0:00:04 > 0:00:07'I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take me
0:00:07 > 0:00:09'across the heart of Europe.'
0:00:11 > 0:00:15I'll be using this, my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,
0:00:15 > 0:00:20dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel
0:00:20 > 0:00:21for the British tourist.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28'It told travellers where to go, what to see, and how to navigate
0:00:28 > 0:00:31'the thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossing the Continent.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33'Now, a century later,
0:00:33 > 0:00:38'I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,
0:00:38 > 0:00:42'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.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12'Italy is possessed of such concentrated beauty
0:01:12 > 0:01:14'that it mesmerised the Edwardian traveller.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21'But until 1861, Italy as we NOW know it didn't exist.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25'It was a jumble of states controlled in part by the Pope
0:01:25 > 0:01:30'and largely by great European powers who would relinquish control
0:01:30 > 0:01:32'only through defeat in war.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36'On this journey, I'm exploring Italy's deep south.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39'I'll venture into the mighty Vesuvius...'
0:01:39 > 0:01:40I don't want to be nervous
0:01:40 > 0:01:43but I can't help noticing that there is a lot of vapour.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45'..learn about the true art of pizza...'
0:01:45 > 0:01:47You know Picasso?
0:01:47 > 0:01:50- I do know Picasso. - You make Picasso, please.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53'..confront death and destruction in Messina...'
0:01:53 > 0:01:57Modern estimates reckon that perhaps 60 or 80,000 were killed.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00'..and be all at sea on my train...'
0:02:00 > 0:02:02It's quite alarming that we are actually sailing
0:02:02 > 0:02:04while the bow door is still coming down.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07'..before taking my own Roman holiday.'
0:02:07 > 0:02:09Ma, che bella citta - Roma!
0:02:26 > 0:02:28I begin in Rome.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33British tourists in 1913 were magnetised by its classical history
0:02:33 > 0:02:35and its antiquities.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39But they could reflect with pride that the British Empire covered
0:02:39 > 0:02:45a much vaster area of the globe than the Caesars had ever dreamt of.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47The city had become the capital
0:02:47 > 0:02:49of the recently formed Kingdom of Italy.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53It was also the Eternal City,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56the centre of the Roman Catholic Church,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00which many Protestant British viewed with suspicion.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05From Rome, I'll head southwest through the Apennine Mountains
0:03:05 > 0:03:07to Naples,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10cross to the glamorous island of Capri.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Heading further south towards the toe of Italy,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16I'll visit Messina, gateway to Sicily.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21I'll end my journey in ancient Taormina.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30Travel for pleasure to cultural centres like Rome
0:03:30 > 0:03:33was once the preserve of aristocrats on their Grand Tour.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37With the advent of the railways, the middle classes, too,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39could afford to see the sights.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44ANNOUNCEMENT OVER TANNOY
0:03:44 > 0:03:48'We are now arriving at Roma Termini.'
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Railways came late to the Italian peninsula
0:04:03 > 0:04:05because it wasn't a country.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08And Rome wasn't attached to other cities by rail
0:04:08 > 0:04:10until the 1860s and 1870s.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15This magnificent station was opened in 1950.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19It's got this gravity-defying ceiling. It's made of concrete
0:04:19 > 0:04:21and a lovely stone called travertine,
0:04:21 > 0:04:26so it's that combination of futurism and Italian style.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37And what better way to get a taste of Italian style,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41'and 3,000 years of ancient history than this?'
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Grazie!
0:04:46 > 0:04:50This nippy little scooter has given generations of Italian teenagers
0:04:50 > 0:04:52a taste of freedom.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Stefano, I love your Vespa. What age is it?
0:04:58 > 0:05:02- It is from 1959. - And it's a good way to see Rome?
0:05:02 > 0:05:04This is the best way to see Rome.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Aren't you worried about the Roman drivers?
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Ah, the Roman drivers, there are some secret rules
0:05:10 > 0:05:13for driving in Rome, you have to know, it's not so terrible.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15HORNS TOOT
0:05:21 > 0:05:23This really is the perfect way to see Rome -
0:05:23 > 0:05:27you see the beautiful sights sweeping by.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30And you've no need to worry about the time because we get through
0:05:30 > 0:05:32when all the other cars get stuck.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41This bumpy cobbled avenue is the Via Conciliazione -
0:05:41 > 0:05:43an avenue that gives us such a view
0:05:43 > 0:05:46of the Basilica of St Peter's, the cathedral.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49My Bradshaw's guide rather pedantically tells me
0:05:49 > 0:05:51that it cost £10 million.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Never mind the expense, it's such a beautiful building.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59'I can see why the Pope fought against Italian unification.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03'He ruled directly over this glorious city.'
0:06:04 > 0:06:07You imagine this place filled with pilgrims
0:06:07 > 0:06:09and the Pope appearing at the window there.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13I feel rather sacrilegious going through it on a Vespa.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23So I guess lots of people still come to Rome today
0:06:23 > 0:06:27inspired by that old movie, Roman Holiday.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30And you would be Gregory Peck - ha! -
0:06:30 > 0:06:33and sitting on the back was Audrey Hepburn.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42Now I know just how she must have felt,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46making a break for freedom on the back of this iconic scooter.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Ma, che bella citta - Roma!
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Turin and then Florence had been provisional Italian capitals,
0:07:02 > 0:07:08but in 1871, Rome was proclaimed capital of a fully united Italy.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11The Edwardian visitor would have observed a Rome
0:07:11 > 0:07:14intent on rebuilding and modernising.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18I'm meeting Ettore Mazzola,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22an expert in urban and architectural history.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25- Ettore.- Buongiorno.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Thank you for bringing me to this vantage spot.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32We have the most fantastic panorama of Ancient Rome.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34What do you call this particular place?
0:07:34 > 0:07:39The Foro Romano is the heart of the Ancient Roman world.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Now, these antiquities really attracted
0:07:41 > 0:07:45British travellers at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48When they came here, would they find this in good condition?
0:07:48 > 0:07:52Well, on those days not everything was totally excavated.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55The ground was arriving up to the top.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58So they engaged in a large excavation of the site,
0:07:58 > 0:08:02and in 1913 a large part of this was visible.
