0:00:52 > 0:00:59National Day in Tiraspol, the capital of Transdniester, a place most people have never heard of.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02It's a breakaway state of the republic of Moldova -
0:01:02 > 0:01:05another place most people have never heard of.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Which makes me doubly glad to be here.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18I never witnessed anything quite like this before.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22A National Day parade for a nation that doesn't exist.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25This is Transdniester. They have their own army, their own currency,
0:01:25 > 0:01:29but no single other country in the world recognises them.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32But today, they'll recognise themselves.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Transdniester, literally "Across the Dniester River",
0:01:36 > 0:01:41consists of 4,000 square kilometres and just over half a million people.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Oh, and a helicopter.
0:01:50 > 0:01:56When the old Soviet republic of Moldova won independence in 1991,
0:01:56 > 0:02:01those on the east bank of the Dniester River felt let down.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05The majority were Slavs, they used the Russian language and alphabet,
0:02:05 > 0:02:09whereas the rest of Moldova spoke Romanian, the Latin language.
0:02:09 > 0:02:15So in 1992, after a short civil war, the Transdniesterans declared themselves independent.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Which is what today's festivities are all about.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37These people want so much to remain Russian.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40But in most of their lifetimes, it looks increasingly unlikely
0:02:40 > 0:02:43that the rift with Moldova will ever be repaired.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52After crossing the Dniester,
0:02:52 > 0:02:55I shall pass through the rest of Moldova,
0:02:55 > 0:02:57into northern Romania,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00south to Transylvania and Bucharest,
0:03:00 > 0:03:01then on to the Danube.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14I'm coming into Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18This was once the far south-western corner of the mighty Soviet Union.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23Now it's a tiny independent country, trying to find its place on the new map of Europe.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Chisinau isn't without its problems.
0:03:29 > 0:03:35But first impressions are of a likeable, surprisingly verdant, easy-going city.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39I take a walk in the park with Tatiana Tabuliyak, a local journalist.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42For a moment, it's like stepping back in time.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45BAND PLAYS
0:03:51 > 0:03:54This is a place where, actually, old people come,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58but you can see today, not only old people are coming.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01- I think lonely people are coming here.- Yes.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04It's a place where they can be not so lonely.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08You can see here, they're pensioners,
0:04:08 > 0:04:13most of them, retired persons, living alone, with a very small pension.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16Some of them, they're just left alone, you know?
0:04:16 > 0:04:21They're not rich. They have very poor condition in life.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26What they do every Sunday, they just put a nice dress on themselves,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29make a little bit of make-up, put medals, nice suits,
0:04:29 > 0:04:33and they're coming here just to meet each other.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37- They can dance with anyone here, can they?- A lot of love stories started here.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40They're quite old, some of them. Almost my age!
0:04:40 > 0:04:42This is not old.
0:04:48 > 0:04:53You can come here for a good dose of optimism for your week.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06You know, see when a man doesn't want to dance, a lady should have more courage.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Come on then.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13- Will you be able to lead? - We'll see what we can do.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18- Oh dear, there we go. - It's not so bad.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22I'll just watch what everyone else does.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44Is there much regret at the passing of the old Soviet Union?
0:05:44 > 0:05:49Do people feel nostalgic at all here, for those days?
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Actually, a lot.
0:05:51 > 0:05:57If you would ask all of those people, you see here, they would start crying and they would say,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59"We want back."
0:05:59 > 0:06:06Young generation, they are not so nostalgic, we didn't even get too much from the Soviet period.
0:06:06 > 0:06:12I think people miss not the regime, they miss jobs,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16they miss pensions, they miss, er...I don't know,
0:06:16 > 0:06:21cheap food and good vacations.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25I also miss Sovietic period. You know why? Because I was young.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30I had my parents alive, and if this means to miss Soviet Union,
0:06:30 > 0:06:36yes, I miss, because I was a child, I had my grandparents,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38I went to all of these places.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Everything seems to be so beautiful.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45But now, logically, of course I'm so happy that it's not here
0:06:45 > 0:06:48and I can speak with you today.
