0:00:03 > 0:00:06I'm embarking on a railway adventure that will take me
0:00:06 > 0:00:09beyond the edge of Continental Europe.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15I'll be using this, my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,
0:00:15 > 0:00:19dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world
0:00:19 > 0:00:22of foreign travel for the British tourist.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26It told travellers where to go, what to see, and how to
0:00:26 > 0:00:30navigate the thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossing the Continent.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Now, a century later,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36I am using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,
0:00:36 > 0:00:41where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.
0:00:42 > 0:00:48I want to rediscover that lost Europe, that in 1913 couldn't know
0:00:48 > 0:00:52that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:05 > 0:01:11I'm continuing my journey along the eastern edge of Continental Europe.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14I began in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19My journey then took me to the ancient city of Plovdiv.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Today, I'll follow the historic route of the Orient Express,
0:01:23 > 0:01:26crossing into Turkey from Svilengrad,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29and visiting Edirne, the former Ottoman capital,
0:01:29 > 0:01:33before arriving at my final stop - Istanbul.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40'On this leg, I'll get to grips with a slippery Turkish tradition.'
0:01:40 > 0:01:42I've noticed that one of the techniques is to
0:01:42 > 0:01:46thrust a hand down the breeches of the other wrestler,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49so, clearly, it's no holds barred.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53'I'll discover what Istanbul would have been like in 1913...'
0:01:53 > 0:01:55There were refugees everywhere.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Muslim refugees from the Balkans crowded every available space.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01'..delight in a Turkish treat...'
0:02:01 > 0:02:03You should feel the resistance,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07but your teeth should be able to bite cleanly through the product.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10I think I had that experience, but...
0:02:10 > 0:02:11I think I might need another to be sure.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14SHE LAUGHS
0:02:14 > 0:02:16'..and fulfil a boyish fantasy.'
0:02:16 > 0:02:21This is the route of the Orient Express, and I am driving the train.
0:02:26 > 0:02:31I'm continuing my journey towards Istanbul, Constantinople.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34Unfortunately, today, there are no through train services
0:02:34 > 0:02:36and it seems that things weren't very different
0:02:36 > 0:02:38at the time of my guidebook.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40"Since the outbreak of hostilities..."
0:02:40 > 0:02:43That would be a reference to the Second Balkan War.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46"..the train service has been suspended."
0:02:46 > 0:02:47Today, it's for a happier reason.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50The European Union has designated a railway network
0:02:50 > 0:02:55running from Dresden and Strasbourg in the west to Istanbul in the east.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58And the section that I'm about to come to
0:02:58 > 0:03:00is being massively rebuilt
0:03:00 > 0:03:04so that the spirit of the Orient Express can rise again.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11As there are no public services through to my next destination,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15I'm leaving this train at Parvomay to meet Richard Kerry,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17the British civil engineer
0:03:17 > 0:03:20who's supervising the rebuilding of this historic railway.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25- Hello, Richard.- Hello, Michael. Nice to meet you.- Very good to see you.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28I'm sorry to lower your visibility, but...!
0:03:28 > 0:03:31- Not as bright as mine.- Not quite. - Right.- Please, welcome aboard.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33Thank you very much.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Richard, I think this is the smartest wagon I've seen on rails for a long time.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48- What is it?- Well, it's a works train.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53It's a specialist train that they use to monitor and oversee
0:03:53 > 0:03:57the electrical feeding system above the railway.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59'The line will also be straightened,
0:03:59 > 0:04:03'allowing trains to run at up to 100mph.'
0:04:03 > 0:04:05So, this section really tells the whole story.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Here we are moving on an old track, which is very, very bumpy,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12overgrown in places, foliage on either side.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15And yet we can also see, to the sides, the new construction site,
0:04:15 > 0:04:19the dust, the lorries, the trucks, the earth-moving equipment.
