0:00:03 > 0:00:07I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take me
0:00:07 > 0:00:09across 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
0:00:20 > 0:00:22travel for the British tourist.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27It told travellers were to go, what to see and how to navigate
0:00:27 > 0:00:31the thousands of miles of tracks criss-crossing the Continent.
0:00:31 > 0:00:32Now, a century later,
0:00:32 > 0:00:37I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy
0:00:37 > 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.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11On this journey,
0:01:11 > 0:01:13I'm heading to one of the most popular
0:01:13 > 0:01:17destinations on an Edwardian traveller's itinerary,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20to a country whose famous sights had, in 1913,
0:01:20 > 0:01:25already attracted British grand tourists for more than 200 years.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31A century ago, foreign tourists in Italy,
0:01:31 > 0:01:36armed with their Bradshaw's guide, regarded the country as a museum.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39They ambled through its glorious past
0:01:39 > 0:01:45and endured its present day of beggars and smells and bad hotels.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Their attitude was unconsciously condescending
0:01:49 > 0:01:53but there was, apparently, amongst Italians a Futurist movement,
0:01:53 > 0:01:59proud of Italy's engineering prowess and obsessed with speeding cars
0:01:59 > 0:02:03and trains and aeroplanes. Whoa!
0:02:03 > 0:02:06The foreign tourist might need to fasten his seatbelt.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16In 1913, Italy had been a united kingdom for a little over half
0:02:16 > 0:02:17a century.
0:02:17 > 0:02:23Unification had involved a decade of war, which had taken its toll.
0:02:23 > 0:02:24While the British enjoyed
0:02:24 > 0:02:28nostalgia for the Italian Renaissance, Italians felt
0:02:28 > 0:02:32that their country had been reborn and many wanted to look forward.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40My journey begins in Tuscany at the coastal city of Pisa.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45From there, I'll travel inland to the ancient walled city of Lucca
0:02:45 > 0:02:51before continuing east to the cradle of the Renaissance - Florence.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55I'll then head north to Bologna before ending my journey
0:02:55 > 0:02:57at glorious Lake Garda.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05Along the way, I'll learn how violence
0:03:05 > 0:03:10hit the streets of Florence after the Futurists arrived by train.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12There was no friendly discussion.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16They arrived here to defend Futurism with their fists.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22- Aha!- Really, it's tagliatelle.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25'I'll delight in dishes that titillated the taste buds
0:03:25 > 0:03:27'of Edwardian tourists...'
0:03:27 > 0:03:29That is amazing!
0:03:29 > 0:03:32'..and I'll get to experience the Italians' century-long
0:03:32 > 0:03:33'need for speed.'
0:03:35 > 0:03:37BEEPING
0:03:37 > 0:03:38HE CHUCKLES
0:03:39 > 0:03:40IN ITALIAN:
0:03:57 > 0:04:01In 1913, when Italy was a new nation forging its future,
0:04:01 > 0:04:06many thousands of British tourists flocked to marvel at its past.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12My first stop is Pisa.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Bradshaw's reminds me it was "the Pisai of the Romans.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19"It's situated on both banks of the River Arno.
0:04:19 > 0:04:24"The campanile, generally known as the Leaning Tower, 179 feet high
0:04:24 > 0:04:29"and 13 foot out of the perpendicular, was finished in 1350."
0:04:29 > 0:04:34Since time immemorial, tourists have had a penchant for the tower
0:04:34 > 0:04:37and I believe that we retain that inclination today.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Those tourists arriving here 100 years ago came to experience
0:04:46 > 0:04:48Italietta - a small,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52sleepy country packed with treasures to be picked over.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59That attitude endured despite Italy's tectonic political change and
0:04:59 > 0:05:04its impressive industrial revolution at the start of the 20th century.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21In Pisa, the sights that those tourists were coming to enjoy
0:05:21 > 0:05:22still draw the crowds today.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37What do you think of the Leaning Tower? Is it as good as you
0:05:37 > 0:05:42- hoped it would be?- It is a little smaller than we thought it would be.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46- Is it your first time in Pisa?- Yes. Very... It's beautiful.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50The Leaning Tower is very, very special. It looks very attractive.
0:05:50 > 0:05:51It just pulls your attention.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Do you think the tower will fall down?
0:05:54 > 0:05:57- No, I didn't think so. - Never, never! It won't.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05The precarious-looking tower belongs to the 11th century cathedral.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Tourists may, in fact, be confident of its safety now
0:06:08 > 0:06:11but not long ago, the monument teetered on the edge of collapse
0:06:11 > 0:06:15until a group of engineers was charged with saving it.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21I'm meeting emeritus professor John Burland from Imperial College
0:06:21 > 0:06:22in London.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26He was part of the rescue mission a quarter of a century ago.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32- John, why does it lean?- Ah!
0:06:32 > 0:06:40Now, every child has tried to build a model brick tower on a carpet,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and what you all learn, all children, is you can get it
0:06:43 > 0:06:46so high and then it begins to lean...
0:06:47 > 0:06:49..and that's exactly the same with this tower.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53Instead of a carpet, it's on, really, marsh land,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55so the foundations are very soft
0:06:55 > 0:07:00and there's a certain height at which a tower of that weight
0:07:00 > 0:07:03and that height would start to lean,
0:07:03 > 0:07:07and the tower is exactly at that height and that's why it's leaning.
