La Coruna to Lisbon - Part 2 Great Continental Railway Journeys

I'm embarking on a new railway adventure

that will take me across the heart of Europe.

I'll be using this, my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,

dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel

for the British tourist.

'It told travellers where to go, what to see,

'and how to navigate the thousands of miles of tracks

'crisscrossing the continent.

'Now, a century later, I'm using my copy

'to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,

'where technology, industry,

'science and the arts were flourishing.

'I want to rediscover that lost Europe,

'that in 1913 couldn't know that its way of life'

would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.

I'm continuing my journey which began in the port of La Coruna.

My route took me inland

to the cathedral city of Santiago de Compostela.

Today I'll follow the Atlantic coast via Pontevedra into Portugal.

From Porto, I'll take the famous Douro valley line east

before heading south once more,

to the ancient university city of Coimbra

and on to my final stop in Lisbon.

Today I'll learn about a favourite British tipple...

It's a Martinez 1953, a very rare wine.

It's glorious.

..and in Lisbon, investigate the turbulent events

that shocked Edwardians.

There are a group of armed republicans. In five minutes,

they almost wiped out the entire royal family.

So this square was the scene of appalling horror.

'My 1913 guidebook is leading me across the border into a new land.'

Obrigado.

Estoy... Ya es Portugal?

Is this Portugal already?

Si, yes, yes.

Portugal is...

Ah, I've got to change my watch.

-One hora.

-One hour less.

-Yes.

-OK.

-Obrigado.

Unlike Spain, Portugal is on the same time as Britain,

and that's not the only connection.

I'm now in Portugal, about which Bradshaw's is enthusiastic.

"The most favourable time of the year for a visit to Portugal

"is November until May.

"A charming variety of natural beauty,

"inland, mountain and valley,

"along the rugged coast, bold headlands

"and stretches of sand downs."

And then this intriguing reference.

"The British sovereign is legal currency in Portugal."

Now that is testimony to a long relationship,

stretching back over seven centuries,

cemented by alliances, and marriages,

so that for all the time that we were fighting off Spanish armadas

and defeating the Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar,

Portugal was our friend.

'I'm travelling towards Porto on the Minho line, opened in the 1880s.

'Compared to Britain,

'19th-century Portugal was slow to adopt the railway.

'The first line was built with British help in the 1850s,

'amidst hopes that trains would bring to Portugal

'the kind of economic growth Britain had enjoyed.'

'I've come to Sao Bento station,

'a building whose ornate decorations are testament

'to the excitement that surrounded the coming of the railways.

'Carol Rankin's family has lived and worked in Portugal for generations.

'Born and brought up here, she knows the station well.'

The railway station is magnificent, when does it date from?

Well, the foundation stone was laid by King Carlos I of Portugal

in 1900, and then it obviously took a while to build, so, it opened...

Actually, the whole thing completed, a few years after that.

I think by the time the tiles were put in place, it was probably 1915.

-All around the time of my Bradshaw's guide.

-Indeed.

The station walls are covered in spectacular painted tiles,

a local tradition that evolved out of Moorish mosaics,

introduced to Spain and Portugal in the Middle Ages.

By the time of my guidebook,

they were being used to celebrate the advent of the age of steam.

But the tiles also tell the story

of the birth of Portugal's special relationship with Britain.

This shows us Juan I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster

coming in through the streets of Oporto, strewn with rose petals

as you can see, to celebrate their marriage in the city's cathedral.

-Who was she?

-She was the daughter of John of Gaunt,

and he was uncle to Richard II

who was on the throne of England at the time.

So, this was quite an important marriage alliance

between England and Portugal?

It is indeed, because it cemented the treaty of Windsor

which was signed in 1386.

The terms of alliance and perpetual friendship that the treaty contained

have never been broken, and it's the world's oldest diplomatic alliance

still in force.

Edwardian tourists arriving here could marvel at the legacy

of Porto's 19th-century industrialisation,

which included the magnificent Dom Luis Bridge, 395m long,

opened in 1886.

Today, it's one of six bridges that link picturesque Porto

with Vila Nova de Gaia south of the river.

"Porto," my guidebook tells me, "on the River Douro,

"is very pleasantly placed in a hemmed-in situation

"on slopes descending to the river.

"And the river broadens out to a spacious harbour."