0:04:19 > 0:04:20It's all happening.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Yes, obviously, 100 years ago, the engineers were not able
0:04:24 > 0:04:27to form their way through the hillsides
0:04:27 > 0:04:28in the way that they do now.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34So, now, we've come off the old line. The bumping has stopped -
0:04:34 > 0:04:36this is obviously new track -
0:04:36 > 0:04:39we're passing a station that's under construction.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Absolutely. I'm glad you noticed the difference.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44Now we're on the new line,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47we can speed up to 160km per hour
0:04:47 > 0:04:50and take ourselves off down to the borders of the European Union.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56Bulgaria became a member of the EU in 2007,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00and this railway line is part of the new European high-speed rail network.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06This 150km stretch between Parvomay and Svilengrad
0:05:06 > 0:05:09is costing £300 million to build.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15As I near the end of my exclusive preview
0:05:15 > 0:05:17of this exciting new project,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20I get to live the dream.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23This is the route of the Orient Express,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25and I am driving the train.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31And nobody's told me, but I think this is the accelerator.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Anyone know where the brake is?
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Here in the driving seat, you get a complete appreciation
0:05:38 > 0:05:41of the difference that the new track makes.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42It's wonderfully smooth
0:05:42 > 0:05:46and I can see now all the posts have gone in along the side of the line.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48This is where the wires will hang.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52And shortly, the route of the Orient Express
0:05:52 > 0:05:54will be fast and electrified.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02My engineering train has taken me as far as Svilengrad,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04just short of the Turkish border.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14From here, I have no choice but to hit the road.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24I'm now approaching the Turkish border, to my chagrin,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27in a car, not a train.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Bradshaw's is not encouraging.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34"Customs examinations are extremely vexatious and unreasonable,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38"books being liable to seizure and to being destroyed.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40"Passport and luggage are examined.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44"It's advisable to put guidebooks and maps in one's pocket
0:06:44 > 0:06:47"to avoid confiscation."
0:06:47 > 0:06:49But what pocket is big enough for a Bradshaw's?
0:06:52 > 0:06:56The border had only just been settled here in July 1913,
0:06:56 > 0:07:00following fierce fighting during the two Balkan Wars.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06So, travelling into Turkey a century ago,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09I might have been crossing a warzone.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Today, my passage into Turkey's toehold in Europe
0:07:15 > 0:07:17goes without a hitch.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27When I left Bulgaria, I not only quit the European Union,
0:07:27 > 0:07:29but also Christendom.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32The boundary between Christian and Muslim domains
0:07:32 > 0:07:35has been hotly disputed over many centuries.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39At one time, it stood close to the French town of Tours.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43At another time, it was just outside Vienna.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46And for the last century, it's run just close by here,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48just outside Edirne.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58This city was the empire's capital
0:07:58 > 0:08:02before the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07Thereafter, it remained an important Ottoman centre.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12So much so that Sultan Selim II commissioned his finest architect
0:08:12 > 0:08:17to build the monumental Selimiye Mosque at its highest point.
0:08:22 > 0:08:28Sultan Selim's fine mosque, according to Bradshaw's, has a lofty dome,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32four minarets, many marble courts, colonnades
0:08:32 > 0:08:35and 999 windows.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39It is the work of Mimar Sinan, and "Mimar" means "architect",
0:08:39 > 0:08:43and he was simply the greatest of the Ottoman period.
0:08:43 > 0:08:48This predates St Peter's Cathedral in Rome, and the Taj Mahal,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50but in common with those two great buildings,
0:08:50 > 0:08:54it seems to me that it wears its bulk very lightly.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58It's as though the four minarets are somehow carrying it towards heaven.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08I really do feel as though
0:09:08 > 0:09:10I've stepped over a threshold into the Orient,
0:09:10 > 0:09:15not only because of the architecture, but also because of the traditions.
0:09:15 > 0:09:16This part of Turkey
0:09:16 > 0:09:20maintains a practice dating back over 3,000 years
0:09:20 > 0:09:23and I've been invited to this stadium to witness it.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32An oil wrestling tournament has been held annually in this area
0:09:32 > 0:09:34since 1346,
0:09:34 > 0:09:38making it the longest-running sports competition in the world.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43The wrestlers are covered in this stuff, which is olive oil,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45and that makes it very difficult
0:09:45 > 0:09:48for either one to get a grip on the other.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Now, they're wearing leather pants, and I can see that
0:09:52 > 0:09:56they're trying to put their hands inside the other's trousers.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59So, I think anything goes. Any hold at all is allowed.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02But, apparently, at the end of it all,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05there are marks given for gentlemanly conduct.