0:07:08 > 0:07:14Begun in the 12th century, the tower took nearly 200 years to construct.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Although it leaned from the outset, it wasn't
0:07:17 > 0:07:20until the early 20th century that the danger became apparent.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24The tower has had a very long history.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27What was happening around the time of my Bradshaw's guide?
0:07:27 > 0:07:30In 1911, they started making very precise
0:07:30 > 0:07:34measurements on the inclination of the tower.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38They did it every Christmas Day, presumably before they had a drink!
0:07:38 > 0:07:40But they'd go out on Christmas morning
0:07:40 > 0:07:45and make a measurement on the tower. It was quite a ritual.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Those measurements were very important to the commission
0:07:48 > 0:07:49that I was on.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53- 100 years of precise records? - Yes, that's right.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59By the late 20th century, the tower leaned by around 15 feet
0:07:59 > 0:08:02and was in danger of collapse.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06In 1990, it was closed to the public as the government realised
0:08:06 > 0:08:07that something had to be done.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Now, what was it that you came to do?
0:08:12 > 0:08:16They were very concerned that it was about to fall over,
0:08:16 > 0:08:17and it actually was.
0:08:17 > 0:08:23And what we did was reduced its inclination, which took
0:08:23 > 0:08:28the load off the south side because it was about to explode.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32And the way we did it was instead of trying to push the leaning
0:08:32 > 0:08:35side up, we actually took some ground out.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37- So it leans less than it did?- Yes.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44John and his team attached 900 tonnes of lead weights to the tower's
0:08:44 > 0:08:46north side to stabilise it
0:08:46 > 0:08:50while earth underneath the higher side was removed.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Overall, it took more than a decade to secure the structure
0:08:53 > 0:08:57and to reduce the inclination by almost two feet.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02Finally, in 2001, the 800-year-old tower was reopened,
0:09:02 > 0:09:04deemed safe for the next three centuries.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09John, it's such a strange feeling as we ascend the tower.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13- First we're thrown to the right, then we're thrown to the left.- Yes.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17Michael, that's because we're going up an inclined helix.
0:09:17 > 0:09:18HE CHUCKLES
0:09:25 > 0:09:27How did it feel to work on this project?
0:09:29 > 0:09:33There were times when the stress was enormous
0:09:33 > 0:09:36and I wondered why I had ever taken it on or agreed to it
0:09:36 > 0:09:40but now that it's all done, you can look back on it and say, to have
0:09:40 > 0:09:46worked on a World Heritage monument like that is a huge privilege.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48You couldn't ask for any more, as an engineer.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58The glistening tower, like many of Italy's most famous statues
0:09:58 > 0:10:01and structures, was made of white marble,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04which could be found in abundance just along the coast.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17I'm leaving Pisa, taking the train 30 miles north.
0:10:22 > 0:10:23I'm on my way to Carrara.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26The guide calls it "an agreeable little town,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29"almost exclusively engaged in working
0:10:29 > 0:10:31"the world-known marble quarries.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33"Many sculptors have studios here."
0:10:45 > 0:10:49At the time of my guidebook, Italy had not long begun its industrial
0:10:49 > 0:10:52revolution, which was concentrated in the north of the country.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54In Carrara,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58the population swelled as workers sought employment in the quarries.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10The stone excavated here over millennia has been
0:11:10 > 0:11:12used in some of the world's most famous monuments,
0:11:12 > 0:11:17including the Pantheon in Rome and London's Marble Arch.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Thanks to its grain and purity of colour,
0:11:21 > 0:11:25more marble has been mined here than anywhere else on Earth.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33By contrast with Pisa, Carrara has no tourists,
0:11:33 > 0:11:37and so one can appreciate its charming cathedral alone.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42It's decorated with lovely friezes of animals and a cartwheel symbolising
0:11:42 > 0:11:46the carts that used to bring the marble down from the mountain.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49And here is the marble, close up and personal.
0:11:49 > 0:11:55So many colours, so many variations of grain, so absolutely beautiful.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06It's not just architects who've sought out the precious stone.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08Renaissance masters like Michelangelo
0:12:08 > 0:12:14and modern artists like Anish Kapoor have chosen to work with pure Carrara marble.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20I'm meeting tour guide Nicola Musetti just outside town.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28From these jagged hillsides,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32close to a million tonnes of marble is exported every year.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58It's a wonderful view of the mountains
0:12:58 > 0:13:01and an enormous industrial scale.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05Why is it that Carrara is so valued by sculptors?
0:13:05 > 0:13:06Because in Carrara,
0:13:06 > 0:13:11they can find the real, good marble to make sculptures, so that's
0:13:11 > 0:13:16why Michelangelo came over here many times, in order to look for blocks.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19So the Pieta, the Moses, the David,
0:13:19 > 0:13:24all the masterpieces by Michelangelo were carved in our marble.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Only here they can find a huge quantity
0:13:27 > 0:13:32and the best quality in the world to make sculptures and statues.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34Until the 19th century,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38the marble was cut by hand or blasted out in chunks.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45In the late 1800s, the introduction of the helicoidal wire,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49a kind of lubricated, giant cheese cutter,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52allowed huge cubes to be precisely excavated.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01Other innovations made their mark at the time.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03When the railway age came,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07- did that make a difference to the way that they mined the marble?- Yeah.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11It was a very big evolution and development
0:14:11 > 0:14:12for the industry of marble
0:14:12 > 0:14:17because they started to increase the quantity of marble to be
0:14:17 > 0:14:21transported downwards to the sea, to the harbour,
0:14:21 > 0:14:26so that was really a revolution for our marble industry.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Carrara maintains its position as one of the world's leading marble
0:14:32 > 0:14:33producers.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48I'm now heading to one of its oldest marble workshops.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59I'm meeting Francesca Nicoli amongst an amazing library of plaster
0:14:59 > 0:15:03casts, which are the first stage in the creation of a marble statue.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12Francesca, what an extraordinary place.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16Here, I find a British Prime Minister, WE Gladstone, here,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19the very substantial figure of King Edward VII,
0:15:19 > 0:15:24and here, the disapproving form of his mother, Queen Victoria.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26Why are these plaster casts here?