0:06:48 > 0:06:5020 years ago, this would be a crime.
0:06:50 > 0:06:56I would probably have a file now, if you would come and I would tell you all these things.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00This is important to know and to keep in mind always.
0:07:00 > 0:07:06Everybody is nostalgic for something, but it's important to be realistic at one point.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11You miss the sensation of something, you miss the smell or the taste,
0:07:11 > 0:07:17but you cannot miss something which killed and made unhappy so many generations.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27Tatiana also helps run the UNICEF operation in Moldova.
0:07:27 > 0:07:33Tomorrow, she's going to take me to a village outside the capital to see their work in action.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Moldova is the poorest country in Europe.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Many in the countryside can only support their families by working abroad.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45Those left behind are easy prey for drug dealers and people traffickers.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48With the help of UNICEF, the children of this village
0:07:48 > 0:07:53have put on a play to make people aware of the dangers that they face.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01What's...? What are they attempting to show and deal with here?
0:08:01 > 0:08:05It's a story about trafficking. Here's a typical Moldovan village.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08People wake up to go to work.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Trafficking is a big issue in Moldova, actually.
0:08:14 > 0:08:21A quarter of the population is out, mainly women, working illegally.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23- Abroad?- Yes, abroad.
0:08:25 > 0:08:32These are people who went abroad and now they're coming back to recruit people for prostitution, for begging.
0:08:32 > 0:08:38Actually, they have probably lived in the same village for many years and now they come here because
0:08:38 > 0:08:44people trust them, because if you live with someone for 20 years, you trust that person.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47And actually, these are the main traffickers.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Local people coming back to their own village?
0:08:50 > 0:08:55People coming back, they promise them 200-300 per month.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57For them, this is huge money.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01Every time, you think this wouldn't happen to you.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04You hope at least that this won't happen to you.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06She's going to be...
0:09:06 > 0:09:11- This is already somewhere in Italy maybe, or in Moscow.- Yeah.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16They take their papers, they leave them like in streets,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19or in a room for years and years.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23They usually see, he injected some drugs to the girl.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25This is what is happening.
0:09:25 > 0:09:30They are living, like three, four, five years, drugged...
0:09:30 > 0:09:32being forced to prostitute.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37And they come back. We have a lot of cases here
0:09:37 > 0:09:41when they need years to recover.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Actually, children are very expressive.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47Imagine that every second has parents abroad.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51- Every second child here? - Every second child acting has parents abroad.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55Maybe they didn't see them for years - five years, six years.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57They just received money from them.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Maybe that's why they're so good. They've just seen it on people's faces.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05It's the look on the faces that's so intense.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08It's full of feeling, isn't it? It's very moving.
0:10:08 > 0:10:14What you are doing here, the play, does it do any good at all if people are just going to go anyway?
0:10:14 > 0:10:16Do you think it does change minds?
0:10:16 > 0:10:20I think the main message is that they inform them.
0:10:20 > 0:10:25Now they can know that things like this can happen.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29You should be very careful with who are you talking.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Who is taking you abroad?
0:10:31 > 0:10:34You know, this is... We want to do this for them
0:10:34 > 0:10:37and they're doing actually. Of course people will go.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42But they will ask themselves ten times what they're doing,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44with who they're doing it.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47So what's happening now? She's being sold.
0:10:47 > 0:10:52What sort of money is involved when they're sold?
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Up to 5,000.
0:10:54 > 0:11:01But for this money, she will have to work for years and years in prostitution. Years and years.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05We've had cases when women were telling us
0:11:05 > 0:11:09that they've been forced to sleep with 40 men per day.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13- Yeah.- Young girls, like 18-years-old.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18- This is a tragedy. - That's appalling, yes.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22In the end, good defeats bad and those who were seized
0:11:22 > 0:11:26escape their tormentors and return to the village.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31It's been a moving performance to watch, but Tatiana remains a realist.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34It's a beautiful happy end.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37- But life is not always like this. - No.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40APPLAUSE
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Despite all its problems, Moldova is far from depressing.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Chisinau continues to surprise me.
