02:54 > 0:02:57- May I cycle you?- Sure!

0:02:59 > 0:03:02'We're riding along a stretch of disused railway

0:03:02 > 0:03:04'between Bjornstorp and Veberod.

0:03:04 > 0:03:07'This local line closed in the 1970s.

0:03:07 > 0:03:10It's fun because this combines cycling

0:03:10 > 0:03:12with all the sounds of the railway.

0:03:12 > 0:03:15- Yes, exactly.- Going over the track, the duh-duh, duh-duh.

0:03:16 > 0:03:21It's very peaceful, even though you're doing an activity.

0:03:23 > 0:03:26'That vigorous peddling has worked up my appetite.'

0:03:29 > 0:03:33So does anything tell us that this is a typical Lund smorgasbord? Yes!

0:03:33 > 0:03:38My Lund sausage tells us that. Anything else?

0:03:38 > 0:03:41Well, in that case, it should be this cake. That's very regional.

0:03:41 > 0:03:46It's called Spettkaka, and it's very sweet and contains a lot of eggs.

0:03:46 > 0:03:49- Mm! And would you care for some crayfish?- Yeah. That's...

0:03:49 > 0:03:55We love our crayfish in Sweden. We have crayfish parties every August.

0:03:55 > 0:03:59- It's very traditional. - Look at all that goodness in it!

0:03:59 > 0:04:03- Don't try this at home.- Aargh! I don't even do that!

0:04:03 > 0:04:05THEY LAUGH

0:04:05 > 0:04:09- I'm going to try sawing into my brick here.- Oh, good luck!

0:04:09 > 0:04:11THEY LAUGH

0:04:11 > 0:04:12- It's very dense, that bread.- I know.

0:04:12 > 0:04:16This is the sort of matter that Einstein used to write about.

0:04:17 > 0:04:19Usually, it's not that thickly sliced.

0:04:22 > 0:04:28- Mm. Everyone's a critic. Can I offer you some aquavit?- Sure.- Wow.

0:04:28 > 0:04:31- Marina, thank you so much. - Thank you.

0:04:31 > 0:04:34- One of the loveliest smorgasbords I've ever had.- Sure.

0:04:45 > 0:04:49'With my spirits high, I'm ready to catch the Swedish intercity

0:04:49 > 0:04:53'that'll take me north along the West Coast Line, or Vastkustbanan.'

0:04:55 > 0:04:57I'm on my way now to what the Swedish call Goteborg,

0:04:57 > 0:04:59but we call Gothenburg.

0:04:59 > 0:05:02And it's a journey of very nearly three hours,

0:05:02 > 0:05:05so I'm looking forward to putting my feet up and relaxing.

0:05:08 > 0:05:12I'm travelling 163 miles on a line that runs parallel with

0:05:12 > 0:05:14the Kattegat strait.

0:05:28 > 0:05:30Standing on the mouth of the Gota alv river,

0:05:30 > 0:05:33Gothenburg is Sweden's second-largest city.

0:05:34 > 0:05:37With the largest port in Scandinavia,

0:05:37 > 0:05:39the city was a world leader in shipbuilding.

0:05:41 > 0:05:44But the man who founded that industry wasn't a Swede

0:05:44 > 0:05:48but a Scot who crossed the North Sea from Dundee in 1826.

0:05:50 > 0:05:53Alexander Keiller was one of many Scots

0:05:53 > 0:05:54who made Gothenburg their home.

0:06:07 > 0:06:10'Professor Klas Linderborg knows more.'

0:06:12 > 0:06:14How was this Scotsman received in Gothenburg?

0:06:14 > 0:06:17They had been here from the very start.

0:06:17 > 0:06:20When the city was founded,

0:06:20 > 0:06:25people were invited to move to boom their business to Goteborg.

0:06:25 > 0:06:28And there were Dutch people, German and Scotsmen.

0:06:28 > 0:06:31The Scottish connection continued for a very long time.