0:15:27 > 0:15:31These plaster casts belong to an important
0:15:31 > 0:15:35tradition of portraits of eminent politicians.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39My ancestor, Carlo Nicoli, he made, himself,
0:15:39 > 0:15:4213 portraits of Queen Victoria.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46One very important one was made for Brighton,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50so it's been a very important production during the Victorian age.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55First, a plaster cast was made
0:15:55 > 0:15:58and approved before being passed on to the sculptor or to
0:15:58 > 0:16:04a series of skilled carvers to be meticulously crafted in marble.
0:16:04 > 0:16:10A custom-made statue was the ultimate display of 19th-century importance.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13And are you still making monuments like this?
0:16:13 > 0:16:18Little by little, this tradition, glorious tradition, of the portraits
0:16:18 > 0:16:25of eminent politicians like William Gladstone has come to an end,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29making space for modern artists.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Politicians really don't have much hope now of getting a monument?
0:16:32 > 0:16:37No, but top models like Naomi Campbell, yes they do.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40How the world changes!
0:16:41 > 0:16:44The subjects of sculpture may be different today,
0:16:44 > 0:16:47but they are created in much the same way as 100 years ago.
0:16:50 > 0:16:51Ciao.
0:16:53 > 0:16:54Michele.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57- Diego.- Diego.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01It takes years to learn this art, but today I've been granted
0:17:01 > 0:17:05permission to lay my untrained hands on this precious stone.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07This is the most important implement
0:17:07 > 0:17:11and there is the second most important implement.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13Michelangelo, eat your heart out!
0:17:13 > 0:17:15HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:17:15 > 0:17:17I have to do it gently, he says.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24It would take Diego over two months to carve a statue out of this block.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26Let's hope I don't set him back too far.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33- Not ready to hire!- Not now! - Not at the moment. Not now!
0:17:35 > 0:17:36Oops!
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Very satisfying. Lovely work.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Diego, I'm going to let you finish.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52After all that concentration, I'm ready for sleep.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Tomorrow, I'll be bound for the heart of Tuscany.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15I'm up bright and early to catch a connection from Pisa
0:18:15 > 0:18:17headed 35 miles inland.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38My next stop is Lucca, which Bradshaw's tells me,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42"is a pleasant town, Roman again, situated in a fertile plain.
0:18:42 > 0:18:48"From the railway station the Duomo is seen towering above the ramparts."
0:18:48 > 0:18:50100 years ago, Bradshaw tourists came to see
0:18:50 > 0:18:55the heavily fortified city states that had warred against each other.
0:18:55 > 0:19:01But Italians were proud that for 50 years they had been a united kingdom.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03OPERA SINGING
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Lucca's defensive walls
0:19:21 > 0:19:23and the exquisite mediaeval streets within them
0:19:23 > 0:19:28are some of the best preserved in Italy, and a great draw for visitors.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35For early 20th century travellers, there was another attraction.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37As an opera lover,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41I'm excited to be in a city associated with a favourite composer.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47I'm meeting theatre and opera director Vivian Hewitt,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50who is based in Italy just behind the opera house.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54Vivian, why is Lucca Puccini's city?
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Not only was he born here but throughout his long,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00much travelled career in which he travelled all over the world,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02he kept coming back here.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06He has this very intense relationship with his home town.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10- Do we find any influences of Lucca in the music?- It's everywhere.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16He somehow or other draws on his own personal experience
0:20:16 > 0:20:20of where he lives and of what surrounds him
0:20:20 > 0:20:24to create extremely exotic places that are very far from him.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30Puccini's operas became familiar to British audiences
0:20:30 > 0:20:34in the years before my guidebook.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39Between 1897 and 1904 La boheme, Tosca and Madame Butterfly
0:20:39 > 0:20:43were performed in Britain shortly after their Italian premiers.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47The British were seduced by the Italian language
0:20:47 > 0:20:50and by Italian romanticism.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55But Puccini transported audiences far afield to Paris, China,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Japan and the Wild West.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01The operas are full of passion,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04the most extraordinary elongated love duets.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07What was the inspiration for that?
0:21:07 > 0:21:11I think Puccini is a man who is almost permanently in love.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13He is not just a Don Giovanni,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16he just doesn't amuse himself seducing women.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18I think it's often women who seduce him.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21As a very young man, he falls in love with Elvira,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24who is a married woman and already has a family.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27She is the wife of a friend of his.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29She becomes pregnant and they run away together.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31She is his permanent life companion.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34In the meantime of course, every time he writes an opera
0:21:34 > 0:21:37he has a muse and he falls madly in love with somebody.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41His passion-filled operas, inspired by real life,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44made Puccini a huge success.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49He rapidly became Italy's best loved new composer,
0:21:49 > 0:21:51taking his place alongside Giuseppe Verdi.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56How should we view Puccini?