0:11:57 > 0:12:03Under the Communist regime, the arts were always encouraged, provided they didn't question the party line.
0:12:03 > 0:12:09So there was always a chance of stumbling across an experimental sculpture park, like this one here,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12which turns out to be just around the corner from a housing block,
0:12:12 > 0:12:17specially built to provide studios for working artists.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Lika, a children's book illustrator shows me one of them.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24And I step into a world which nothing quite prepared me for.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30POP MUSIC PLAYS
0:12:37 > 0:12:43Believe it or not, this is an 87-year-old man - Lika's dad.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51- Does he make? Does your father make all the masks himself?- Yes.
0:12:54 > 0:13:00The man behind the mask is Globus Shinchuk, one of the best-known artists in Moldova.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04Did he always used to do shows like this?
0:13:04 > 0:13:05Yes, yes, yes.
0:13:05 > 0:13:11But he calls it... a theatre of one spectator.
0:13:11 > 0:13:17- Right. Yes.- You see, it's a theatre with one actor, but he is a theatre with one spectator.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22For he doesn't like many people, being crowded.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25It's few people and he shows there.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29- I like that. A theatre of one spectator.- It's very live.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33I'm not sure if you show it, it will be all right.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36It's live, you see, like jazz.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38It should be seen live.
0:13:38 > 0:13:39Yes.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Globus has been making faces for 50 years.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51But it's the big stars that really seem to attract him,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55though Pavarotti is usually a bit bigger than this.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Yeah, very convincing.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20We must ask him.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24'There's a lifetime's work here, providing a fascinating archive
0:14:24 > 0:14:29'of the politicians and celebrities of the Soviet era, with whom Globus grew up.'
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Were there good things about the Soviet system for an artist?
0:14:33 > 0:14:36No, I don't think.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39You see, people...
0:14:39 > 0:14:44had a hope, somehow, but now they don't.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46That's the difference.
0:14:46 > 0:14:52They hoped that they will have an apartment, you see,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55in 20 years, in 50 years.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00They think, after 100 years, they will build communism.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03It's a foolish hope.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07But some people lived with this.
0:15:07 > 0:15:08With this hope.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12But now they must be more real.
0:15:12 > 0:15:13Real, no?
0:15:13 > 0:15:17You can still have a hope.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19No, you don't now.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Hope was fed by...
0:15:21 > 0:15:25by the...how?
0:15:25 > 0:15:28By the party.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31- By the party.- Yeah.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34The party would probably not have approved
0:15:34 > 0:15:38of the partying that goes on every night in the nightclubs of Chisinau.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Through Tatiana I meet Olga Maxim,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51who, at 16, left Moldova to study as an actress in Romania.
0:15:51 > 0:15:57Though she now has a partner and a child there, she comes home regularly to visit her mother.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01She suggests I might like to go with her and see a quieter side of Moldovan life.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Her mother lives in a farming village, one hour south of Chisinau.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46Yes, I'm visiting her quite often - once a month.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48We're coming every month.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51- Have you got brothers and sisters? - I have a sister.
0:16:51 > 0:16:57'Olga's father died seven years ago, and her mother, Helena, lives alone in the family house.'
0:16:57 > 0:16:59Mum is working.
0:17:06 > 0:17:11She wants you to do the work now. Yes, exactly. Hello.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14What should I say really?
0:17:14 > 0:17:16THEY SPEAK IN MOLDOVAN
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Very nice to meet you. She's been very helpful to me.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22THEY SPEAK IN MOLDOVAN
0:17:25 > 0:17:28But she's a crazy driver.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34Like many who've grown up in the world of Communist collectives,
0:17:34 > 0:17:38Helena has learnt the importance of having something of your own.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Does she have to buy any food at all or she quite self-sufficient?