0:08:05 > 0:08:06The Forum was the centre
0:08:06 > 0:08:11of political, commercial and judicial life in Ancient Rome.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13It dates back to the first century AD.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16The largest building was the basilica.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20According to the playwright Plautus, the area teemed with lawyers
0:08:20 > 0:08:25and litigants, bankers and brokers, shopkeepers and strumpets.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Many people may be surprised to think now, that Rome wasn't
0:08:30 > 0:08:33by any means the first capital of the united Italy.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Was it important that it should become the capital?
0:08:35 > 0:08:37It was a rhetorical decision.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Rome was the capital of the Ancient Roman Empire,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43the greatest empire of our history.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48It was the place where used to be the Christianity
0:08:48 > 0:08:51and of course the place of the Pope,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54the last barrier to the unification of Italy.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59Nevertheless the family of the King was not that happy to be in Rome.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04They were calling Rome the filthy, dirty and stinky Rome.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Because, compared to the beautiful French architecture in Turin,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14home to the royal family, Rome must have felt like one big ruin.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19And so they didn't like the old higgledy-piggledy chaos of Rome.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23Indeed. They were absolutely opposed to that.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27The King's love of modernity
0:09:27 > 0:09:29propelled Rome towards a face-lift.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33Major new structures were taking shape.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Well, we are in the very heart of Rome,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48and this enormous building, this monument to Victor Emmanuel II,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51why was it built here in Rome?
0:09:51 > 0:09:55It was built, of course, to celebrate the unification of Italy.
0:09:55 > 0:10:00And it was built because when, in 1878,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04the King died, they decided immediately to celebrate
0:10:04 > 0:10:09the first King of Italy with a super-symbolic monument.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14It also emphasised the seismic power shift from the Church to the State.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18To accommodate it, a vast medieval district around the Capitoline Hill
0:10:18 > 0:10:20had to be demolished.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26It was planned in order to hide the monstrosity
0:10:26 > 0:10:29of the filthy, dirty Rome.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31And what do you think of it?
0:10:31 > 0:10:36I think it's a great building still today. As you can see, there are
0:10:36 > 0:10:40millions of tourists that are coming here taking photos
0:10:40 > 0:10:43of one of the most representative buildings of the period,
0:10:43 > 0:10:47across the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52But not everyone is as complimentary.
0:10:52 > 0:10:57Romans in particular have variously named it the Typewriter,
0:10:57 > 0:10:59the Wedding Cake and the Urinal.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03I wonder what today's travellers make of it?
0:11:03 > 0:11:09- Hello! How are you?- Hello! We're fine! It is Mr Portillo!
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Very lovely to see you both.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Look, here you are at the Monument of Victor Emanuel II,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18which is very large, very prominent in Rome.
0:11:18 > 0:11:19I wonder what you think of it.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22- Wonderful.- Marvellous.- Wonderful.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24The sheer scale, it's massive.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28Everything is almost... you could say overdone.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32As you say, it's brash, but it's exciting to look at.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36I like it, but it's not as pretty as the rest of them.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39- How are you enjoying Rome? - Wonderful.- Excellent.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41Anyone pinching your bottom?
0:11:41 > 0:11:43- No.- No, unfortunately not!
0:11:44 > 0:11:46You enjoy the city.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06It's absolutely evident that one of the most popular places
0:12:06 > 0:12:10in Rome for tourists today, as ever, is the Trevi Fountain.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13With the tradition that if you throw three coins into the fountain
0:12:13 > 0:12:18you'll return to Rome, you'll meet a partner and you'll marry.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24The fountain dates back to 1762
0:12:24 > 0:12:28and was designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31It's the largest baroque fountain in Rome.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35The name Trevi refers to "tre vie",
0:12:35 > 0:12:39three roads that converge at the fountain.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48And you know what they say - when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55And if the coin doesn't work, well, there's always the selfie.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11Rome had once been the capital of a vast empire.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14But that didn't make it easy, after 1871,
0:13:14 > 0:13:16to unite the very different people
0:13:16 > 0:13:18who inhabit the Italian peninsula.
0:13:18 > 0:13:24A country can be drawn on a map or conjured up in political rhetoric...
0:13:25 > 0:13:29..but the regions of Italy are hugely divergent
0:13:29 > 0:13:31and independent minded.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36I'm leaving the Roman traffic behind
0:13:36 > 0:13:39to head to the stylish Piazza di Spagna.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45I'm so glad that I wore my sunglasses -
0:13:45 > 0:13:47it just makes me look like a local.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51No-one would guess that the fellow in the yellow jacket clutching
0:13:51 > 0:13:55a red 1913 handbook was anything other than a Roman.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02According to my faithful guide, the Spanish Steps are a good spot
0:14:02 > 0:14:06to practise the Italian tradition of the passeggiata - or promenade.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10I'm strolling with a purpose, and towards a destination.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Here is the house referenced in my Bradshaw's guide.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20"At the foot of the steps in the Piazza di Spagna is the house
0:14:20 > 0:14:23"where John Keats died in 1821,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27"now used as the Keats And Shelley Museum."
0:14:27 > 0:14:30I suppose we are all drawn to the Romantic poets,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33with their love of nature and their appreciation of antiquity
0:14:33 > 0:14:35and their tragically short lives.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37BELL CHIMES
0:14:37 > 0:14:40I'm meeting Giuseppe Albano -
0:14:40 > 0:14:44the curator of a charming museum dedicated to their memory.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50- Well, it is the most spectacular view.- Absolutely.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53What was it that brought John Keats here?
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Well, John Keats, like many of his fellow Romantics,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00and indeed many generations before him, was very much inspired by Italy.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Rome, of course, was the Holy Grail of the Grand Tour,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07a phenomenon which had begun in the century before Keats.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10But Keats specifically came here because of his tuberculosis.
0:15:10 > 0:15:15He was suffering very heavily. He had already lost his mother
0:15:15 > 0:15:18and his younger brother to the disease and he was hoping
0:15:18 > 0:15:22that the milder climate, the Roman sunshine would alleviate his health.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24It was a vain hope because he died just three-and-a-half months
0:15:24 > 0:15:27- after arriving.- And as he looked from this house,
0:15:27 > 0:15:28the Rome that he saw,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31would it have been very different from what we see today?