0:21:56 > 0:21:59He seems to be writing traditional, melodic, Italian music
0:21:59 > 0:22:02at a time when Italy is bubbling with new ideas.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06Indeed he is a melodist, but he is looking very much at Schoenberg
0:22:06 > 0:22:11and Stravinsky and at Northern Europe and he is using his own style
0:22:11 > 0:22:15to create new music that is within the Italian tradition.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18# O soave fanciulla
0:22:19 > 0:22:22# O dolce viso
0:22:22 > 0:22:27# Di mite circinfuso alba lunar
0:22:27 > 0:22:30# Fremon
0:22:30 > 0:22:36# Gi nell'anima
0:22:36 > 0:22:40# Le doclezze estreme
0:22:40 > 0:22:46# Tu sol comandi, amore
0:22:46 > 0:22:49# Nel bacio
0:22:49 > 0:22:59# Freme amor. #
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Bravo!
0:23:14 > 0:23:16With that duet ringing in my ears,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19I must leave Lucca to continue my journey.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25I'm bound for the Tuscan capital
0:23:25 > 0:23:28and one of the most celebrated stops on any tourist itinerary.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39Bradshaw struggles to sum up the beauty of Florence.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44"It's generally conceded pre-eminence as the centre of intellectual life.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47"Literature and fine arts have attained a dignity
0:23:47 > 0:23:52"and grace that fittingly adorn a city set like a gem amidst beautiful,
0:23:52 > 0:23:55"natural surroundings."
0:23:55 > 0:23:57It tells me that Florence was formally the capital
0:23:57 > 0:24:00of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and sometime
0:24:00 > 0:24:06the capital of the Kingdom of Italy between 1865 and 1871.
0:24:06 > 0:24:11I'd like to find out how it was that this gem lost its crown.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41Since the Italian Renaissance began here in the 14th century,
0:24:41 > 0:24:45Florence has drawn people from around the globe to admire
0:24:45 > 0:24:50its intoxicating mix of art, architecture and literary history.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Certainly no Edwardian tour of Italy
0:24:56 > 0:24:59could be complete without visiting the city.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24In 1913, the old town had recently undergone extensive transformation
0:25:24 > 0:25:29after the capital of Italy moved here from Turin in 1865.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35I've arranged to meet historian Silvia Cavicchioli.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42Silvia, what was the effect then on Florence physically
0:25:42 > 0:25:45on becoming the capital of Italy?
0:25:45 > 0:25:51Well, Florence at the time was still a medieval town
0:25:51 > 0:25:56with an ancient heart within the medieval walls.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01The problem was that many people who had arrived from Turin,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05we are talking about a flux
0:26:05 > 0:26:08of something like 30,000 people.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13It was hastily re-planned by an architect,
0:26:13 > 0:26:18Giuseppe Poggi, who intended to enlarge
0:26:18 > 0:26:22and to modernise the ancient town.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28The population of 118,000 swelled
0:26:28 > 0:26:32as politicians and citizens moved to the new capital.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Poggi re-planned the city to accommodate them,
0:26:35 > 0:26:39replacing the medieval walls with a ring road around the ancient centre.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44As parts of Florentine history were torn down,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Italy's united future was being built.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54The geographical achievement of unification had been very fast
0:26:54 > 0:26:58so the ruling class needed symbols
0:26:58 > 0:27:02to create a sense of national identity.
0:27:02 > 0:27:08And this is why they looked for symbols of unity in the past.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12And so the modernisation of Florence went hand in hand
0:27:12 > 0:27:16with the recovery of the glorious past of Italy.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20Along with rebuilding the city,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24the government commissioned celebrations and statues
0:27:24 > 0:27:29to glorify Italian heroes such as the 13th century poet, Dante.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37But Florence's role as Italian capital wasn't to last.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42In 1871 it was moved to its final location - Rome.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Did Florence regret losing the status of capital city?
0:27:49 > 0:27:53Michael, I think that Florentines were, and are, very clever people.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58They were aware that Rome was destined to be the final step
0:27:58 > 0:28:00of the Italian Risorgimento.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10Florence may have been the country's capital just briefly,
0:28:10 > 0:28:14but the streets today were shaped by changes made during those six years.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20I'm ready for some rest before I continue my exploration
0:28:20 > 0:28:22in the morning.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39CHURCH BELLS CHIME
0:28:41 > 0:28:44- Buongiorno.- Buongiorno.- Cappuccino.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46- Grazie.- Prego.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48Uno pasta.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50- Buon appetito.- Fantastico. Grazie.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57The word tourist used to apply to people doing
0:28:57 > 0:29:01the Grand Tour like Byron, and Shelley and Keats.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05But mass tourism had already got underway by the beginning
0:29:05 > 0:29:08of the 20th century, thanks to the railways.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11And then travellers of the old sort snobbishly
0:29:11 > 0:29:15tried to set themselves apart from the mass tourists
0:29:15 > 0:29:17by inventing new tests.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21Had you come to Florence for months? Were you here to study?
0:29:21 > 0:29:26Could you do without your Baedeker's Guide or, indeed, your Bradshaw's?