0:17:42 > 0:17:44No, she doesn't buy anything.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47She's growing everything in her garden.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50She buys sugar or probably rice.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52I mean, for sure.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56But everything that she grows in the garden.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01What are her luxuries? What would she like to spend her money on,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04apart from a new pair of garden gloves?
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Chocolate!
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Chocolate.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19- Sweet things that she cannot grow in the garden...- That's good.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24- ..that she buys from the city. - I'll remember that. I'll get you a box of chocolates.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26The rest, she has everything.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37She has everything and she's growing chickens and ducks and all these kinds.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40Helena gets up at four every morning.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43When I look at her garden, I can see why.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Mum wants to show you her garden.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01- She grows tomatoes. - She grows all of this herself,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04and picks them, and all that?
0:19:04 > 0:19:08- Yes, everything that she grows in here is for herself.- Yes.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12Your family have lived here for generations. On both sides?
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Yes, yes, yes.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17What did your father do?
0:19:17 > 0:19:19My father was a...
0:19:19 > 0:19:23He had kind of ruling jobs.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26- First, he was...- In politics?
0:19:26 > 0:19:29He was a Communist, actually.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33He was... How they call it?
0:19:33 > 0:19:39..In the party, in the Communist Party. He was kind of boss.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44- Most people were at that time, weren't they?- All of them. All of the men in the village.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48- Picking like a maniac here!- Yeah, she's picking.- I love it, really.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53We natter on, and she's just really concerned about getting the raspberries in.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57They're lovely. What does she think about Moldova now?
0:19:57 > 0:20:02I mean, does she think things are going to get better or worse?
0:20:02 > 0:20:04THEY SPEAK IN MOLDOVAN
0:20:19 > 0:20:23She says that...I think that...
0:20:23 > 0:20:29She thinks that things might go worse because of the economic situation.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32The salaries are very small, and the prices are growing.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37For her, it's enough - she says, "For me, it's enough, I have everything."
0:20:37 > 0:20:40- Yes.- But for the other people from the cities, especially,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44things might get worse because of the economy.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48Does she...? Is she nostalgic for the Communist time?
0:20:53 > 0:20:55No? No, she's happy.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Despite this, I suspect it will be a long time
0:20:59 > 0:21:04before "new Europe" changes the way of life in the Moldovan countryside.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09Certainly, the meal Helena treats us to owes more to the old days.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12- How is it?- It's very nice, yes, yeah.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18'And she's made the wine as well.'
0:21:18 > 0:21:21- But it must mean that... - She wants to toast.- A toast, oh, yes.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23Yes, well, thank you.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28- Cheers.- Here's to Moldovan way of life,
0:21:28 > 0:21:30Moldovan food,
0:21:30 > 0:21:32to the best cook in Moldova.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39Are people more inclined now towards Romania and...
0:21:39 > 0:21:41obviously then to the West and Europe?
0:21:41 > 0:21:46After the separation, they just remain alone, totally alone.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51And Moldova has no industry, has nothing to live from, just land.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55There, you see, they are growing vegetables, and they are having this.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59Actually, the Soviet Union was calling Moldova the sunny country,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02because everything was here very natural,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06the vegetables and the chicken and everything was growing naturally from the land.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10There was nothing chemicals or stuff like this.
0:22:10 > 0:22:11Would you come back to live here?
0:22:11 > 0:22:16In Moldova? Maybe when I'm very old...maybe.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18There you are, you see?
0:22:18 > 0:22:21A qualified person like yourself can't really work here.
0:22:26 > 0:22:32Here in the south of Moldova, old and new worlds meet in quite surreal circumstances.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35DRUMMING
0:22:42 > 0:22:47The country's top group, Zdob Si Zdub, much influenced by folk music,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51has come here specially to re-unite with a gypsy lady,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54known and loved by all as Grandma.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYS
0:23:00 > 0:23:03HE SINGS IN MOLDOVAN
0:23:25 > 0:23:30Grandma won international fame banging the drum for Moldova
0:23:30 > 0:23:33in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest.