And then, as these barrel-laden boats suggest

and Bradshaw's confirms,

the principal trade is connected with port wine,

so my next move is evident.

I must steer to port.

Any smart Edwardian dinner party

would culminate with a glass of this fortified wine.

I'm meeting producer Jose Alvaro Ribiero

at a 200-year-old wine lodge to discover its history.

Well, that is on a grand scale.

How much wine do you have here?

Well, we have around 22 million litres of port.

Wine produced in the Douro valley has been exported to Britain

since the 17th century, and, in fact, port as we know it

owes its origins to the requirements of the British market.

At the beginning, the wine that was exported was normal still wine,

not port, but as there were years where the quality of the wine

was not as good as other years,

they started adding brandy to it to stabilise the wine so that it

would reach the UK in great shape, so it really started as an accident.

-So, it's an accident with a British accent?

-Definitely.

As well as being enthusiastic consumers of port,

Britons have for centuries been involved in the trade.

Porto's Factory House is the historic centre of their operations.

Today, as in Edwardian times, there's a strict dress code.

What a gorgeous ballroom.

What is this institution,

this Factory House, that you have such wonderful premises?

Well, this Factory House here in Porto is a place

where all the British that had businesses here

in the north of Portugal would do business with locals.

So it was like a place they felt protected.

They also used it for social gatherings.

"Factor" is an old term for businessman,

and the Porto Factory House was paid for by British port shippers.

Michael, I have some special vintage port for us to taste now.

Looks wonderful, what age is this?

Well, it's a very special age.

-It's your birth year.

-1953.

1953. It's a Martinez 1953. A very rare wine.

We only have six in our cellar.

My goodness, what a privilege.

This has to be done quite carefully

because the cork, clearly, is an old one.

Oh, yes. Anything from 1953 is very decrepit, I assure you.

-There we are.

-Well done.

Thanks to the added brandy,

port can be aged for much longer than most wines.

One of the oldest vintages to be sold was over 150 years old.

The colour is just wonderful.

I get some scents of tobacco.

-Definitely.

-And also nuts.

It's quite amazing, because it's still got quite a lot of fruit

for a wine of this age, it's amazing. And look at the colour, fantastic.

I think, let's take a sip.

-It's glorious.

-Velvety.

1953 was a great year.

With the taste of port still on my lips,

I'm continuing my journey into its history,

eastwards down the Douro valley on the Linha do Douro.

It's been described as Portugal's best train ride.

And I'm getting a front row seat.

Bom dia.

Oh, yes, this is a fantastic view.

As the railway line snakes along the banks of the river,

it's really a very, very impressive valley.

The steep sides, of course, covered in vines producing the port,

and the other great wines of the Douro.

The arrival of the railway transformed the port trade.

Paul Symington's ancestors witnessed its impact.

So, your family has been in the wine business quite a long time?

Yeah, my great-grandfather came here in 1882 as a very young lad.

He was only 18. He came from Scotland

and he had the very good fortune to marry a woman

who was half Portuguese, half English,

and her family had been in port since the 1700s, so we go back a long way.

It strikes me that this is one of the great railway rides in Europe.

When was this railway built?

1875, they started from Oporto

and got up to the frontier in the early 1880s

and that transformed the region.

Before that, presumably, the wines had been moving along the river.

Yes, right here, down this river.

But the river wasn't dammed then, so there were rapids

in many, many places, so there were huge disasters from time to time

because if these big boats with 40 barrels on board

got sideways in the tricky bit, that was, you know, chips. Game over.

For port-producing families,

the new line cut the travel time from Porto

over the treacherous mountains from three or four days

to around four hours.

I could stay watching the stunning Douro countryside unroll,

but I'm leaving the train to explore the Symington estate.

And here we are at Vesuvio, a quinta,

which is the Portuguese for a wine estate.

That is absolutely beautiful.

In vineyards like this, the story of port begins,

and it's an awe-inspiring sight.

Protected by mountains, the region has its own microclimate,

warmer and drier than the surrounding area

which contributes to the fruity richness of the wine.

This is a really important time of year for us

because the flowering will take place sometime in the next week

to ten days and the fruit doesn't set if the flowering is done

under damp conditions, and we can lose 20, 30% of the crop,

so what we really want is nice, warm, dry weather

to bring the flowering on. We've already got the little buds here,

and that will be a lovely bunch of grapes one day.