0:10:10 > 0:10:11Ouch.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16I wonder what straight-laced Edwardian tourists
0:10:16 > 0:10:17would have made of this.
0:10:19 > 0:10:20- Ah!- Oh!
0:10:20 > 0:10:23- Hello.- Do you speak English? - Yes. A little.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27Well, thank you. I've rarely seen such an extraordinary spectacle.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29- Thank you very much. - Congratulations.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Were you a kid when you started this?
0:10:31 > 0:10:34- Ten years.- Yeah?- Ten years.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38- Are you very exhausted?- Yes.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Thank you very much. Bye.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45It's clear that I've tumbled into another world.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47And after watching such exertions,
0:10:47 > 0:10:52I'm ready to slide into my bed for my first night's sleep in Turkey.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00This morning, I've come two miles out of town
0:11:00 > 0:11:04in search of the historic route of the Orient Express.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06I've found this beautiful old station
0:11:06 > 0:11:09where I'm meeting historian Soner Tursun.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12- Hello, Soner.- Hello. - Very good to see you.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14My guidebook tells me that the station is some distance
0:11:14 > 0:11:16from the town, and so it is.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Why was it built here?
0:11:18 > 0:11:22Well, actually, the company had no interest
0:11:22 > 0:11:25in building the station closer to the city,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28because it had to cross the Maritsa River
0:11:28 > 0:11:33and, of course, the company was paid by the kilometre they build,
0:11:33 > 0:11:38so it was not good for them to take the shortest route.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42That's extraordinary. Now, who was it who built the line we know
0:11:42 > 0:11:44as the Orient Express?
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Well, actually, it was such a big project
0:11:47 > 0:11:51that no single person was totally responsible for it.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56The Ottoman Empire had no money, so it granted concessions.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01The first person was Baron von Hirsch.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07Von Hirsch set up a consortium and construction began in 1870.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12When did an Orient Express first pass through this lovely Edirne station?
0:12:12 > 0:12:16What we call the Orient Express, starting from Paris,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20ending in Istanbul, crossed the line in 1883.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26The Orient Express had a reputation for luxury.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Until it gained a reputation for murder.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33One of the people who made the Orient Express so famous
0:12:33 > 0:12:34was, of course, Agatha Christie,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37with her novel Murder On The Orient Express.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39What was her experience of the line, then?
0:12:39 > 0:12:42It was an unlucky travel,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46because the train got stuck because of a snow slide.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49The train had to wait for a long time
0:12:49 > 0:12:54and probably she was inspired because of this event.
0:12:54 > 0:12:55Because in this story,
0:12:55 > 0:13:00the Orient Express gets stuck because of a snow slide
0:13:00 > 0:13:04and in the morning, they see one of the passengers was killed
0:13:04 > 0:13:06and everyone becomes the suspect.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10If only I could make such a fortune out of every train delay.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14This beautiful old station is now out of commission
0:13:14 > 0:13:19and houses the Fine Arts faculty of the University of Trakya.
0:13:23 > 0:13:28In its heyday, the railway carried countesses and millionaires,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31presidents and crooks,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34all speeding their way to my final destination.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38For the last leg of my journey,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41I'm picking up the train to the centre of a city
0:13:41 > 0:13:44known in my Bradshaw's as Constantinople,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48and renamed Istanbul in 1930.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55A short stroll from my stop, I find the old Sirkeci station,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58the grand terminus of the Orient Express,
0:13:58 > 0:14:03which ran from Paris for almost a century, until 1977.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06"The principal railway station,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10"the terminus of the Oriental Railway Company,"
0:14:10 > 0:14:13says Bradshaw's, "is the arrival and departure station
0:14:13 > 0:14:17"for all trains connecting with the rest of Europe."