0:06:31 > 0:06:35I mean, with a fair wind, you could go to Britain in a week,

0:06:35 > 0:06:39- but it took a month to go to Stockholm.- Really?

0:06:39 > 0:06:42So the sea was joining countries, not separating them.

0:06:42 > 0:06:45- And does any Scottish connection continue in Gothenburg?- Yes.

0:06:45 > 0:06:48Actually, we have a branch here

0:06:48 > 0:06:50from the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society.

0:06:50 > 0:06:55- We were the third in Europe, outside the British Islands...- Really?

0:06:55 > 0:06:58..to be fully approved by the Scottish Society.

0:06:58 > 0:07:00And we actually have a dance tonight...

0:07:02 > 0:07:05- ..if you would like to join us? - That's delightful.

0:07:08 > 0:07:12'About 500 miles lie between Scotland and Sweden,

0:07:12 > 0:07:15'but some Swedes work hard to keep the bond alive.

0:07:18 > 0:07:21'And given the maritime links between the two nations,

0:07:21 > 0:07:25'it seems appropriate that the dance should take place aboard a ship,

0:07:25 > 0:07:27'the Viking.'

0:07:27 > 0:07:28- Hello, everybody.- Hello.

0:07:28 > 0:07:32- Thank you for having me to your dance. Hello.- Hello.- Good evening.

0:07:32 > 0:07:35- Do you know the dance that we're doing this evening?- Yes, I do.

0:07:35 > 0:07:38- What's it called? - It's called Gothenburg's Welcome.

0:07:38 > 0:07:40- Is it an easy dance?- No!- Oh!

0:07:40 > 0:07:42THEY LAUGH

0:07:44 > 0:07:47I'm going to make a complete fool of myself!

0:07:51 > 0:07:53'I really don't want to show myself up.

0:07:53 > 0:07:55'After all, my mother's family is Scottish.'

0:07:55 > 0:07:56Change.

0:07:56 > 0:08:02SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCE MUSIC

0:08:15 > 0:08:18- Oh, no! I missed it completely! - Very nice.

0:08:18 > 0:08:20'I'm not sure they'll invite me back.'

0:08:23 > 0:08:25- All the way.- Oh, sorry.

0:08:25 > 0:08:26Take my place.

0:08:28 > 0:08:30Stick your right hand out.

0:08:38 > 0:08:39Ha!

0:08:39 > 0:08:40THEY CLAP

0:08:40 > 0:08:43Well... It goes on.

0:08:43 > 0:08:45Well done! Well done!

0:08:47 > 0:08:49Guys, a little peace offering.

0:08:49 > 0:08:51I'm so sorry that I was so bad at Scottish dancing,

0:08:51 > 0:08:54but I'm not bad at Scottish drinking.

0:08:54 > 0:08:58- So have a whisky.- Skal!- Skal!

0:09:01 > 0:09:04From the high seas to the high roads,

0:09:04 > 0:09:09Gothenburg is home to perhaps the greatest Swedish icon of all.

0:09:10 > 0:09:15Now a global brand, its origin was a technology invented here

0:09:15 > 0:09:20for the motor industry in 1907, the self-aligning ball bearing.

0:09:22 > 0:09:25The Gothenburg group which produced these ball bearings

0:09:25 > 0:09:28registered a new company in 1915,

0:09:28 > 0:09:31and when two employees decided to build the first mass-produced

0:09:31 > 0:09:37Swedish car, they maintained the ball bearing-inspired name -

0:09:37 > 0:09:40the Latin for "I roll", Volvo.

0:09:40 > 0:09:45'I'm meeting Soren Nebo from the company's museum to find out more.'

0:09:45 > 0:09:48- Magnificent!- Hello, Michael. - Soren, how lovely to see you.

0:09:48 > 0:09:51- Nice to see you. - What a beautiful car!- Isn't it nice?

0:09:53 > 0:09:55What would be the idea of a Swedish car?