0:23:33 > 0:23:34They came sixth.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45Well, we've now left Moldova, and we're in Moldavia.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50Moldova's a separate country, as we know. Moldavia is a part of Romania.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53It's confusing, I know, but it's very, very beautiful.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02In the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains,
0:24:02 > 0:24:06largely protected from marauding armies and political commissars,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09are some of the least-changed communities in Europe.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Religion remains the focus of local life,
0:24:13 > 0:24:15and the churches are works of art.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21The walls of this one, the monastery at Moldovita,
0:24:21 > 0:24:25are covered inside and out with frescos painted 500 years ago.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27These ones here are a graphic account
0:24:27 > 0:24:32of the siege of Constantinople, with Christian armies desperately fighting off the Turks.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36It's like mediaeval news footage.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41- Every single wall is covered. - Yes, every square inch, we can say, is covered with paintings, yeah?
0:24:41 > 0:24:48What we see here, this is Last Judgment scene, always at the entrance to remind people about...
0:24:48 > 0:24:51how important it is to take care of their next lives.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55'Carolina is my guide to this extraordinary Byzantine masterpiece.'
0:24:55 > 0:25:01- Presumably where the altar would be. - Behind that wall would be the altar, where no men of other religion
0:25:01 > 0:25:04- and no women are ever allowed to go, except nuns sometimes.- Yes.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09And the wall here is called the Icon Wall, or the Iconostasis,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13which is one of the most marvellous parts of this church, basically.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17- Is that gold leaf or gold? - Yes, it's gold, yeah.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21- It's carved in wood and covered with gold.- Yeah, yeah.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25- And they're still working.- And they are still working on it, yes.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Gosh, such detail.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Yeah, so much detail, so much time consuming.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33How long have they been working?
0:25:33 > 0:25:34Just over 15 years now.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39Since it's about 700 euros per square metre to clean it.
0:25:39 > 0:25:45For centuries this has been a hidden gem, but in the new Europe it could be tourist gold.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48BELL TOLLS
0:25:51 > 0:25:57In the mountains of the Maramures region, it's All Souls' Day, and if evidence were needed
0:25:57 > 0:26:04as to why communist atheism made so little headway here, look no further than this churchyard.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20The graveyard in the village of Ieud is packed with families here to remember their loved ones.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28The priest blesses each grave in turn.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43Candles are lit and bread specially baked.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46Ionut, a local student, tells me why.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50This is one of the most important days in the...of the year.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Yeah.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57Because this is...this is the day when we celebrate death.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59Right, remember the dead.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04Yes, just like we celebrate the birth, the wedding,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08and this is the day when we remember the dead.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25It's not just relatives of the living who are remembered.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Any member of a family who has died in the past 200 years can have their name read out.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40It's a touching image of the power of remembrance and continuity,
0:27:40 > 0:27:44and surely helps to make the work of the Grim Reaper seem a little less grim.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52After the mass, I walked through the village
0:27:52 > 0:27:59with Ionut and his father Filimon, who've invited me back to their house to carry on the celebrations.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03Meanwhile, with the dead remembered, the living go back to work.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Despite the beauty of the countryside, life here is hard,
0:28:25 > 0:28:31and the way to find relief from the daily grind is usually with strong drink and a good knees-up.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35I fear that Ionut and Filimon are no exceptions.
0:28:38 > 0:28:43With Ionut's mother keeping a beady eye out in the background,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46the first of several toasts is raised.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Cheese and sausage is on the table, and in the glass - palinka,
0:28:49 > 0:28:52a fiery eau de vie made from apples and pears.
0:28:55 > 0:29:00And with an awful inevitability, one thing leads to another.
0:29:09 > 0:29:10And another.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48Why can't they just have afternoon tea just like anyone else?