0:14:17 > 0:14:19I know it's semi-deserted today.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21I imagine the excitement of travellers
0:14:21 > 0:14:24arriving from points all over the continent,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28the commotion as they descended from the train with their trunks
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and their hatboxes and their servants.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35The noise of the impact of West upon East.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48Istanbul is built, like Rome, on seven hills.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55This is a city as treasured and fought over as Jerusalem,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58as important a city of empire as Rome.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02It's one of the greats in the long history of the Old World.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10I've come to admire the most famous building in this historic city,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13which began life as a Christian cathedral.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16When I first saw the Hagia Sophia,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19it took me a while to work out what this building was
0:15:19 > 0:15:23because, of course, it looks like a mosque, but it was built by a Roman.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25It was built by the Emperor Justinian.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29And, to me, it's just extraordinary that such an immense building
0:15:29 > 0:15:32could have been created 1,500 years ago.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38- Hello. Do you speak English?- Yeah.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42- Are you enjoying your visit to Istanbul?- Yeah, definitely.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46- What have you enjoyed so far most? - The Hagia Sophia.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51I think it's really beautiful to see how the Islamic and the Christian...
0:15:53 > 0:15:55..art converges together.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59Especially in times of war and stuff like that.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01Do you feel while you're in Istanbul
0:16:01 > 0:16:04- that you're in this meeting place of East and West...- Yeah.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07- ..of Islam and Christianity? - Yeah, definitely.
0:16:07 > 0:16:13And I think the church really shows, in one building, the whole city.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29There's an extraordinary buzz about the streets of Istanbul.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33The shops and the cafes tumble into the street.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37The restaurant owners invite you into their premises.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39The merchandise is exotic.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43OK, it's touristy, but it is undeniably different.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45You have made the journey.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Hello.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Cheese, potato, apple pie. Turkish borek.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56- Apple pie. Apple pie.- Apple pie.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00- How much is that?- Three dinar. Four dinar, three dinar.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04- There we go. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you.- Bye-bye.- Bye-bye.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09- Hello, good day.- Mm.- Yes, please.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12It's good. It's good.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22Leaving the hectic buzz of the Old City behind,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25I'm making my way down to the banks of the Bosporus,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29the narrow channel which links the Black Sea with the Mediterranean.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34- Hello, Caroline.- Hello, good to see you.- Very good to see you.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39Here, I wanted to discover more about Istanbul in the early 20th century
0:17:39 > 0:17:42from historian Caroline Finkel.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Caroline, we can see the Suleymaniye Mosque and the Topkapi Palace.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48I suppose these buildings really represent
0:17:48 > 0:17:50the Ottoman Empire at the height of its powers.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52That's very much the case.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54They're built, as you can see,
0:17:54 > 0:17:57on the spine of the hill in a very dominating position.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Everyone who approached by sea would see them immediately,
0:18:00 > 0:18:02standing there on the promontory,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05and it must have been quite a sight when you came to the city.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08'The Topkapi Palace was the first seat of government
0:18:08 > 0:18:09'for the Ottoman sultans,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12'who held absolute power across the empire.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18'Next to it, the Suleymaniye Mosque was completed in 1557,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20'when the empire controlled
0:18:20 > 0:18:24'most of the eastern and southern Mediterranean.'
0:18:24 > 0:18:28But by the early 20th century, the city was no longer
0:18:28 > 0:18:30at the centre of a thriving empire.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36The 1913 traveller, using my guidebook,
0:18:36 > 0:18:38what would he have found in Constantinople?
0:18:38 > 0:18:39It seems to me rather surprising
0:18:39 > 0:18:41that people were being encouraged to come.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45I don't think the FCO today would recommend that people came in 1913.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49It was a terrible year. The city was in turmoil.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51It was just, of course, before the First World War,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54but the First World War was merely a culmination
0:18:54 > 0:18:56of everything that went before.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59The empire had shrunk dramatically,
0:18:59 > 0:19:03losing provinces that had been Ottoman for five centuries
0:19:03 > 0:19:07in a matter of weeks during the First Balkan War of 1912.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11There were refugees everywhere.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Muslim refugees from the Balkans crowded every available space.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Hundreds of thousands of refugees with nothing.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21While the empire's borders contracted,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24pressure for reform built inside Turkey
0:19:24 > 0:19:28from a revolutionary group known as the Young Turks.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32And the great powers circled like vultures over the Bosporus.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35The greatest threat came from the Russians,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39who were trying to come down and take warm-water harbours.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42They only had the cold waters of the north, frozen much of the year,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44and this was the cause of much of the wars
0:19:44 > 0:19:47between the Ottomans and the Russians.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51As the Ottomans had grown weaker, they'd sought an ally in the West
0:19:51 > 0:19:56and had aligned themselves with the newest state in Europe, Germany.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59The Germans did not have a record of having tutored the Ottomans,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02for better or for worse, throughout the long centuries.