0:15:31 > 0:15:33A different Rome, no, not at all.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Some of the buildings have been heightened, some of them
0:15:35 > 0:15:39had extensions put on in the 20th century, but essentially the skyline
0:15:39 > 0:15:42remains the same, the Spanish Steps were here.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46This area became known
0:15:46 > 0:15:48in the 19th century as the English ghetto
0:15:48 > 0:15:52because so many writers and artists were attracted from England,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55drawn by the area's bohemianism.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57There aren't many people less poetic than I am,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00but this would inspire anybody.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Well, it did inspire Keats, and he liked looking at the views very much.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Unfortunately he was too ill to write, however,
0:16:06 > 0:16:07which is the real tragedy.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12Born in 1795, John Keats is one of the great Romantic poets,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16along with his contemporaries, Lord Byron and Percy Shelley.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21They, unlike Keats, were rebellious and radical,
0:16:21 > 0:16:22like the rock stars of their day.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26For example, it's rumoured that Byron made love to his mistress,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30the 17-year-old Teresa Guiccioli, for days on end.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Poetry in motion, I suppose.
0:16:32 > 0:16:33Keats's work found popularity
0:16:33 > 0:16:36only three decades after his untimely death,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40and followers of my guide were fascinated by his tragic story.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42As my Bradshaw's tells me,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46this house became a museum to both Keats and Shelley.
0:16:46 > 0:16:47How did this happen?
0:16:47 > 0:16:51The Keats-Shelley Memorial Association was founded first of all
0:16:51 > 0:16:54to purchase the house in which Keats died, but also to help protect
0:16:54 > 0:16:56the tombs of the poets - both Keats and Shelley -
0:16:56 > 0:16:59because they are both buried here in Rome.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03Keats died in 1821, aged just 25,
0:17:03 > 0:17:08and Shelley a year later, at only 29.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12When, in 1903, the house was in danger of being turned into a hotel,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15the great and the good fought to save it.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19And this is the room in which John Keats died here in Rome
0:17:19 > 0:17:22of tuberculosis, on 23rd February 1821.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25You can see the ceiling which inspired him to say,
0:17:25 > 0:17:26with its flower motifs,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30that he could almost feel the flowers growing above his own grave.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Ah, a Romantic poet to the very end.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Until the 1860s, it would have been impossible
0:17:51 > 0:17:54for travellers to take a train south.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58Railway mania came late to Italy.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Largely because, prior to unification,
0:18:03 > 0:18:05there was no political will
0:18:05 > 0:18:08to connect the jumble of independent states.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12In the years before the First World War,
0:18:12 > 0:18:17Britain sought a southern European ally and courted Italy.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Selling trains was a commercial opportunity
0:18:20 > 0:18:23which could also create a diplomatic bond.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29The pitch was well-timed. The Italians were investing heavily
0:18:29 > 0:18:33in public works and were in the market for railways.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39According to my Bradshaw's, Naples is the City of Sirens.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43Verily "un pezzo di cielo caduto in terra."
0:18:43 > 0:18:46A bit of heaven that has tumbled to Earth.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50Now, you might think that a ludicrous Neapolitan exaggeration,
0:18:50 > 0:18:53but only if you've never been there.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03Naples sits beside a staggeringly beautiful natural harbour,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16The Greeks, Oscans, Romans, Goths,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19Byzantines, Normans, Germans
0:19:19 > 0:19:23and Britons have all succumbed to its charm.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Bradshaw's has an unbeatable description of this view.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39"Naples situated at the base and on the slopes of an amphitheatre
0:19:39 > 0:19:43"of hills, on the west side of a magnificent bay,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46"is one of the most beautifully situated cities in the world,
0:19:46 > 0:19:51"justifying the adage 'vedi Napoli e poi morire' -
0:19:51 > 0:19:54"see Naples and then die!"
0:19:54 > 0:19:58It is really stunning, but I do hope to survive the experience.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09The city of Naples was the most populated in Italy
0:20:09 > 0:20:11and one of the largest in Europe.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14Visitors might have felt ill at ease
0:20:14 > 0:20:17in a city of such pitiable poverty.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21A quarter of its half-million inhabitants lived in abject squalor.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25The region lagged behind northern Europe
0:20:25 > 0:20:29but had experienced some modernisation under King Ferdinand,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33who embraced new technology, such as electric telegraphy
0:20:33 > 0:20:37and the building in 1839 of Italy's first railway
0:20:37 > 0:20:40from Naples to his palace at Portici.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44'I'm meeting Professor Augusto Vitale,
0:20:44 > 0:20:46'an industrial heritage expert,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50'outside the abandoned railway station that once served this line.'
0:20:50 > 0:20:53It's interesting that the first railway was built in southern Italy,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56which I think of being a rural community, not industrial.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58Why was it built in southern Italy?
0:20:58 > 0:21:05Well, Naples was the head of a very large and poor country,
0:21:05 > 0:21:08but it collected hundreds of thousands of people here,
0:21:08 > 0:21:10it was a big market.
0:21:10 > 0:21:16And there was a very rich touristic market going to Pompeii
0:21:16 > 0:21:19and to the islands and to the Vesuvius.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22But before passengers could take the train,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26French engineer Louis Bayard had to overcome
0:21:26 > 0:21:30the technical challenge of constructing 33 bridges.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37By the 3rd of October 1839, the 7.5km track was ready
0:21:37 > 0:21:41for the first train ever to run on Italian soil.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Tell me about the inauguration of Italy's first railway.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49It was a big event,
0:21:49 > 0:21:54because for the first time the people said the smoking machine
0:21:54 > 0:21:56going on the iron tracks,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59and the attractions were the locomotives
0:21:59 > 0:22:04that came from Longridge, Starbuck & Co of Newcastle upon Tyne.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06The King was there?
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Of course. He took place on the royal carriage,
0:22:10 > 0:22:15and after him, 15 carriages with troops and with dignitaries.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21On their 11-minute journey, the inaugural passengers
0:22:21 > 0:22:24were entertained by the band of the Royal Guard.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29How successful did the railway turn out to be?
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Well, it was a big success.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35In the first year, they had more than one million passengers
0:22:35 > 0:22:39going up and down from Castella to Naples.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41Giuseppe Garibaldi,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44one of the founding fathers of Italian unification,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48fought against the foreign powers' controlling of southern Italy
0:22:48 > 0:22:53and arrived in Naples by train on 7th September 1860.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18- Un caffe, per favore.- Vuole lasciare anche un caffe sospeso?