0:30:01 > 0:30:06Next morning, I find myself and my hangover aboard a horse and cart,
0:30:06 > 0:30:10along with Clara, whom I'd met last night at the party.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13We're in the town of Sapanta and, perhaps appropriately
0:30:13 > 0:30:17in view of how I feel, on our way to another cemetery.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20- Are we here?- Yeah, we are here, we're gonna stop here.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23But one, as they say, with a difference.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27Most of the graves are decorated by local artist Stan Patras.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30It's nice that all... I mean, the usual symbols of death,
0:30:30 > 0:30:34the skulls and the Grim Reapers, they don't have those things.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36I mean, it's life. I mean, this one here...
0:30:36 > 0:30:38Yeah, this one, it's very...
0:30:38 > 0:30:41- What's that? - This sign is not so sad, actually.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45Here it's about a very happy man who lived a very happy life.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48He liked to drink wine and palinka
0:30:48 > 0:30:50and to entertain woman, you know?
0:30:50 > 0:30:53So he's had a happy life, and when did he die?
0:30:53 > 0:30:56- Did he die when he was...? - He died when he was...
0:30:56 > 0:31:03- 18?- They don't say the age exactly, but he lived a very happy life, so I think he also died very happily.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07I quite like that. I'd like that on my grave, actually.
0:31:07 > 0:31:12Much better than "Here lies so-and-so so-and-so" to have a little sort of picture of me.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14- Yes, it's an idea to...
0:31:14 > 0:31:20Wouldn't you? Some bit of your life celebrated rather than, you know,
0:31:20 > 0:31:25just the word, "Died here," and all the grim stuff, celebrate life.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28Ja, ja, I think it's very nice, ja.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32And people are much more enjoyable when they read that about you
0:31:32 > 0:31:36- and what you did.- I think that's what you want to remember.- Of course.
0:31:36 > 0:31:42Some of them, they are...let's say, happy, cheery, but some of them, they are quite, I think,
0:31:42 > 0:31:47- sad, let's say.- Yes, accidents - this one here, for instance.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49So it's a bittersweet combination.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51What's that? What does that say?
0:31:51 > 0:31:57It's a little kid, and it's about a cab driver, he drove a cab,
0:31:57 > 0:32:04and the girl wondered, "Why that cab should stop near the house and kill me?
0:32:04 > 0:32:07"From all this country he couldn't find another place
0:32:07 > 0:32:12"but next to our house where I was living and stayed nearby?"
0:32:12 > 0:32:15And the cab killed her, so then she is also...
0:32:15 > 0:32:18That describes what happened.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21Yeah, that describes over there, ja, how it happened,
0:32:21 > 0:32:25how the kid drove into the fence and killed the little girl.
0:32:25 > 0:32:30It's an odd combination, isn't it? Cos you feel, you know, an awful accident and a dead girl there,
0:32:30 > 0:32:35and yet somehow it takes the curse off it somehow. It celebrates her short life.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37Yeah, that's true, yeah.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42They call this the merry cemetery, and I can see why.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46There's no better place than this to learn about the pain, pleasure
0:32:46 > 0:32:49and the preoccupations of life in Maramures.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11It's a region that's not overflowing with job opportunities,
0:33:11 > 0:33:14but the forest, high above one of its most remote valleys,
0:33:14 > 0:33:18has for many years provided local men with work.
0:33:20 > 0:33:27It's Monday morning, and I'm joining the train which takes about 80 lumberjacks up into the forest.
0:33:27 > 0:33:28No comment.
0:33:37 > 0:33:38Morning... Hi.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42Well...
0:33:42 > 0:33:46I don't have a ticket, do I need a ticket? No?
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Just need an interest in trees.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50WHISTLE BLOWS
0:34:29 > 0:34:34The more beautiful it gets, the colder it gets, and the only heating's in the engine.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36WHISTLE BLOWS
0:34:59 > 0:35:03This isn't luxury travel, but they're lumberjacks - they're OK.
0:35:32 > 0:35:37It may not look like it, but things have changed for the Romanian lumberjack.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39The chainsaw has replaced the axe,
0:35:39 > 0:35:43and environmental concerns have limited how much they can cut,
0:35:43 > 0:35:45reducing the workforce by a fifth.