0:20:02 > 0:20:07They had industry, technology to sell, military reforms, railways,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10and it was a very happy alliance between the two.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17The Ottomans' defeat in the First World War
0:20:17 > 0:20:21gave rise to the nationalist movement which was to remove the sultans
0:20:21 > 0:20:24and lead to the foundation of the modern state of Turkey.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40I've stayed overnight in this opulent hotel
0:20:40 > 0:20:42which, at the time of my guidebook,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46was the property of the International Sleeping Car Company
0:20:46 > 0:20:49which ran the trains of the Orient Express.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51Ah, the elegance of centuries gone by.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Good morning.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Having relished the heights of Edwardian luxury,
0:21:02 > 0:21:06there's one more treat I have to delight in while I'm here.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14- Hello, Hande.- Oh, hello.- Good morning, I'm Michael.- Good morning.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18- Nice to meet you.- What a delightful shop.- Thank you.- How old is it?
0:21:18 > 0:21:21It's 238 years old, exactly.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24It was opened 1777.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29'Hande's ancestor, Haci Bekir, moved to Istanbul from Anatolia
0:21:29 > 0:21:30'and set up this shop.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35'His excellent sweetmeats came to the attention of Sultan Mahmud II,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39'who appointed him Chief Confectioner to the Palace.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43'Today, Hande Celalyan is the fifth generation of the family
0:21:43 > 0:21:45'to run the shop.'
0:21:45 > 0:21:49And when can we call these confections Turkish delight?
0:21:49 > 0:21:51This is when an English traveller
0:21:51 > 0:21:54bought some Turkish delight from Istanbul
0:21:54 > 0:21:55and brought it to England.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58At that time, it was called rahat-ul hulkum.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01- What was that word?- Rahat-ul hulkum.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03Rahat-ul hulkum.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07And then it was rahat lokum, and lokum simply for us, too.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10- Oh, lokum is easier.- That was the development of the word in Turkish.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Lokum. I can manage that, actually.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17'Hande is constantly developing new varieties
0:22:17 > 0:22:20'using a vast array of tantalising ingredients.'
0:22:20 > 0:22:25This is Turkish delight with walnuts. So, as you see...
0:22:25 > 0:22:28they are produced in rolls.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30- Like sausages. - Like sausages, yes, indeed.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35- And then they are cut here by hand freshly in the shop.- Fantastic.
0:22:35 > 0:22:36What would you say to someone like me
0:22:36 > 0:22:40who finds Turkish delight a little too sweet?
0:22:40 > 0:22:42You should try something with nuts,
0:22:42 > 0:22:46because the nuts are cutting the sweetness.
0:22:46 > 0:22:47Tell me your impression.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Well, I think you're right. It's not too sweet.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55It has a lovely elasticity. Yeah, I like that.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57You should feel the resistance
0:22:57 > 0:23:01but your teeth should be able to bite cleanly through the product.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Well, I think I had that experience,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06but I think I might need another to be sure.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08SHE LAUGHS
0:23:13 > 0:23:16For my final delight here in Istanbul,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19I'm heading back to Sirkeci Metro station
0:23:19 > 0:23:22to cross one of the most fought-over sea channels in the world.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Bradshaw's tells me you can take a rowboat from the European side
0:23:28 > 0:23:32across the Bosporus to the Asian side in 15 minutes.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37But since 2013, this brand-new railway has existed, the Marmaray,
0:23:37 > 0:23:41and that goes deep in the tunnel from the Asian side to the European side,
0:23:41 > 0:23:43and then that's going to connect to railways
0:23:43 > 0:23:45that go all the way out to the suburbs.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48And, of course, it will connect to railways
0:23:48 > 0:23:51going all the way out to the suburbs on the Asian side, too.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Plans for a rail tunnel under the Bosporus
0:23:56 > 0:24:01were first mooted during the reign of Sultan Abdulmecid in 1860.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03But they've only just been realised.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08This tunnel, 60 metres underground,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11was particularly problematic to engineers
0:24:11 > 0:24:15as it crosses a tectonic faultline on its route to Asia.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Amazing to think that we're now under the Bosporus.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22If I could tunnel through the roof of this train and keep going,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26I'd arrive in one of the most famous stretches of water in the world.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36Quiz question - when do you change continent without changing city?