0:23:18 > 0:23:22- Un caffe sospeso? - Si.- Ah, si. Si, per favore.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Ah, this is an interesting local custom.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27When you buy a coffee, they ask you
0:23:27 > 0:23:30whether you'd also like to LEAVE a coffee
0:23:30 > 0:23:33for some deserving person who may come in later.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36So I've bought somebody else's coffee, I don't know who it is.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41But I pop that in the caffe sospeso box and then the next person in
0:23:41 > 0:23:43can claim a coffee.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50The tradition began in the working-class cafes of Naples,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54where someone who had experienced good luck would order a sospeso.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Strong and hot.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04- Molto caldo? - Molto caldo! It really is hot.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Good as it is, it wasn't the Italian coffee
0:24:09 > 0:24:10or even the railways
0:24:10 > 0:24:13that drew Bradshaw's travellers to Naples in 1913.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17The real attraction was the ascent of Vesuvius
0:24:17 > 0:24:22and the Roman cities entombed by its ashes.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24This railway is called the Circumvesuviana,
0:24:24 > 0:24:28which means that it goes around the base of the volcano, Vesuvius.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32It runs along the tracks of the very first railway in Italy
0:24:32 > 0:24:35and it takes people to Pompeii and to Herculaneum -
0:24:35 > 0:24:39the towns that were destroyed by the volcano in AD79.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43And judging by the many languages that I can hear being spoken
0:24:43 > 0:24:47on the train today, it attracts people now from all over the world,
0:24:47 > 0:24:51to visit these historic sights and, of course, the volcano.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02Vesuvius was infamous for being
0:25:02 > 0:25:06one of history's most destructive volcanoes,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08and early 20th-century travellers
0:25:08 > 0:25:10were drawn to see it with their own eyes.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17It had and has the potential to unleash its fearful might again,
0:25:17 > 0:25:21as it did as recently as 1944.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32But if Edwardians dared the ascent, then so must I.
0:25:33 > 0:25:34Luigi.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40Most people walk up to the crater of Vesuvius.
0:25:40 > 0:25:45I'm very lucky to have my four-wheel drive Fiat
0:25:45 > 0:25:49taking us on this bumpy road with these magnificent views.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53And all around me there's signs of previous eruptions.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Charles Dickens wrote in 1845
0:25:58 > 0:26:02about his difficult journey by pony and on foot,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04that brought him to the crater
0:26:04 > 0:26:07to see the fiery cauldron of molten lava below,
0:26:07 > 0:26:11as embers carried on the wind set people's clothes alight.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22This is the most awesome sight, in the proper sense of the word.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27Bradshaw's reminds me that an eruption causing widespread disaster
0:26:27 > 0:26:31and the loss of nearly 500 lives began on April 6th 1906,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33just before the guide was written.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35But, of course, most famously,
0:26:35 > 0:26:40Vesuvius destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii in AD79.
0:26:40 > 0:26:45And since I was a child, I've been caught up with, almost haunted,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48by the thought of those Romans perishing
0:26:48 > 0:26:50as the ash poured upon them.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54And now I'm confronted with the very source
0:26:54 > 0:26:57of that violent volcanic energy.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Like my Edwardian predecessors, I'll press on into the crater
0:27:07 > 0:27:11because somewhere down there is geologist Rossana D'Arienzo.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19- Rossana.- Hello, Michael. Welcome. - What a fantastic place.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22Yeah, welcome to the inside part of the Vesuvio.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27In 1913, were tourists routinely allowed to come inside the crater?
0:27:27 > 0:27:31Yeah, was allowed to go inside.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34In the middle there was a cone,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37so they were able to go around this cone.
0:27:37 > 0:27:45Then, after 1944 eruption, the cone collapsed and lava went down.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50In the place that now we can see, the name is Valle dell'Inferno,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53just outside the crater.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55- The Valley of Hell.- Yeah.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Thankfully, Vesuvius is currently dormant,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09but lest it should become active again, it's constantly monitored.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15I don't want to be nervous about this, but I can't help noticing
0:28:15 > 0:28:18that there's a lot of vapour rising today. What is this?
0:28:18 > 0:28:22Yeah. What you see is actually vapour.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25What you cannot see is a gas.
0:28:25 > 0:28:26Scientists have long recognised
0:28:26 > 0:28:30that gases dissolved in the earth's molten crust
0:28:30 > 0:28:33provide the driving force of volcanic eruptions.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and sulphurous gases
0:28:37 > 0:28:40must be measured and monitored.
0:28:40 > 0:28:42I introduce you to Bernadino.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44He's our volcanologist.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48And he's collecting gas from the inside part of the crater right now.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50- Do you want to try?- I'd love to.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53- So pull the syringe.- Yes.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55Yeah. This way.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59And then I push in... Ah! And there are all the lovely bubbles.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01And you see the gas coming inside?
0:29:01 > 0:29:03- I do.- You see bubbles? Good.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07A rise in temperature
0:29:07 > 0:29:10and the mix of gases are key eruption warning signs.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14If Vesuvius were in a pre-eruptive condition,
0:29:14 > 0:29:18the temperature reading could exceed 160 degrees.
0:29:20 > 0:29:21- 69 degrees.- Yes.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23That seems quite cool for a volcano.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Yeah, because we are on the upper part of the volcano.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30- It's a bit hotter downstairs. - Yeah, exactly.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33But can you reassure me that the volcano will not explode
0:29:33 > 0:29:35before I reach the bottom?
0:29:35 > 0:29:37Yeah. Never mind, you'll be safe.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39Thank you.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45This all seems very reassuring,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48but Vesuvius is a mere pimple of a volcano
0:29:48 > 0:29:52compared to one lurking on the other side of Naples.
0:29:54 > 0:29:59Campi Flegrei is a four-mile-wide sunken supervolcano.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03- Hello, Sandro.- Hello, Michael.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Sandro de Vita is a senior volcanologist
0:30:06 > 0:30:08at the Osservatorio Vesuviano,
0:30:08 > 0:30:13responsible for monitoring all of Naples' volcanoes.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15Campi Flegrei is very near Naples.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19This is the area of Pozzuoli and Naples is here.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23- Yeah.- A part of this volcano includes the town of Naples.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27And talking about a supervolcano, like Campi Flegrei,
0:30:27 > 0:30:30how bad could an eruption of that volcano be?
0:30:30 > 0:30:34An eruption from a supervolcano can affect all the world
0:30:34 > 0:30:38because of the ashes that can reach the atmosphere
0:30:38 > 0:30:41and go around the world many, many times.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43Changing the climate on Earth.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47I hope you are going to tell me that Campi Flegrei is dormant.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51Well, it's a dormant volcano, too,
0:30:51 > 0:30:54but it's a little bit more active than Vesuvius.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57You're telling me it's much more violent, much bigger than Vesuvius,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00and you are also telling me it's a bit more active than Vesuvius?