0:29:33 > 0:29:38The boom in train travel in the 1840s meant that the middle classes
0:29:38 > 0:29:42were now able to appreciate cultural treasures which had once been
0:29:42 > 0:29:45enjoyed only by aristocrats on their Grand Tour.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52That change was well satirised by the writer, EM Forster,
0:29:52 > 0:29:57in his 1908 classic, A Room With A View, partly set in Florence.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03But far removed from that gentle and old-fashioned British novel,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Italian Futurists had a hard headed determination
0:30:06 > 0:30:09to turn society upside-down.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16I'm meeting historian Dr Irene Auerbach
0:30:16 > 0:30:18in the Piazza della Repubblica.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Irene, what was Futurism?
0:30:25 > 0:30:30Italian Futurism was a movement that strove to rejuvenate
0:30:30 > 0:30:34Italian culture and society.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37It was planned as a cultural revolution, really,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40and they wanted to change the society
0:30:40 > 0:30:43and the static society of Italy
0:30:43 > 0:30:47by a radical change with achievements,
0:30:47 > 0:30:52which glorified the achievements of the industrial revolution.
0:30:54 > 0:30:59The movement was started in Milan in 1909 by a poet, Filippo Marinetti.
0:31:00 > 0:31:05He saw an industrial way of life as the future and loathed the old Italy.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09Futurists would fight for a secular, modern nation
0:31:09 > 0:31:11using any means possible.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17I believe that Filippo Marinetti launched a manifesto.
0:31:17 > 0:31:22- He talked about incendiary violence. Was there incendiary violence?- Yes.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27The first manifesto of Futurism was really a scandal because they
0:31:27 > 0:31:33glorified war and they proclaimed the love of danger, fearlessness.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37- And to reject the past? - Yes, of course.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41They wanted to destroy museums, academies and also libraries.
0:31:42 > 0:31:47The Futurist movement was not only an artistic or literary movement,
0:31:47 > 0:31:48it was much more.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52It was a way of life, it was a new way of looking at the world.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55At the start of the 20th century,
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Futurist art was the catalyst for a violent event in Florence
0:31:59 > 0:32:02as leading members clashed with local journalists.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09Irene, why have you brought me to this beautiful, historic cafe?
0:32:09 > 0:32:11I brought you to the Giubbe Rosse
0:32:11 > 0:32:16because it's a famous cafe where the artists and writers of Florence met.
0:32:16 > 0:32:21In 1911, the painter and critic Ardengo Soffici,
0:32:21 > 0:32:26who lived here in Florence, wrote a critique on the Futurist painting
0:32:26 > 0:32:29and he criticised them very harshly.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33He said what they were painting was not what they had said
0:32:33 > 0:32:35in their manifesto.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38They weren't living up to their ideals?
0:32:38 > 0:32:40At that time he said, no.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44Now, how did Marinetti take this criticism?
0:32:44 > 0:32:49Oh, he was very angry about this and he didn't like criticism very much.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52He decided, with the painters, to go to Florence
0:32:52 > 0:32:54in defence of Futurist painting.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58They came here to defend Futurism with their fists.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01There was a great brawl here at the Giubbe Rosso.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04When the Futurists in the evening wanted to depart
0:33:04 > 0:33:09from the train station, the critics waited there for them
0:33:09 > 0:33:11and there was another fist fight.
0:33:11 > 0:33:16And they all had to go to the police station and to make peace there.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18Irene, it's an amazing story.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24Although the brawling groups made a temporary peace,
0:33:24 > 0:33:29as war swept Europe from 1914, Futurism ran out of fuel
0:33:29 > 0:33:34and was later absorbed by Mussolini's Fascist movement.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Futurism, with its goal of rejecting the nation's history,
0:33:37 > 0:33:40itself became a thing of the past.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51I'm going in search of one enduring Florentine tradition
0:33:51 > 0:33:54that I gather no hungry traveller should miss out on.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01For the moment the doors are closed
0:34:01 > 0:34:04and the most enormous crowd has assembled.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07I guess I'm not the only person to have heard of this place.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15- There's two.- Tres.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Bambina! Sorry, sir.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21The Latini family has been serving traditional Tuscan food since
0:34:21 > 0:34:26before my guide book and they still attract a loyal following today.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28Three. Tre.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30- Portillo, due. Prego.- Grazie.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40Most come here for one dish - the famous Bistecca alla Fiorentina.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53I'm here to meet food writer Filippo Bartolotta to find out
0:34:53 > 0:34:55what all the fuss is about.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59- Filippo.- Michael, nice to see you. - Great to see you.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06The steak it comes.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11- Michael, are you hungry? - It's absolutely huge!
0:35:11 > 0:35:13What is the origin of this steak?
0:35:13 > 0:35:17The English apparently invented this bistecca, beef steak literally.
0:35:17 > 0:35:18Of course.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21The reason why it's Bistecca alla Fiorentina is,
0:35:21 > 0:35:23beef steak made the Florentine style.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26It's funny how as a matter of fact outside of Tuscany
0:35:26 > 0:35:29you can't find this kind of cut.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32With a steak this thick, what are the complications of cooking it?
0:35:32 > 0:35:35Bistecca alla Fiornetina has got the sirloin and the fillet.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39You want to make sure you're cooking a little better the sirloin
0:35:39 > 0:35:43and not too much the fillet because this cooks really quickly.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Look at the colour here. This is perfect, this is rare.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57That is amazing.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59So tender.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01So tasty.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03This is yet another great contribution
0:36:03 > 0:36:05that Florence has made to civilisation!
0:36:05 > 0:36:07No doubt about it.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32TANNOY ANNOUNCEMENT
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Today I'm heading out of Florence.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40Bound north towards another well-known stop
0:36:40 > 0:36:43on the early 20th century tourist trail.