0:35:58 > 0:36:05At lunch, I'm introduced to a local delicacy - very useful, I'm told, for soaking up palinka.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08- What's this, by the way? - This is slanina.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10- What's that? - It's like the lard.- White fat.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12It's a fat, it's fat, yes.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14It's from pig meat, it's a pig,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18and usually you take a bit of this, and you must...
0:36:18 > 0:36:21- Do you?- Yes, of course, let's do it.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24- Let's do it.- Is this very...? - Trust in me.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27..very sort of typical of Maramures?
0:36:27 > 0:36:30Typical of Maramures, yes.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32What do you do? You dip it in there?
0:36:32 > 0:36:35No, no, no, no, just...bite it.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40- Oh, yeah.- Cheers! Noroc!
0:36:40 > 0:36:42Noroc! Noroc!
0:36:42 > 0:36:44Mmm, yeah, quite salty and...
0:36:44 > 0:36:48It's not spice, it's good.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51Well, it's fat, but I like it, I like it.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53It's fine, fine.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56We used to have dripping when I was young.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00In Sheffield, you'd have dripping on bread, we'd have that,
0:37:00 > 0:37:04but now nobody...ooh, nobody has it, it's kind of shocking.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08Far too much sort of bad things for you,
0:37:08 > 0:37:12but I think it's... a little bit every now and then.
0:37:16 > 0:37:22Having probably shortened my life by a good few years, it's time to leave this otherwise delightfully
0:37:22 > 0:37:27clean and healthy mountain air and head south with the timber.
0:37:27 > 0:37:28HORN BLOWS
0:37:32 > 0:37:36BELLS RING OUT
0:37:38 > 0:37:42Well, I've come south from Maramures, with its merry preoccupation with the dead,
0:37:42 > 0:37:48to Transylvania, with its rather more sinister preoccupation with the undead.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55This is Sighisoara, in the very heart of Romania,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58and the word "heart" reminds me this is Dracula land.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07The town was fortified by Saxons from south Germany,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10hence the Brothers Grimm, fairytale-like appearance.
0:38:10 > 0:38:16It was intended as a bulwark against invaders coming through the Carpathians,
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Europe's last line of defence.
0:38:18 > 0:38:23Ioanna, my guide, tells me the Germans lived here happily for centuries,
0:38:23 > 0:38:27but the Communists made them unwelcome, and now they've all left.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33One of the most legendary figures in history was born here
0:38:33 > 0:38:38and is still remembered. Ioanna has mixed feelings about his legacy.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45They've really got Dracula...
0:38:45 > 0:38:49Look at all these! Dracula has taken over your town.
0:38:49 > 0:38:55- Yes, this was the house of the father of Vlad the Impaler.- Yeah.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58Maybe he was born right here.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00But who was he?
0:39:00 > 0:39:02He was a great voivode, you know?
0:39:02 > 0:39:05- Voivode, no, what's a voivode? - A prince.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09- A prince, yeah, yeah. - And a great leader.
0:39:09 > 0:39:15- So he was quite a hero for the Romanian people, he fought the Turks.- A big hero.
0:39:15 > 0:39:21- He defended very well his people, and he beated the Turks.- Yeah.
0:39:21 > 0:39:26He did a bit of impaling, though, didn't he? He wasn't very nice, was he?
0:39:26 > 0:39:31It was a good thing, because he loved justice, and it was a habit, you know, all around.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34- Was it? Everybody was impaling everybody else?- Yes.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37We think the medieval times are charming, don't we?
0:39:37 > 0:39:41- This is all Bram Stoker's work, isn't it?- Yes. - He's responsible for this.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43What do you think of all this?
0:39:43 > 0:39:47- These are pretty kitsch, huh, don't you think?- That's what I like.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50- Yes, it's funny. - I like these especially.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53- OK, buy them.- Would you mind? Turn your back if I just...
0:39:53 > 0:39:58- I'll be your witness. - Keep the Dracula business going. - Please buy them in front of me.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00Maybe I can have these two here.