0:31:00 > 0:31:02- This doesn't sound great.- Yeah.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06That's the situation.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08Where are we now? Where's our observatory?
0:31:08 > 0:31:12This observatory is located here, inside Campi Flegrei Caldera.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15- Just here.- I see.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19There is an emergency plan that involves all the nation.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21The idea is to evacuate the population
0:31:21 > 0:31:23before the beginning of the eruption.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27And transfer the population of Ischia municipality,
0:31:27 > 0:31:31all the red area, in one region of Italy,
0:31:31 > 0:31:33waiting for the end of the eruption.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36But no supervolcanoes have been active
0:31:36 > 0:31:39during the last 10,000 years, all over the world.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41- So I can breathe easily.- Yeah.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50I've played with fire enough for one day.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55You cannot visit Naples without sampling the food.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57Arguably the city's most famous dish,
0:31:57 > 0:31:59exported all round the world,
0:31:59 > 0:32:01is the Neapolitan pizza.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07It started life as far back as 1522,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09when tomatoes from the New World
0:32:09 > 0:32:12were combined with local Neapolitan bread.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15But the more widely it spread,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18the further it moved away from its authentic origins.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22So 70 of Naples' most famous pizza-making families
0:32:22 > 0:32:26grouped together to form the True Neapolitan Pizza Association.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30Pizzeria Mattozzi opened in 1832
0:32:30 > 0:32:35and has fed its fair share of hungry Edwardian travellers.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37- Paulo.- Hi, Mike, how are you?
0:32:37 > 0:32:40It's good to see you. Are we going to make some pizza?
0:32:40 > 0:32:42OK, you make without this, and you make with this for pizza.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44- OK.- OK?
0:32:44 > 0:32:47You make the pizza here at the front of the restaurant?
0:32:47 > 0:32:50Yes. Traditional of pizza Neapolitan.
0:32:50 > 0:32:51It's beautiful.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55'Its doughy success is down to its strong white flour.'
0:32:55 > 0:32:58You make the dough in the flour...
0:32:58 > 0:33:01and you make three movements. It's important.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06One...two and three. I show you fast. OK?
0:33:08 > 0:33:10Wow!
0:33:14 > 0:33:18This is the system, the traditional system of Napoli.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22- I couldn't even see your hands moving, it was so fast.- Very fast.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24You make it here...
0:33:24 > 0:33:26- Down.- With up.- And up.- Yes. Yes.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28- And then I turn it over?- Change.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31One, two and three.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35But why is my pizza not round? Will it work out?
0:33:35 > 0:33:36Can I save this one?
0:33:36 > 0:33:38- Yes. One, two, three. - One, two, three.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42- But it's still not going round. - I know. I know.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45'OK, so I cheated. It's Paolo's.'
0:33:45 > 0:33:49OK, you make a tomato. One spoon, you make the round.
0:33:49 > 0:33:50Do you know Picasso?
0:33:50 > 0:33:52I do know Picasso.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Yes. You make the Picasso, please. OK?
0:33:55 > 0:33:58- OK.- Now make a round motion.
0:33:58 > 0:33:59This is mozzarella.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02- Yes.- On top of our tomato.- OK.
0:34:02 > 0:34:03And do you make oil?
0:34:03 > 0:34:05I have to make a figure six.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07- Sempre.- Si.- Va bene.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10Six better. Perfect.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13- And you make in the oven.- Really? Ready for the oven already?
0:34:13 > 0:34:15Now, Paulo, does it go a long way back?
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Can you hold that? It's very strong.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20Without, without.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22- Ah!- OK.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25The oven is so beautiful.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29At the back there are all the glowing embers of the logs of wood
0:34:29 > 0:34:32and we just put the pizza in the foreground.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36And I can already see the pizza changing, cooking.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38It's ready. Yeah.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40OK. You taste your pizza.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42- Yes, please.- Right.
0:34:42 > 0:34:43OK. You ready?
0:34:43 > 0:34:45- Buon appetito!- Buon appetito!
0:34:46 > 0:34:47- Mm!- Mmm!
0:34:47 > 0:34:48- Good!- Bravo!
0:34:48 > 0:34:50- Good, good!- Very good.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Very good topping. Good.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55- Mm!- It's delicious.
0:35:01 > 0:35:06I'm up early, leaving Naples and its overwhelming intensity behind.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09Tourism until the late 19th century
0:35:09 > 0:35:12had largely been a northern European phenomenon.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16In 1913, it must have taken a plucky sort of traveller
0:35:16 > 0:35:20to head so far south into this untamed world.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24INDISTINCT CHATTER
0:35:32 > 0:35:35'I'm taking a ferry to make the 25-mile trip
0:35:35 > 0:35:37'to the island of Capri.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42'Edwardian travellers confronted with a modern ship
0:35:42 > 0:35:44'would be searching for the boiler and funnel.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54'But at the stern, this scene might have been more familiar.'
0:35:59 > 0:36:02I've been trying to figure out the rules of this game.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06They seem to follow suit, when they can...
0:36:09 > 0:36:13..but at the end, they count up the cards they've got left,
0:36:13 > 0:36:15which count against them, I think, like penalties.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18So it's a bit like a combination of whist and rummy,
0:36:18 > 0:36:20but vastly more exciting than either.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24'It's been played here for hundreds of years
0:36:24 > 0:36:26'and the name in Italian means broom,
0:36:26 > 0:36:30'since taking a scopa means to sweep all the cards from the table.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35'It involves lively, colourful and strongly-worded banter.'
0:36:35 > 0:36:36LAUGHTER
0:36:49 > 0:36:51On a day like this,
0:36:51 > 0:36:54the island of Capri seems to float above the waves
0:36:54 > 0:36:56on a little bank of mist.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59Perhaps it's trying to return to heaven.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08'By the early 20th century, the island was a holiday destination
0:37:08 > 0:37:11'for Europe's artistic and literary intelligentsia.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18'Librarian Carmelina Fiorentino is from Capri
0:37:18 > 0:37:20'and knows all about the island's history.'
0:37:22 > 0:37:27Carmelina, the island, from here, is so beautiful,
0:37:27 > 0:37:30but what was the particular magnet for writers and artists
0:37:30 > 0:37:33at the beginning of the 19th century?