0:36:43 > 0:36:44Bologna.
0:36:47 > 0:36:52One thing the Futurists were right about was that the future was speed.
0:36:52 > 0:36:57And today many of the world's fastest cars and bikes bear Italian names.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01And the Italians have thrown themselves into high speed rail
0:37:01 > 0:37:02with gusto too.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04I'm on my way to Bologna.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08In my 1913 timetable the fastest train seems to take about
0:37:08 > 0:37:11three and a half hours.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14Today, that's reduced to about 35 minutes
0:37:14 > 0:37:17and nearly all of my 50 mile journey
0:37:17 > 0:37:21will be through tunnel under the Apennine Mountains.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35- TANNOY:- Buongiorno. Il treno fermera a Bologna Centrale.
0:37:37 > 0:37:42Constructed in 1864, this line has allowed passengers to access
0:37:42 > 0:37:47the Po Valley, just over the Appennine Mountains, for 150 years.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54I'm leaving Tuscany, travelling north into the region
0:37:54 > 0:37:58of Emilia-Romagna to its largest city, Bologna.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01Before continuing onto the last part of my journey
0:38:01 > 0:38:04towards Italy's largest lake - Garda.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11MUSIC: Brindisi from La Traviata.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24Like many other capitals of former Italian states,
0:38:24 > 0:38:28Bologna has a long history of rivalry with its neighbours.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34The city even has its own leaning towers, built before their more
0:38:34 > 0:38:36famous counterpart in Pisa.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00As well as being celebrated for its architecture,
0:39:00 > 0:39:04Bologna is also a food lover's paradise.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07And there's one dish that the city is most famous for.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19I'm looking for a restaurant that has the very best spaghetti bolognese, please.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21Oh, my gosh, no!
0:39:21 > 0:39:24- Assolutamente, no!- No?- No, no, no!
0:39:24 > 0:39:27Spaghetti bolognese not here in Bologna.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51Spaghetti bolognese is one of Italy's most famous food exports
0:39:51 > 0:39:54and I'm intrigued to understand why I can't find it here.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00- Monica, I'm Michael. - Hello. How are you?
0:40:02 > 0:40:05I've come to Monica Venture's pasta workshop.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07They've been making traditional Bolognese dishes
0:40:07 > 0:40:11for over 70 years, and I'm hoping that she can help.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Everywhere I go, I ask for spaghetti bolognese
0:40:17 > 0:40:20and people get quite cross, quite excited. What's going wrong?
0:40:20 > 0:40:23You have to ask for something else with Bolognese.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25Tagliatelle al ragu.
0:40:25 > 0:40:26How do you make that?
0:40:26 > 0:40:29It's very easy.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Tagliatelle is not like spaghetti, it's not semola
0:40:32 > 0:40:34but it is flour and eggs.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36I am here to show you.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40This is sfoglia to make tagliatelle.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44'The pasta must be freshly made
0:40:44 > 0:40:47'and I can't wait to taste some true Bolognese cooking.'
0:40:49 > 0:40:52OK, then you roll like that.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56Start to cut.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58The size,
0:40:58 > 0:41:02it should be seven millimetres of taglitatelle with ragu,
0:41:02 > 0:41:07because every sauce got its proper size.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09- Do you want to try?- Yes.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14'Different pasta shapes are paired with different sauces.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17'A thicker sauce will cling better to a fatter,
0:41:17 > 0:41:18'longer ribbon.'
0:41:18 > 0:41:22- A little bit more?- A little bit more, yes, like that.- OK.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25- Not too much.- Not too much. And not too little.- OK.- Aha!
0:41:25 > 0:41:27Release the tagliatelle.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31Suddenly we have lovely ribbons of tagliatelle.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36'Now that we have the pasta, we need the sauce.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42'Monica's invited me to her home to show me how that's made.'
0:41:42 > 0:41:45- Grazie, Monica.- Prego.- Grazie.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55- So...- You can see that the water is boiling and the ragu is ready.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58'The pasta may take just seconds
0:41:58 > 0:42:01'but the meaty ragu is cooked over five days.'
0:42:05 > 0:42:07Oh, they look lovely, Monica.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13Va bene.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16OK. Ready?
0:42:20 > 0:42:24- How is it? - It's absolutely wonderful.- OK.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27The pasta is perfectly cooked, wonderfully fresh
0:42:27 > 0:42:29and the meat sauce, wow!
0:42:29 > 0:42:32Here's my tip for survival in Bologna -
0:42:32 > 0:42:35do not ask for spaghetti bolognese!
0:42:41 > 0:42:45In the early 20th century the Futurists wanted to ban pasta
0:42:45 > 0:42:49citing it as the enemy of speed and modernity.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57However, as a newly-industrialised Italy began to lead the way
0:42:57 > 0:43:03in the production of cars and planes, another of this city's creations
0:43:03 > 0:43:06most certainly won the Futurist seal of approval.
0:43:11 > 0:43:16Bradshaw's has steered me towards the Piazza del Nettuno
0:43:16 > 0:43:21and there's something familiar about Neptune's trident.
0:43:22 > 0:43:27I think that weapon pierced the future and came to represent speed.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34The symbol of the trident, inspired by one of Bologna's most
0:43:34 > 0:43:39famous statues, was adopted by Italian car firm Maserati in 1920.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44Fabio Collina, the company's classic cars manager,
0:43:44 > 0:43:48is picking me up in a 1969 Quattroporte.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52- Va bene, Fabio.- Ciao, Michael. - Andiamo via.- Andiamo.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01I want to learn more about the famous sports car manufacturer
0:44:01 > 0:44:03conceived over a century ago.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10What was the origin of Maserati cars?