0:09:55 > 0:09:57Why, particularly, a Swedish car?

0:09:57 > 0:10:00Well, we're looking at it from the sake of quality at the time

0:10:00 > 0:10:04because most of the cars that we had were imports.

0:10:04 > 0:10:07This was still a very, you could say, undeveloped country

0:10:07 > 0:10:09in terms of roads and transportation.

0:10:09 > 0:10:10So they were braking,

0:10:10 > 0:10:14they were still quite expensive, also, because predominantly,

0:10:14 > 0:10:18American cars that we had in, with the very soft suspension,

0:10:18 > 0:10:20and they said, look, we need something more sturdy

0:10:20 > 0:10:23and better suited for the market, for the country.

0:10:25 > 0:10:30In April 1927, the first Volvo rolled off the production line.

0:10:31 > 0:10:34Since then, they produced almost 18 million,

0:10:34 > 0:10:37making it one of Sweden's greatest exports.

0:10:44 > 0:10:50From ball bearing to Volvo, from a tiny acorn grows the mighty oak.

0:10:50 > 0:10:52Well, well, well! I've really enjoyed my trip in the car.

0:10:52 > 0:10:55Thank you for letting me drive. Thank you so much.

0:10:55 > 0:10:57- Thank you, Michael.- Bye-bye.- Bye-bye.

0:11:02 > 0:11:06'I'm leaving Gothenburg to head north and inland.'

0:11:10 > 0:11:11My guidebook urges me to

0:11:11 > 0:11:15"find time to visit the fine falls of Trollhattan

0:11:15 > 0:11:20"and the splendid locks that enable the waterway to bypass the cascade.

0:11:20 > 0:11:23"What an opportunity to see the wonders of nature

0:11:23 > 0:11:26"and the achievements of man in one place."

0:11:31 > 0:11:34According to Bradshaw's, there's a wide gorge,

0:11:34 > 0:11:37and within it, a fine succession of rapids.

0:11:52 > 0:11:56'But on arrival, I find there's little more than a trickle.

0:11:56 > 0:11:58'To find out what happened to the falls,

0:11:58 > 0:12:02'I'm meeting Magnus Carlsen from the Olidan Power Station.'

0:12:02 > 0:12:05- Hello.- Hello.- I'm a bit surprised.

0:12:05 > 0:12:09I came with my Bradshaw's guidebook, looking for the falls,

0:12:09 > 0:12:11and I find, instead, a power station.

0:12:11 > 0:12:17- So was this built after 1913?- No. The power station was built in 1910.

0:12:17 > 0:12:21It was the start of the large electrification of Sweden,

0:12:21 > 0:12:26and it was Sweden's first large hydropower plant.

0:12:26 > 0:12:28This is an area of outstanding natural beauty.

0:12:28 > 0:12:31Was it controversial to build the power station here?

0:12:31 > 0:12:37I don't think so. It was a push to have the region industrial.

0:12:39 > 0:12:43So they looked to the West - the UK and America -

0:12:43 > 0:12:49- and wanted to have industrial things, like them.- Yeah.

0:12:49 > 0:12:52You Swedish are as lucky as we British are in having lots of water.

0:12:52 > 0:12:55Yeah. We have British rain falling down here!

0:12:55 > 0:12:58And we gather it in the Lake Vanern.

0:13:01 > 0:13:05'British rain and this hydroelectric power station helped to transform

0:13:05 > 0:13:08'the country from an agrarian society

0:13:08 > 0:13:09'into a modern industrial state.'

0:13:11 > 0:13:14Ho-ho! It's absolutely enormous, isn't it?

0:13:14 > 0:13:17I had no idea it would be that big.

0:13:17 > 0:13:20And that sound is the sound of the water rushing through

0:13:20 > 0:13:21the turbines, is it?

0:13:21 > 0:13:25It's also the sound of the machinery. They enrage us.