0:37:33 > 0:37:35That's the particular light,
0:37:35 > 0:37:36very bright light.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40When you arrived at the harbour,
0:37:40 > 0:37:44you saw how clear are the water.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48And there are so many natural beauties,
0:37:48 > 0:37:52actually, we are not grateful enough to them now.
0:37:54 > 0:37:59One of those amazing natural beauties was the Blue Grotto.
0:37:59 > 0:38:03It was discovered in 1826 by a German writer named August Kopisch,
0:38:03 > 0:38:07who wrote about finding a huge blue sea cave.
0:38:07 > 0:38:12And his book, The Blue Grotto, did the 19th-century equivalent
0:38:12 > 0:38:16of going viral, attracting artists from all over the world.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20They started to arrive for the Blue Grotto.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24But they started to appreciate, also,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27the natural beauties of the island
0:38:27 > 0:38:31and also the traditional way of life.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35And last, but not least, the beauty of the girls.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37They could use as models.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43The Capri women, with their exotic looks,
0:38:43 > 0:38:45fascinated both writers and painters.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48John Singer Sargent was considered
0:38:48 > 0:38:51the leading portrait painter of his generation.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56And during the late 19th century, he immortalised those women.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00He arrived with Frank Hyde, who was another English painter,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03who introduced him to the local models
0:39:03 > 0:39:10and to the hotelier, where most of the artists used to paint.
0:39:10 > 0:39:15From the studio, he could admire a wonderful view of the Vesuvio.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19Most importantly, Hyde introduced Sargent
0:39:19 > 0:39:21to local girl, Rosina Ferrara,
0:39:21 > 0:39:24who became his model and muse.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27You can see her in hundreds of pictures.
0:39:27 > 0:39:33Rosina was 14 when she started to be a model.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37And she was a little bit different from her peers.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40First of all, she could speak French fluently.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45And she was, er...she didn't obey to priests,
0:39:45 > 0:39:50who prevented the girls to pose for painters.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Modelling for money must have been welcome work for the Capri women.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01Life was tough and the island women had to do hard manual labour
0:40:01 > 0:40:04while their men were away fishing.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Rosina and the other models would surely have leapt at the chance
0:40:07 > 0:40:10to be paid for sitting still.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12She was an Arab type.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15She had dark eyes, dark skin, dark hair.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18- Yes, yes.- Typical of Capri, or not?
0:40:18 > 0:40:19Yes, of that period, yes.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24Most of the girls, we can see were like her.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30But thanks to Sargent's work, Rosina and Capri live on,
0:40:30 > 0:40:34captured in his paintings which hang in art galleries the world over.
0:40:39 > 0:40:45Now I'm beginning to see the island through John Singer Sargent's eyes.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51Splendid!
0:40:51 > 0:40:55Its breathtaking beauty feeds the soul.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11'Refreshed by my island hop and a night back on the mainland,
0:41:11 > 0:41:15'I'm being thoroughly charmed by Sorrento's Grand Hotel Victoria.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19'Its guest list reads like a Who's Who,
0:41:19 > 0:41:22'but the name that stands out for me is my hero,
0:41:22 > 0:41:26'the legendary opera tenor, Enrico Caruso.'
0:41:26 > 0:41:28OPERA SINGING
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Good morning, and welcome to the Caruso suite.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40It's a beautiful room, as you can imagine.
0:41:40 > 0:41:41Very large bed, surprising,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44considering that the singer was actually quite small.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48Oh! A piano, should you want a singsong.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51But this is the best. This is the best.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53The terrace.
0:41:53 > 0:41:58With this wonderful view of Naples and Vesuvius.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01OPERA SINGING
0:42:09 > 0:42:11For the second leg of my journey
0:42:11 > 0:42:14following in the footsteps of the 1913 travellers,
0:42:14 > 0:42:16I'm heading to Sicily.
0:42:16 > 0:42:21Where my first stop is Messina, a city known as the forgotten place.
0:42:21 > 0:42:26Before my journey ends in the shadow of Mount Etna in Taormina.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41I've rejoined the mainline at Salerno
0:42:41 > 0:42:44to continue my journey to the very southern extremity
0:42:44 > 0:42:46of the Italian peninsula.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51To the tip of the toe of the boot of Italy and then beyond.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02'As I head down the country, I'm beginning to see
0:43:02 > 0:43:04'how the south's rugged landscape
0:43:04 > 0:43:07'has shaped the character of its people.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13'Italy's south remains much poorer than the north.'
0:43:15 > 0:43:19High-speed trains in Italy haven't yet spread south from Naples.
0:43:19 > 0:43:24This one threads its way along the coast and through lots of tunnels.
0:43:24 > 0:43:25It's a pretty scenic route,
0:43:25 > 0:43:28but correspondingly, it takes quite a long time.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31But not quite as long as at the time of my Bradshaw's guide.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35Then, the train from Naples to Villa San Giovanni,
0:43:35 > 0:43:38just outside Reggio Calabria, took nearly 13 hours.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42Today, they've got it down to 4 hours and 15 minutes.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49With such a long haul, I'm taking a tip from the Edwardian traveller.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Come prepared to avoid hunger.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57- Hello.- Well, hello!
0:43:57 > 0:43:59- Hello.- Very pleased to meet you.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03I hope this isn't imposing on you, but I have bought myself some lunch.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05- OK.- And I didn't want to eat alone.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09- Oh, OK.- And I wondered if you'd like to join me.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12Now, we've got some bread, we've got some lovely tomatoes.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14Um... Ha-ha!
0:44:14 > 0:44:17Wine in a little mini carafe.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19- Ooo! Cheese, lovely!- Ooo!
0:44:19 > 0:44:20That's pecorino cheese.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22This is much nicer than the picnic we brought!
0:44:22 > 0:44:24LAUGHTER
0:44:24 > 0:44:27I think we're going to find it hard to eat the pecorino
0:44:27 > 0:44:30unless we open the wine.
0:44:30 > 0:44:31- Well met.- You, too.
0:44:31 > 0:44:32- Cheers!- Cheers!
0:44:32 > 0:44:35So, you like the food of Italy, evidently.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37It's one of the main reasons we've come.
0:44:37 > 0:44:38THEY LAUGH
0:44:38 > 0:44:44We went to a little place in Naples, we had an absolutely fabulous pizza.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48I had a jolly good pizza, as well. In fact, I helped to cook one.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51- Oh, really?- Much more difficult than I imagined.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53But delicious, simple food, but very, very delicious.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56How have you found the trains, by the way?