0:44:11 > 0:44:16The origin of the factory, Maserati, is here.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18It's in Bologna.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23The Maserati brothers opened the first workshop
0:44:23 > 0:44:27in the very centre of the town.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30What were they doing in the workshop? Were they already making cars?
0:44:30 > 0:44:32At the very beginning, not.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35They were a service workshop.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39After the war, when the brother came back from the war,
0:44:39 > 0:44:44they decided finally to prepare cars for race.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46- Were they successful?- Absolutely.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48Every car they prepared, the car won.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54Where are we going now, by the way?
0:44:54 > 0:44:57- Now we are driving to Modena. - To Modena?- Yeah.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10The company moved to Modena in 1939.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13With other car manufacturers also in this region,
0:45:13 > 0:45:17including the first incarnations of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Pagani,
0:45:17 > 0:45:20no wonder it's called the Motor Valley.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32I'm getting a behind-the-scenes tour of the production line
0:45:32 > 0:45:36from a retired mechanic from the company, Giorgio.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42Giorgio, it's a very impressive facility -
0:45:42 > 0:45:43it's very clean, it's very quiet.
0:45:43 > 0:45:48And while the cars are stationary, what is happening to them?
0:45:48 > 0:45:51So, in every station, there is a different job.
0:45:51 > 0:45:56We have 12 stations where we fit all the mechanics on the car,
0:45:56 > 0:46:00and another 12 near where we fit all the interior of the car.
0:46:00 > 0:46:0424 to be completely assembled.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06At each of the 24 assembly stations,
0:46:06 > 0:46:09skilled mechanics have just under 36 minutes
0:46:09 > 0:46:11to complete their phase of the work
0:46:11 > 0:46:13before the car is moved on to the next.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Here is just the assembly of the car,
0:46:16 > 0:46:20but later on, there are a lot of checks, testing, finishing area.
0:46:20 > 0:46:25To build one car completely, from zero to the end,
0:46:25 > 0:46:30you need at least 21 working days.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34Are Italians still as keen on speed as they ever were?
0:46:34 > 0:46:37Sure - speed is very, very important.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39You see, we must have a powerful car.
0:46:39 > 0:46:40ALARM SOUNDS
0:46:50 > 0:46:54Capable of speeds of up to 190mph,
0:46:54 > 0:46:59these machines can cost as much as £110,000.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03Today, I'm being trusted with possibly the most important job.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07The final part of the production process
0:47:07 > 0:47:10is, of course, the test drive.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14And, being in Italy, I've acquired an Italian's taste for speed.
0:47:20 > 0:47:21HE LAUGHS
0:47:21 > 0:47:26As soon as you tap the accelerator, here's that great roar and off we go.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30ENGINE REVS
0:47:34 > 0:47:35HE CHUCKLES
0:47:44 > 0:47:48This is really the only way to arrive at a railway station.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57I'll swap the car for a train before I do any damage.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02I'm heading back to Bologna for the night
0:48:02 > 0:48:06before I continue on the last leg of my journey tomorrow.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37I'll travel over 130 miles north
0:48:37 > 0:48:41towards one of Italy's most glamorous holiday hot spots -
0:48:41 > 0:48:42Lake Garda.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04I will shortly be arriving at Lake Garda.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08Bradshaw's tells me that steamboats ascend and descend the lake
0:49:08 > 0:49:10between Peschiera and Riva,
0:49:10 > 0:49:14corresponding with the railways at each end of the lake.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47Situated to the south of the Dolomite mountains,
0:49:47 > 0:49:49and with a Mediterranean climate,
0:49:49 > 0:49:53the lake has attracted tourists - including artists -
0:49:53 > 0:49:55to its shores for three centuries.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00DUCKS QUACK
0:50:00 > 0:50:04In 1912, a British writer visited here to escape
0:50:04 > 0:50:06and to seek inspiration.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10I'm in Gargnano, on the lake's west shore,
0:50:10 > 0:50:15to meet Professor Stefania Michelucci from the University of Genoa.
0:50:17 > 0:50:23- Hello, Stefania.- Hello. - How are you?- Fine, thanks.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27Stefania, what adventure is it that brings DH Lawrence to Lake Garda
0:50:27 > 0:50:31the year before my guidebook is published?
0:50:31 > 0:50:34Well, it was a very particular adventure,
0:50:34 > 0:50:36because he had met Frieda,
0:50:36 > 0:50:38who was Frieda von Richtofen,
0:50:38 > 0:50:43who was the wife of his professor in Nottingham,
0:50:43 > 0:50:44and they fell in love,
0:50:44 > 0:50:47they were mutually attracted to each other,
0:50:47 > 0:50:54so she decided to leave England and then they came to Gargnano.
0:50:54 > 0:50:59All the writers and artists are doing the Grand Tour,
0:50:59 > 0:51:04back from the 17th century and spend some time on Lake Garda.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08Embroiled in an affair which scandalised England,
0:51:08 > 0:51:11Lawrence and Frieda were drawn to Italy
0:51:11 > 0:51:13by its more liberal attitudes,
0:51:13 > 0:51:17as well as by their curiosity about the changes taking place there.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22What did Lawrence think of Lake Garda?