As evening draws in, I'll be keeping my fingers firmly crossed.

After a peaceful night in the Douro Valley,

I'm now swapping the countryside

for one of Portugal's most ancient cities.

My next stop will be Coimbra,

which Bradshaw's tells me stands on a hill by the River Mondego.

"The situation and climate have always been extolled.

"The university library contains

"100,000 volumes and many manuscripts."

Which makes a good case for a hide-bound old book lover like me

to visit.

The beautiful city of Coimbra was once Portugal's capital

and its ancient buildings reveal its long and illustrious history.

The university, founded in 1290 in Lisbon,

moved here in the 16th century,

and, by the time of the railways,

witnessed an Anglo-Portuguese exchange of ideas

every bit as vigorous as the trade in wine.

Carlos Fiolhais is showing me round the world-famous library.

Carlos, this is the most fantastic building

-but it reminds me more of a church than a library.

-Yes.

But it's not a church, we may call it a temple,

but it's a temple of books.

It was built at the beginning of the 18th century,

at the time of the Enlightenment.

The library's grandeur reflects the wealth then pouring into Portugal

from its colony Brazil, rich in gold and diamonds.

Coimbra is still one of Portugal's most prestigious universities,

and when its students aren't studying hard, they're making music.

The university is famous for its version of Fado,

a Portuguese form of music full of mournful longing.

THEY SING IN PORTUGUESE

That was so beautiful.

So beautifully sung and so beautifully played. So sad.

You've stolen my heart and left it in Coimbra. Thank you, Maestro.

Thank you very much.

My 1913 guide is now steering me towards my last Portuguese stop

as I race towards Lisbon on one of Portugal's modern high-speed trains.

By the turn of the 20th century,

Portugal had invested heavily in its railways.

But sadly, this had failed to bring the hoped-for prosperity.

Instead, overspending on public works including railways

had brought the state close to financial ruin.

There were tumultuous times ahead in Portuguese politics.

I'm alighting in the capital to trace the story.

This is Rossio station.

Bradshaw's tells me that it's at the heart of Lisbon

and that express trains used to arrive here from Spain and France.

A century ago, the gateway to Portugal was changing

from the seaport to this beautiful terminus.

British tourists were following in the footsteps

of King Edward VII, who had come to Lisbon on a state visit in 1903.

Warmly received by his relation King Carlos,

after the trip, this park was renamed in Edward's honour.

It was a measure of the longevity of the special relationship

between Britain and Portugal.

But by the 1900s, the balance of power had shifted.

Britain now ruled the waves,

and the Portuguese Empire was much diminished.

For a bird's eye view of the city

whose ships had colonised Brazil, India and beyond,

Edwardian tourists could travel in this remarkable lift,

opened in 1902.

"Lisbon," says Bradshaw's, "is pre-eminent

"for the natural beauty of its situation,

"lying in and upon an amphitheatre of hills.

"Regarded from the sea,

"the city seems to rise in picturesque terraces.

"Lisbon is poised on the edge of the ocean,

"peering towards the Americas."

During Portugal's 15th and 16th-century golden age,

the launch pad for its seafaring explorers was the harbour at Belem,

protected by this extraordinary fortress, completed in 1521.

I'm seeking out another attraction of the Belem quarter,

on a form of transport familiar to the Edwardian traveller.

Bradshaw's tells me that inclined railways

connect the upper and lower parts of the city.

In this, as in so many other things,

my ancient guidebook remains reliable.

Belem is the birthplace of Pasteis de nata,

the custard tarts which have become Portugal's national sweetmeat.

-Dulce.

-Hello, Michael. How are you?

'I'm hearing their story from pastry chef Dulce Roque,

'who's worked at this pasteleria for 37 years.'

Apparently, the cakes were invented by local monks and nuns.

What are the main ingredients?

The main ingredients, I don't know, because it is a secret.

A secret recipe, but I can tell you about milk and flour

and sugar and butter and eggs, that are very important because

the nuns, of the monasteries, used to use the egg whites

as starch for their robes.

The egg yolks they use for making sweets.

In the 1830s, Portugal abolished its monasteries,

and monks from the nearby Jeronimo monastery, seeking a living,

began to sell tarts in this shop.

Soon after, the shop started manufacturing them

to the monks' original recipe.

This is the puff pastry.

She is cutting the puff pastry into little pieces.