0:13:26 > 0:13:30'The water from the falls, described in my Bradshaw's, has been

0:13:30 > 0:13:35'diverted to spin these turbines and to generate electricity.

0:13:35 > 0:13:39'But Magnus is generously going to release the torrent

0:13:39 > 0:13:42'so that I can see the falls in all their natural splendour.'

0:13:48 > 0:13:50That is spectacular!

0:13:50 > 0:13:53'After recharging my batteries in Trollhattan,

0:13:53 > 0:13:55'it's time to leave Sweden

0:13:55 > 0:13:59'and head to my third and final country on this trip, Norway.

0:14:00 > 0:14:03My Bradshaw's says, "Although the comforts

0:14:03 > 0:14:05"and attractions of central Europe

0:14:05 > 0:14:09"are not to be expected in Norway, the healthy, hearty

0:14:09 > 0:14:11"and good-tempered tourist, the sportsman

0:14:11 > 0:14:15"and the admirer of natural beauty, who's willing to bear

0:14:15 > 0:14:19"and to forbear, and even occasionally to rough it,

0:14:19 > 0:14:23"will be amply rewarded." With a recommendation like that,

0:14:23 > 0:14:27I imagine that Norway remained pretty exclusive in 1913.

0:14:31 > 0:14:34'Norway was then a young nation.

0:14:34 > 0:14:39'Norwegians had voted to dissolve their union with Sweden in 1905.

0:14:39 > 0:14:43'Instead of forming a republic, they decided, overwhelmingly,

0:14:43 > 0:14:45'to institute their own monarchy.'

0:14:47 > 0:14:49Britain's King, Edward VII, used his influence

0:14:49 > 0:14:53to secure the Norwegian throne for his son-in-law, Carl,

0:14:53 > 0:14:55husband to his daughter, Maud.

0:14:57 > 0:15:01'Prince Carl assumed an ancient royal Norwegian name,

0:15:01 > 0:15:03'King Harken VII.'

0:15:08 > 0:15:09Following independence,

0:15:09 > 0:15:14the capital of Norway reverted to the old Norwegian name of Oslo.

0:15:14 > 0:15:16This was a country that was new.

0:15:16 > 0:15:18This was a country that was independent.

0:15:18 > 0:15:21And its artistic outpourings were distinctly modern.

0:15:28 > 0:15:33Architects, artists, musicians and writers flourished in this city

0:15:33 > 0:15:36that is home to the Nobel prizes.

0:15:36 > 0:15:39'But Norway's most famous writer, Henrik Ibsen,

0:15:39 > 0:15:42'controversially was rejected by the Nobel judges.'

0:15:43 > 0:15:46A poet, playwright and theatre director,

0:15:46 > 0:15:50Ibsen is the world's most frequently performed dramatist after Shakespeare.

0:15:52 > 0:15:55'His house has been turned into a museum,

0:15:55 > 0:15:58'where I'm meeting director Erik Edvardsen.'

0:15:58 > 0:16:00Hello, Michael. Welcome in to Ibsen's home.

0:16:00 > 0:16:02Thank you, Erik. Good to see you.

0:16:02 > 0:16:05What situations do we find in an Ibsen play?

0:16:30 > 0:16:32Was this new, what Ibsen was doing?

0:16:52 > 0:16:56Ibsen is known for the realism of plays like A Doll's House

0:16:56 > 0:16:57and Hedda Gabler.

0:16:59 > 0:17:01'As he captured real-life situations,

0:17:01 > 0:17:06'he commented on everyday inequalities between men and women.

0:17:06 > 0:17:08'Society was changing.

0:17:08 > 0:17:10'Women were starting to take control of their lives

0:17:10 > 0:17:12'and to demand equality,

0:17:12 > 0:17:16'as reflected in Ibsen's strong female characters.'

0:17:17 > 0:17:19What about his relationship with his wife?

0:17:19 > 0:17:22Well, that was very close and for a long period.