0:51:22 > 0:51:28He had a very different attitude, I would say, modern and new,
0:51:28 > 0:51:32because he wasn't at all romanticising,
0:51:32 > 0:51:35having a sort of romantic view of Lake Garda.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38He tried to understand what it was really like.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42He's sensing that it is...decaying.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44It's going to be overwhelmed
0:51:44 > 0:51:48by the spreading mechanisation and industrialisation
0:51:48 > 0:51:50which is coming from the north.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55What attraction did he find in the Futurists?
0:51:55 > 0:51:58He couldn't stand their worship of the machine,
0:51:58 > 0:52:02but he was so attracted by the Futurists' vitalism.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05He liked the idea of breaking with the past.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14Although excited by that atmosphere in Italy,
0:52:14 > 0:52:17Lawrence wanted to preserve the beauty of regions like Garda.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21It was partly the spectacular scenery here
0:52:21 > 0:52:25that inspired him to write some of his most famous works.
0:52:36 > 0:52:39So this is the view that DH Lawrence and Frieda
0:52:39 > 0:52:41would have had from their bedroom?
0:52:41 > 0:52:42Exactly.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45A very inspiring view.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48He was certainly inspired by being abroad
0:52:48 > 0:52:51and by the beauty of the place.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54Lake Garda played an important role in his life.
0:52:54 > 0:52:59But he was also desperately needing money
0:52:59 > 0:53:04and so he completed Sons And Lovers, which was his first masterpiece.
0:53:04 > 0:53:09And then he also wrote all the essays of Twilight In Italy.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12After the First World War, Lawrence returned to Italy,
0:53:12 > 0:53:15where he wrote his most controversial novel,
0:53:15 > 0:53:16Lady Chatterley's Lover.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20It was first published privately in Florence in 1928.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23Banned in Britain, lest it should corrupt public morals,
0:53:23 > 0:53:28it was a further 32 years before it reached British readers.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31Now the book, with its modern themes of sex, class and war,
0:53:31 > 0:53:34is acknowledged to have played an important role
0:53:34 > 0:53:36in 20th century literature.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45Writers were drawn to the lake's tranquillity,
0:53:45 > 0:53:48but some areas of Garda were far from calm.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52They were caught up in the nation's obsession with speed.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57I'm at the docks to meet Fausto and Mauro Feltrinelli.
0:53:57 > 0:54:02Their family has been building boats here for over 100 years.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07Fausto. Sono Michael. Piacere.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09- Mauro.- Hi, nice to meet you. - Fausto...
0:54:09 > 0:54:11HE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN
0:54:14 > 0:54:15Si? Si.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33Fausto's great-grandfather Bernardo and his son Egidio
0:54:33 > 0:54:37travelled from town to town repairing boats.
0:54:37 > 0:54:40After a trip to America in 1919,
0:54:40 > 0:54:43Egidio discovered how to build not just fishing boats
0:54:43 > 0:54:45but speed boats, too.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55It went...20 knots over the water.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57It's incredible for that time.
0:54:57 > 0:55:02And the fever, the fever of speed took him so strongly.
0:55:02 > 0:55:07The whole of Italy was boiling with the sensation of new speed,
0:55:07 > 0:55:09new life, new progress.
0:55:12 > 0:55:17Egidio, Mauro's great-grandfather, also developed the hydroplane here,
0:55:17 > 0:55:22based on American designs and capable of speeds of over 100mph.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27So, your family developed the high-performance boat business.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30Do you then find that the tourists are coming to enjoy them?
0:55:30 > 0:55:33I think it automatically happened.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36Before, work boats, boats for working.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40Then, sport boats, racing.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44And suddenly, after the speed, then came just the fun.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47- Can we have some fun with this? - Oh, why not?
0:55:47 > 0:55:49THEY LAUGH
0:55:49 > 0:55:52- But attention, eh?- I'll be careful.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55REVVING
0:56:01 > 0:56:04HE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN
0:56:37 > 0:56:42The steady flow of tourists to Italy 100 years ago turned into a flood
0:56:42 > 0:56:45and is now virtually an invasion.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Most of them come still to see
0:56:48 > 0:56:52the historic towers and domes and statues,
0:56:52 > 0:56:54hoping for a room with a view,
0:56:54 > 0:56:58maybe even a Chianti-fuelled romance.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01But on this journey, I've discovered, just off the beaten track,
0:57:01 > 0:57:06another, futuristic Italy of high-speed trains
0:57:06 > 0:57:08and racy cars and boats -
0:57:08 > 0:57:11it's not Italy that we come to visit,
0:57:11 > 0:57:14but with its cool and elegant designs,
0:57:14 > 0:57:17it's certainly one that we admire.
0:57:22 > 0:57:24'Next time, I'll find out about
0:57:24 > 0:57:28'the surprisingly ancient Greek origins of our modern railways
0:57:28 > 0:57:31'at the spectacular Corinth canal.'
0:57:31 > 0:57:35So, this is incredible - 600 BC,
0:57:35 > 0:57:39two parallel lines of stone, logs running between them
0:57:39 > 0:57:41and on top of the logs, the ships.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45- Yes.- That's even more extraordinary than the canal.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48'I'll learn how to satisfy the nation's sweet tooth...'
0:57:48 > 0:57:52- More.- More? More?!
0:57:55 > 0:57:59I'm having to hoof it through these beautiful olive groves.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07'..and show a strength that would rival Hercules.'
0:58:07 > 0:58:09MAN YELLS
0:58:14 > 0:58:16Done!