0:44:56 > 0:44:58I don't think we've had any problems.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01Did you come from Britain by air, or by train?
0:45:01 > 0:45:03By train from Glasgow.
0:45:03 > 0:45:04Fantastic! And now Naples, Sicily.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06And now Naples, Sicily, yes.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10Have you any idea how many miles you'll have done by train?
0:45:10 > 0:45:14No. 1,000 or so, I suppose.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17My goodness, I thought I had a few train miles under my belt,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19but I can't compete with you.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21And look at the view now!
0:45:22 > 0:45:24This is the perfect Italian lunch, I think.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26Well, actually I think it's the perfect lunch.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28Well, thank you.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean
0:45:34 > 0:45:37and historically, the most interesting.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41It covers nearly 26,000 square kilometres
0:45:41 > 0:45:44and is crowned by another volcano, Mount Etna.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50The island is separated from the mainland by the Strait of Messina.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53Edwardian travellers would have been in for a shock
0:45:53 > 0:45:56because their train would be swallowed
0:45:56 > 0:45:58into the belly of a large ferry.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02The first thing they do is to remove our intercity locomotive.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12'The ferry has operated here since 1899
0:46:12 > 0:46:14'and is exclusively for trains.
0:46:15 > 0:46:20'It can take up to 15 coaches, with the train being split in two.'
0:46:20 > 0:46:24This is something you used to be able to see in many parts of the world,
0:46:24 > 0:46:26including across the English Channel,
0:46:26 > 0:46:28loading a train onto a ferry.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32But now it's quite unusual and I'm delighted to see it.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42ALARM WAILS
0:46:42 > 0:46:44- Buongiorno.- Buongiorno.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47MICHAEL SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:46:52 > 0:46:56He says, when the train comes off, it's even more of a great sight.
0:46:56 > 0:46:57HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:46:59 > 0:47:02He's going to allow me to push the button.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07We are now closing the bow door.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10You can see it coming down above me.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13And I'm doing that, just by holding that little key in position.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16It's quite alarming that we are actually sailing
0:47:16 > 0:47:19while the bow door is still coming down.
0:47:21 > 0:47:23And now we switch it all off and we're done.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25We've set sail.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29Complete with our safe cargo of a train divided in two.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39'Messina was founded by Greeks in about 730 BC.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45'In terms of grandeur, it rivalled Sicily's biggest city, Palermo.
0:47:48 > 0:47:53'Having safely regained our tracks, normal surface is resumed.'
0:47:56 > 0:48:01It's been a very short run from the ferry to the centre of Messina.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03Here we are, Messina Centrale.
0:48:08 > 0:48:13I wasn't expecting Messina to have such a contemporary, urban feel.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30This modernity is a clue to what happened here
0:48:30 > 0:48:32more than 100 years ago.
0:48:38 > 0:48:42To discover more, I'm meeting historian, John Dickie.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48- Hello, John. - Nice to meet you, Michael.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50Thank you. Um...
0:48:50 > 0:48:53Bradshaw's describes Messina as, "a once-prosperous town,
0:48:53 > 0:48:56"that, in the early morning of December 28th, 1908,
0:48:56 > 0:49:00"was ruined by an earthquake, followed immediately by a tidal wave
0:49:00 > 0:49:03"and later, by the outbreak of extensive fires.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06"The population of 168,000,
0:49:06 > 0:49:10"of whom 130,000 lost their lives."
0:49:10 > 0:49:12It was absolutely apocalyptic.
0:49:12 > 0:49:17Modern estimates reckon that perhaps 60,000 or 80,000 were killed,
0:49:17 > 0:49:20but it's still perhaps the most lethal seismic event
0:49:20 > 0:49:22in the Western world.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25And presumably, the whole city was flattened?
0:49:25 > 0:49:28Yeah, absolutely. 98% of the buildings
0:49:28 > 0:49:31are estimated to have been destroyed.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34Virtually everything you can see in Messina today
0:49:34 > 0:49:36was rebuilt from scratch.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39Including, therefore, this really delightful cathedral
0:49:39 > 0:49:41and its marvellous bell tower, its campanile.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45Absolutely, the cathedral had even been destroyed once before,
0:49:45 > 0:49:47in the earthquake in 1783,
0:49:47 > 0:49:49so it's been rebuilt twice.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52What do we know about how the earthquake occurred?
0:49:52 > 0:49:55It happened at 5:21. That's when the clock stopped.
0:49:55 > 0:49:58Because of the time, most of the population was in bed
0:49:58 > 0:50:00and therefore, that much more vulnerable.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04And then, soon afterwards, there followed a tsunami,
0:50:04 > 0:50:08so it really was all of the power of nature unleashed.
0:50:08 > 0:50:09Now, of course, the island of Sicily
0:50:09 > 0:50:12is literally cut off from the Italian mainland.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16Presumably, that problem was exacerbated by the earthquake.
0:50:16 > 0:50:21Yeah, it essentially tore a hole in the fabric of communications.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23Telegraph, railway tunnels collapsed.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27The first suspicion that something terrible had happened
0:50:27 > 0:50:31was simply the complete absence of news from this part of the world,
0:50:31 > 0:50:36and it was only when I think a torpedo boat made it down here
0:50:36 > 0:50:38from northern Calabria,
0:50:38 > 0:50:40that somebody was able to get on to land
0:50:40 > 0:50:42and find out what had actually happened here.
0:50:43 > 0:50:47Italy, one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries,
0:50:47 > 0:50:50sits on top of a major weak point in the Earth's crust,
0:50:50 > 0:50:53where tectonic friction can cause disaster.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59There was talk after the earthquake of abandoning Messina entirely,
0:50:59 > 0:51:01so badly was it damaged.
0:51:01 > 0:51:06But they did rebuild it, often at a higher level than it had been before.
0:51:06 > 0:51:11Perhaps two metres of ruins in various places lie below our feet
0:51:11 > 0:51:14and the local people say also the bodies of many of the victims.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21The Chiesa dei Catalani is an ancient medieval church
0:51:21 > 0:51:26and one of the oldest buildings in the city. It withstood the quake.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30I can see from its walls how the new city of Messina
0:51:30 > 0:51:33stands a good two metres above the old.
0:51:34 > 0:51:39How does the city remember the terrible earthquake of 1908?