0:17:22 > 0:17:25They were married for 50 years.

0:17:25 > 0:17:28But she was also one that looked after him,

0:17:28 > 0:17:31but she decided that at nine o'clock in the morning,

0:17:31 > 0:17:35he had to be in here at the desk and start the day.

0:17:35 > 0:17:38If not, he was not free at half past 11,

0:17:38 > 0:17:40to walk down to Grand Cafe and take a drink,

0:17:40 > 0:17:41which he did every day.

0:17:46 > 0:17:51The Grand Cafe was a home from home for Oslo's writers and artists.

0:17:56 > 0:18:00Behind me is a mural depicting some of the cultured bourgeoisie

0:18:00 > 0:18:03who frequented the Grand Cafe at the end of the 19th century,

0:18:03 > 0:18:04beginning of the 20th century.

0:18:04 > 0:18:08There is Henrik Ibsen with his distinctive top hat.

0:18:08 > 0:18:10And behind me, the somewhat emaciated face,

0:18:10 > 0:18:12is the artist Edvard Munch.

0:18:16 > 0:18:18Widely imitated, and not just by me,

0:18:18 > 0:18:23The Scream is one of the most expensive paintings in the world,

0:18:23 > 0:18:26selling recently for nearly 120 million.

0:18:28 > 0:18:30Munch created four versions of The Scream,

0:18:30 > 0:18:33and one is at Norway's National Museum.

0:18:33 > 0:18:36The curator is Maibritt Gulling.

0:18:36 > 0:18:39- Welcome...- Thank you very much. - ..to the National Gallery.

0:18:48 > 0:18:52The Scream, the first time I have ever seen it for real.

0:18:52 > 0:18:57I've seen it reproduced so often. It's smaller than I imagined.

0:18:57 > 0:19:01The colours are dirtier than I imagined. But, my goodness!

0:19:01 > 0:19:03It remains very, very powerful.

0:19:03 > 0:19:07Of course, the face and then the red streaks through the sky.

0:19:07 > 0:19:09Why has it become so iconic?

0:19:09 > 0:19:14Because of the strength of the central figure,

0:19:14 > 0:19:19because it's hard to say exactly what it is.

0:19:19 > 0:19:22Is it a male, female figure?

0:19:22 > 0:19:26Is it a foetus? Is it a skeleton? A ghost?

0:19:26 > 0:19:28So you really can't say for sure.

0:19:28 > 0:19:32And that ambiguity is something that, I think,

0:19:32 > 0:19:36opens up to so many possible interpretations.

0:19:36 > 0:19:39But also, of course, it was very important

0:19:39 > 0:19:43because it's a very strong painting about emotion.

0:19:43 > 0:19:46Where does Munch stand in the history of painting?

0:19:46 > 0:19:48He's one of the classic modernists

0:19:48 > 0:19:51and he has achieved that position

0:19:51 > 0:19:53because of the way he has made paintings

0:19:53 > 0:19:57that really mean something to us because of the motives and the way

0:19:57 > 0:20:02they are painted and the strong manner in which they are painted.

0:20:02 > 0:20:08And he is often associated with being the first Expressionist painter.

0:20:11 > 0:20:15For Edvard Munch, The Scream was "a study of the soul,

0:20:15 > 0:20:17"a study of my own self."

0:20:17 > 0:20:21He later described the personal anguish behind the painting

0:20:21 > 0:20:24and said that "Nature was screaming in my blood."

0:20:26 > 0:20:30'But while nature seemed to scream at Munch, for most Norwegians,

0:20:30 > 0:20:33'nature means peace and tranquillity.

0:20:33 > 0:20:34'Love of the great outdoors

0:20:34 > 0:20:38'is ingrained in the national consciousness,

0:20:38 > 0:20:41'and Norwegians have a deep affinity with their fjords and mountains.'

0:20:43 > 0:20:45This is interesting, in a guidebook written in 1913.