Now, you are going to cut a little piece, aren't you?

Yes, please. I'd love to have a go at that.

Yes, and you stretch and you pull, and stretch...

SHE SPEAKS PORTUGUESE

-Round it. Make it round. Yeah.

-Make it round.

The buttery puff pastry case is what makes a pastel de nata

different from an English custard tart.

I'm cutting them a bit too big.

She says it ought to be like the top of my thumb

but I'm quite worried about leaving the top of my thumb in the mix.

-Nice, nice, nice.

-Thank you.

The pastry case has to be thin enough that it cooks through

before the delicate custard curdles.

-What do you think?

-Good. Very good.

-Is that one all right?

-Yes.

-You're just going to perfect it, I know.

The recipe for the custard itself is so closely guarded

that even the pastry cooks aren't allowed to see it being made.

Once it's piped into the cases,

the tarts go into a fiercely hot oven

before being carried straight to the shop,

where as many as 18,000 go on sale every day.

Will you have one?

I will, but we have to sprinkle first with cinnamon.

And, as the cinnamon is a sour spice,

then we sprinkle, to cut the sourness, with icing sugar.

Mmm, magnificent custard.

Lovely pastry, and the taste of cinnamon on the top,

that's wonderful.

Perhaps this one, you made. Who knows?

That's so good.

Having sampled Lisbon's cafe culture,

Edwardian tourists were refuelled

and ready to press on with their sightseeing.

A must-see was the Praca do Comercio,

described in Bradshaw's as the centre of Lisbon life.

But while they admired the handsome architecture, readers were reminded

that just five years before their guide was published,

on the 1st of February, 1908,

events unfolded here that devastated the Portuguese monarchy.

I'm hearing the story from Rui Ramos of the University of Lisbon.

So, the royal family is returning to Lisbon

after a fortnight in the country.

They arrived at a station on the other side of the river

and then they take a boat into Lisbon.

They disembark near this square,

where they get into an open carriage.

They progress into the square with no guards.

And in the square, there are a group of armed republicans

that were looking for the Prime Minister.

They didn't find the Prime Minister,

but they suddenly see the royal family in front of them

and they take advantage of it.

They kill the king.

They wounded the crown prince that later dies.

The youngest son, future King Manuel II,

escapes with a wound to the arm,

so in five minutes they almost wiped out the entire royal family.

So, this square was the scene of appalling horror.

King Carlos's death was the culmination

of a century of political upheaval.

Since the early 1800s,

liberals had sought to limit the monarchy's powers,

while by the early 20th century,

shaky finances and the decline of Portugal's Empire

had brought public discontent to fever pitch.

The killings sparked outrage in Britain,

especially from King Carlos's relative, King Edward VII.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Manuel ascended the throne,

but his lack of experience soon brought the monarchy

to crisis point.

From 1908 to 1910, there is this succession of very weak governments.

Parties splitting, ministers falling one after the other,

until the king has this bright idea of appealing to the left.

Now, with that appeal to the left, he didn't convince the left,

but he managed to have the conservatives

against the monarchy too.

So, when the republicans make their move against the monarchy,

there was no-one to defend the monarchy,

and on the 5th of October, 1910, on that morning,

the Portuguese republic is proclaimed

from this balcony to a half full square.

Viva a republica.

In a further twist, Manuel fled the country, seeking asylum in Britain.

He lived the rest of his days in Richmond and Twickenham,

where he adopted the lifestyle of an English aristocrat.

It was the final chapter in the relationship

of the Portuguese and British royalty,

united since the days of Richard II.

A century ago, the traveller knew that, long before the railways,

the Atlantic Ocean bound together

the bagpipe playing Celts of the British Isles and Galicia.

The Atlantic was no limit for Portugal.

England's oldest ally discovered and colonised land on three continents,

and built this Belem Tower to defend its harbour.

The British, Spanish and Portuguese empires are no more,

and the kings and queens who made alliances have passed into history.

But on this journey, I've sensed a welcome rooted in long friendship.

Next time, I'll rediscover early 20th-century France

at the height of its technical prowess...

Wow, off we go.

..where railway explorers could sample the finest French cuisine...

It's rolling itself!

..en route to the nation's imperial hub.

The Port of Marseille is as big like Paris.

-As big as Paris?!

-Yes.

-That is extraordinary.