0:51:39 > 0:51:41Well, in terms of monuments and that kind of thing,
0:51:41 > 0:51:43there really is very, very little.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46Messina seems to have forgotten about the earthquake
0:51:46 > 0:51:51or at least seems to not want to remember it in its physical fabric.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53How do you account for that?
0:51:53 > 0:51:57Well, apart from the huge number of people who were killed,
0:51:57 > 0:52:00after the earthquake, many, many people emigrated,
0:52:00 > 0:52:03a lot of them to the United States, and a new population was sucked in
0:52:03 > 0:52:06to Messina from the countryside, from across the straits,
0:52:06 > 0:52:09to work on the reconstruction
0:52:09 > 0:52:11and many of them perhaps didn't have
0:52:11 > 0:52:13a particularly strong identification with the city.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16If you ask the people of Messina today,
0:52:16 > 0:52:19many of them will say that the city has lost its memory,
0:52:19 > 0:52:20that it has no memory,
0:52:20 > 0:52:24and the earthquake is often cited as the reason for that.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27And yet clearly when the Bradshaw's Guide was written,
0:52:27 > 0:52:30it was still remembered as a cataclysmic event.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33Absolutely - it had been on the front pages of newspapers
0:52:33 > 0:52:34right around the world.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52While Messina was flattened,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56remarkably, about 50km along the coast,
0:52:56 > 0:52:59the hilltop town of Taormina survived.
0:53:06 > 0:53:10Taormina is arrestingly magnificent,
0:53:10 > 0:53:12mixing a Greek temple and theatre,
0:53:12 > 0:53:15Norman churches and Baroque palaces.
0:53:18 > 0:53:24Its architecture, Mount Etna, the bays, beaches and the mild climate
0:53:24 > 0:53:28attracted flocks of artists and writers in the 19th century.
0:53:30 > 0:53:32- Buongiorno.- Buongiorno.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35Una granita di limone, per favore.
0:53:35 > 0:53:36Grazie.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43Taormina also captivated a genteel Englishwoman,
0:53:43 > 0:53:45Florence Trevelyan,
0:53:45 > 0:53:50who moved here in 1890 and married a man who later became mayor.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52Ever since, the people of Taormina
0:53:52 > 0:53:55have revelled in rumours about her,
0:53:55 > 0:53:58whispering that a dalliance with the Prince of Wales
0:53:58 > 0:54:00had caused her to flee Britain.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04A well-used expression for the English in Italy
0:54:04 > 0:54:07was "matti Inglesi", meaning "crazy English"
0:54:07 > 0:54:11and Florence must have seemed slightly eccentric,
0:54:11 > 0:54:14with the determination of her nationality and gender
0:54:14 > 0:54:17creating a garden paradise.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22Today, Constantino Castello, her distant relative,
0:54:22 > 0:54:24lives in Florence's nearby home.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31Lovely to see you, thank you.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33Lovely house, Dino.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36Tell me, who was Lady Florence Trevelyan?
0:54:36 > 0:54:43Lady Florence Trevelyan was the wife of the uncle of my grandfather.
0:54:43 > 0:54:50She came to Taormina after two years holidaying all the world.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54People of Taormina, the older people, said,
0:54:54 > 0:54:56but I don't know,
0:54:56 > 0:55:01that she was obliged to leave England,
0:55:01 > 0:55:06because she was very good friends with Prince Edward.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10With nothing to tie her to England and both her parents dead,
0:55:10 > 0:55:14Florence embraced the role of Taormina's first lady.
0:55:14 > 0:55:21When Taormina was just a little city of fishermen,
0:55:21 > 0:55:23just fishermen,
0:55:23 > 0:55:29every king, every artist of Europe, of the Belle Epoque,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32they came to Taormina at this time.
0:55:35 > 0:55:42Although Florence died in 1907, the house still evokes her tenure.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45She was three years old with the dogs.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47This was in England.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50- She was an animal lover, even as a child.- Yeah.- That's lovely.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55- Is that her family album?- Yeah.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58- It begins with a picture of Queen Victoria.- Yep.
0:55:58 > 0:56:01And then we have a picture of Edward VII.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05- And then we have a picture of Florence at 16 years old.- Yep.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12Her lasting legacy is the garden, which now belongs to the town
0:56:12 > 0:56:14and is open to the public.
0:56:16 > 0:56:21Down in the garden she had a meeting with King Edward...
0:56:21 > 0:56:24HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:56:24 > 0:56:26- 1906.- Yeah.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34Florence died of pneumonia not long after, aged only 54.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41So, Dino, this is really quite a moving story -
0:56:41 > 0:56:44an English aristocratic lady, exiled in Taormina,
0:56:44 > 0:56:48who leaves her mark on the city in the form of a lovely garden.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50Exactly.
0:56:50 > 0:56:55I can vouch that Taormina is inspirational.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57I've been drawn back time and again,
0:56:57 > 0:57:00perhaps to take my seat in the Greek theatre,
0:57:00 > 0:57:02more than 2,000 years old,
0:57:02 > 0:57:06to witness the love-and-death melodramas of opera,
0:57:06 > 0:57:09which seem petty beneath Mount Etna,
0:57:09 > 0:57:11massive and indifferent.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16A century ago, the serious-minded British tourist
0:57:16 > 0:57:19interested in antiquities, came to Italy,
0:57:19 > 0:57:21which despite its recent unification,
0:57:21 > 0:57:26seemed more like a collection of regions than a nation.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29My Bradshaw's has brought me south past Vesuvius,
0:57:29 > 0:57:34past the earthquake-devastated city of Messina and now to Taormina,
0:57:34 > 0:57:36in the shadow of Mount Etna.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40And I reflect that for all the achievements of human kind,
0:57:40 > 0:57:43from the Greeks and Romans onwards,
0:57:43 > 0:57:48we remain at the mercy of the powerful forces of nature.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00Next time, I discover how not to do a polonaise...
0:58:00 > 0:58:03OK!
0:58:03 > 0:58:05Don't know what happened there.
0:58:05 > 0:58:10..stoke up what is possibly the last steam-powered commuter train...
0:58:10 > 0:58:11Done a bit of this in England.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14I don't remember it being quite as hot as this.
0:58:16 > 0:58:21..rumble through the streets Soviet-style in a motoring icon
0:58:21 > 0:58:25and land my acting debut in Poland's respected film industry.
0:58:25 > 0:58:28(This could be my big breakthrough.)