0:20:45 > 0:20:49"It's only recently that English people have begun to discover

0:20:49 > 0:20:52"that the best of everything in a winter holiday

0:20:52 > 0:20:54"is to be found in Norway,

0:20:54 > 0:20:58"where winter sports may be enjoyed in a crisp, exhilarating air

0:20:58 > 0:21:01"that makes one feel glad to be alive."

0:21:01 > 0:21:03And it suggests that I make a visit

0:21:03 > 0:21:06to the skiing competition of Holmenkollen,

0:21:06 > 0:21:08and so I've jumped to it.

0:21:13 > 0:21:17Ski jumping as a sport originated here in Norway.

0:21:17 > 0:21:19We think of it as a modern sport,

0:21:19 > 0:21:22but in a show of bravado in 1809,

0:21:22 > 0:21:27a Norwegian army officer launched himself 9.5m into the air.

0:21:31 > 0:21:34Today, the world record stands at 246m,

0:21:34 > 0:21:38the equivalent of the length of two and a half football pitches.

0:21:38 > 0:21:42And the most striking and modern ski jump in the world

0:21:42 > 0:21:43is here at Holmenkollen.

0:21:45 > 0:21:48But underneath the ski jump, in the Ski Museum,

0:21:48 > 0:21:50there is a piece of British history

0:21:50 > 0:21:52which curator Karin Berg wants to show me.

0:21:54 > 0:21:58So, Michael, I have something very special for you.

0:21:58 > 0:22:01It's, um, a treasure

0:22:01 > 0:22:06because these skis, which I have taken out from the showcase,

0:22:06 > 0:22:08from the exhibition itself,

0:22:08 > 0:22:11is Scott's skis itself.

0:22:11 > 0:22:13- That is extraordinary.- Ja.

0:22:13 > 0:22:17- Scott was beaten to the South Pole by a Norwegian.- Yes.

0:22:17 > 0:22:19Ja. It was Roald Amundsen,

0:22:19 > 0:22:21and the members of his exposition.

0:22:21 > 0:22:26They were the first to plant the Norwegian flag at the South Pole.

0:22:26 > 0:22:30What did it mean to Norway to have the first man at the South Pole?

0:22:31 > 0:22:33Oh, this question is enormous,

0:22:33 > 0:22:38but you must remember that we were a young, new nation

0:22:38 > 0:22:44and Roald Amundsen enthused this as gathering the nation together

0:22:44 > 0:22:47and spreading out the message

0:22:47 > 0:22:50what you really could do with these brown planks,

0:22:50 > 0:22:57this means of survival, and he writes about this spreading to the world.

0:22:57 > 0:23:01This has to do, Michael, with roots and identity

0:23:01 > 0:23:04going back to the Viking period again.

0:23:08 > 0:23:13Amundsen said, "Victory awaits him who has everything in order.

0:23:13 > 0:23:17"Luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him

0:23:17 > 0:23:22"who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time.

0:23:22 > 0:23:23"This is called bad luck."

0:23:25 > 0:23:29In that sense, Britain's Robert Falcon Scott was unlucky.

0:23:29 > 0:23:33His party made it to the South Pole 33 days after Amundsen,

0:23:33 > 0:23:36on 17th January, 1912.

0:23:36 > 0:23:39Dejected, Scott's party turned back

0:23:39 > 0:23:43but were blighted by blizzards, hypothermia and starvation,

0:23:43 > 0:23:45and never made it back to base.

0:23:46 > 0:23:49The rescue party was led by the Norwegian

0:23:49 > 0:23:53who had taught Scott to ski, Trygve Gran.

0:23:53 > 0:23:58They found, then, the tent with the three bodies -

0:23:58 > 0:24:03Scott, Bowers, Wilson. The two others had died before.

0:24:06 > 0:24:10And Trygve Gran and the others made a grave about this.