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Answer - in Istanbul.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Welcome to Asia.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50Now on the Asian shore, I'm drawn to the famous Haidar Pasha station,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54from where trains used to depart for Izmit and Ankara.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59It was completed in 1909 by the Ottoman Anatolian Railway Company
0:24:59 > 0:25:02after being chosen as the Asian terminus
0:25:02 > 0:25:06for the ambitious German Berlin to Baghdad railway.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12But with the advent of the new Marmaray line,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15the station is now redundant.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Haidar Pasha Terminus marked the end of many a journey.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23But I'm amazed to discover tucked behind the now-derelict station
0:25:23 > 0:25:28the final resting place for thousands of British soldiers and expatriates.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Historian Lynelle Howson is showing me around.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Lynelle, Bradshaw's says that,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38"In the beautiful British cemetery of Haidar Pasha
0:25:38 > 0:25:40"are buried thousands who died of sickness or wounds
0:25:40 > 0:25:42"during the Crimean War."
0:25:42 > 0:25:45This is truly a very historic place.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47And is Bradshaw's right about thousands lying here?
0:25:47 > 0:25:52Yes. Most of the Crimean servicemen buried here are in mass graves.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55I've heard anything from 6,000 to 8,000
0:25:55 > 0:25:58buried right here in the cemetery, in Haidar Pasha.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Do you get the impression that in the 19th century,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03this was a place of some homage, of pilgrimage?
0:26:03 > 0:26:06I certainly do, not least because Bradshaw mentions it.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09He points it out as somewhere that people might be interested to come
0:26:09 > 0:26:12specifically because of the Crimean War
0:26:12 > 0:26:16and the fame of Florence Nightingale and the nearby hospital.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18'Shortly after my guidebook was published,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21'thousands more would die during the First World War,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23'not far away at Gallipoli.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27'And some of those casualties were brought here, too.'
0:26:27 > 0:26:309th Battalion Australian infantry.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33A soldier of the Indian Army.
0:26:33 > 0:26:34South Wales.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37How many nationalities are represented here?
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Well, if we consider modern nationalities,
0:26:40 > 0:26:42we'll have more than 20, I would say.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Here at the crossroads of Europe and Asia,
0:26:50 > 0:26:55it's poignant to reflect on the price of conflicts past and present.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04In 1913, the intrepid Bradshaw traveller
0:27:04 > 0:27:08would hope to journey to Constantinople on the Orient Express,
0:27:08 > 0:27:12passing through the newly independent Bulgaria.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15But warzones would interrupt his progress
0:27:15 > 0:27:19as the Ottoman Empire disintegrated.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23The Balkans were the tinderbox that would ignite the First World War.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25And two years later,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Turkish cemeteries would fill with British Empire dead.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34Today, trains pass from Europe to Asia under the Bosporus.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Turkey is a democratic nation
0:27:37 > 0:27:43with a majority Muslim population that borders Iran, Iraq and Syria.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Just like 100 years ago,
0:27:45 > 0:27:50it is an important square on the international strategic chessboard.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57'Next time, I'll learn how the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
0:27:57 > 0:27:58'when faced with the future,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01'fought to hold on to its past.'
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Not everybody likes it when a new world begins.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08A new world beginning means an old world ends.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12'I'll attempt an Edwardian-style winter sports challenge...'
0:28:12 > 0:28:14Yay!
0:28:14 > 0:28:16'And I'll travel along one of the world's
0:28:16 > 0:28:19'most impressive feats of railway engineering.'
0:28:19 > 0:28:21There weren't tunnel-drilling machines,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23so they had to drill the holes by hand.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27So, it's a handmade railway line.