0:24:10 > 0:24:14They took snow masses around the tent

0:24:14 > 0:24:17and Trygve Gran, he pointed out,

0:24:17 > 0:24:21he put his own skis at the top of the tent

0:24:21 > 0:24:26and then he took Scott's skis on his own feet,

0:24:26 > 0:24:29so these skis, used by Scott,

0:24:29 > 0:24:34has been from Cape Evans to the South Pole and back again.

0:24:46 > 0:24:49Tales of such fortitude cannot fail to inspire.

0:24:51 > 0:24:54Time to show some true grit of my own.

0:24:57 > 0:25:00It's a lovely view and a long way down, and I have a feeling

0:25:00 > 0:25:04I'm going to cover the distance between here and there very fast.

0:25:07 > 0:25:11At the top of the ski jump, around 60m above the ground,

0:25:11 > 0:25:13there is a new white-knuckle experience.

0:25:13 > 0:25:16Do many people pull out at this stage?

0:25:16 > 0:25:18Actually, we had a five-year-old.

0:25:18 > 0:25:20- Oh.- That's the only one. - Only a five-year-old. OK.

0:25:20 > 0:25:22Ohhh!

0:25:22 > 0:25:26'If I'm going to keep the British end up, I can't pull out now.'

0:25:26 > 0:25:28After all those stories of courage,

0:25:28 > 0:25:32I'm afraid this is the nearest I get to heroism.

0:25:32 > 0:25:35Hey, Michael, do you have a long tradition for ski jumping in England?

0:25:35 > 0:25:37MICHAEL LAUGHS

0:25:37 > 0:25:40If we do, it's not one that's ever affected me before.

0:25:40 > 0:25:41Three!

0:25:41 > 0:25:43ALL: Two! One!

0:25:43 > 0:25:44Go!

0:25:44 > 0:25:46Whee-hoo!

0:26:06 > 0:26:08That was fantastic!

0:26:09 > 0:26:11One of the great experiences of my life.

0:26:12 > 0:26:14- That was brilliant. - Welcome down.

0:26:14 > 0:26:19Yeah, I'm glad to be back. What a great experience.

0:26:34 > 0:26:38My journey through Scandinavia is nearly at an end,

0:26:38 > 0:26:40but I can't leave Norway

0:26:40 > 0:26:44without paying homage to the man who brought me here, George Bradshaw.

0:26:46 > 0:26:49His vision inspired generations of travellers

0:26:49 > 0:26:51to venture into the unknown.

0:26:51 > 0:26:54Bradshaw's final destination was Oslo.

0:26:54 > 0:26:58While on a tour of Norway, he contracted cholera.

0:26:59 > 0:27:02Here lies Mr George Bradshaw,

0:27:02 > 0:27:06who died here, September 6th, 1853.

0:27:06 > 0:27:09He mapped the railways, he compiled the timetables,

0:27:09 > 0:27:11and he published the guidebooks.

0:27:11 > 0:27:16They opened Victorians' eyes to the new freedoms that trains gave them.

0:27:16 > 0:27:21Edwardians used them to fan out across the continent of Europe.

0:27:22 > 0:27:25I want to thank him on behalf of the thousands

0:27:25 > 0:27:27who in three different centuries

0:27:27 > 0:27:32have enjoyed so much and learned so much by following in his tracks.

0:27:59 > 0:28:03Next time, I marvel at Prague's stunning Art Nouveau architecture...

0:28:06 > 0:28:10..hear of Britain's influence on German railway history...

0:28:10 > 0:28:12Where did the original locomotive come from?

0:28:12 > 0:28:15Stephenson Locomotive Works, Newcastle upon Tyne.

0:28:15 > 0:28:18- So it was Mr George Stephenson? - It was George Stephenson's.

0:28:18 > 0:28:21..and take on the toughest opponent of my career.

0:28:21 > 0:28:24If you're having trouble with a dragon, call a dragon slayer.

0:28:24 > 0:28:26ROARS