0:40:00 > 0:40:01Whoops!
0:40:01 > 0:40:03There we are.
0:40:03 > 0:40:09A coffee for me and the wife. That will be nice in the morning, before impalings.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13Can we have those? Thank you. How much?
0:40:13 > 0:40:15- 300.- OK, 300.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17It's good, this.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19OK, fine.
0:40:19 > 0:40:25And if you want, I have a colleague performing Count Dracula.
0:40:25 > 0:40:27- Oh.- The character of Bram Stoker.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Is he scary, your friend?
0:40:29 > 0:40:31- Very.- Very scary.
0:40:31 > 0:40:32If you want to be scared.
0:40:32 > 0:40:38Combining history and local superstitions, Irish writer Bram Stoker
0:40:38 > 0:40:44created a character responsible for a tourist industry that has brought wealth
0:40:44 > 0:40:48and car parks to the gentle Transylvanian countryside.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59Dracula's most blood-curdling deeds were set here at Bran Castle.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02It certainly looks the part,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04and attracts some strange people.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07- Welcome to my castle.- Thank you.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09- Come with me.- Thank you.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11Be my guest.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14'Johanna's friend Peter has to be one of them.
0:41:14 > 0:41:15'He doesn't look well.'
0:41:17 > 0:41:21Come with me...my friends.
0:41:23 > 0:41:24You first.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27No, you first!
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Oh, dear. Into-the-little-passageway syndrome.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Bring the garlic!
0:41:37 > 0:41:39It's strange.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
0:41:42 > 0:41:44HE CONTINUES LAUGHING
0:41:50 > 0:41:52It's death.
0:41:57 > 0:42:03These rooms were done up in the 1920s by Queen Marie, wife of King Karol,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06when Romania had a royal family.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08Sorry, back to the story.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10- Old vampire.- Girl!
0:42:10 > 0:42:13Ssh, girl!
0:42:29 > 0:42:30Aaargh!
0:42:36 > 0:42:40Transylvania, oh, Transylvania.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44In Transylvania you can see very strange things.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46'Telling me!'
0:42:48 > 0:42:50But I have more.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55My revenge is begun.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58I spied it over the century,
0:42:58 > 0:43:01and time is on my side.
0:43:07 > 0:43:12I've seen a lot of Romania's unchanged rural byways.
0:43:12 > 0:43:18Now it's time to head for the capital, Bucharest, to find out how modern Romania has been shaped.
0:43:18 > 0:43:23And, as happens on trains, I end up learning a thing or two on the way.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27I notice the book you're reading is by Cioran.
0:43:27 > 0:43:32- Yeah.- In my guide book there's a great bit here about
0:43:32 > 0:43:39Emil Cioran, the philosopher, who published On The Heights Of Despair, setting out nihilist anti-philosophy
0:43:39 > 0:43:43that the only valid thing to do with one's life is to end it.
0:43:43 > 0:43:48- But continued to expound this view until he was 84.- Yeah.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51- Yeah, quite so.- So is he well known?
0:43:51 > 0:43:54It is, actually, it is.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57It's one of the Romanian biggest philosopher.
0:43:57 > 0:44:03He's part of the golden generation of Romanian spirituality,
0:44:03 > 0:44:05built up between the wars.
0:44:05 > 0:44:11Europeans seem to be able to respect and admire philosophy more than they do in England. Is that so?
0:44:11 > 0:44:15- Really?- We don't really have great philosophers.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18You have Shakespeare, which explains everything.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21- Maybe that's it.- Yeah, yeah.
0:44:21 > 0:44:27We have this sort of conceit in the West that we are Europe.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30And I've discovered from this journey that it's not like that.
0:44:30 > 0:44:36The culture and history is all entwined. And Romania must have felt itself to be part of Europe.
0:44:36 > 0:44:42Romania has...in one way, in one time in its history,
0:44:42 > 0:44:48elected to be in eternity, to have no connection with historical time because it's a tear-off of history.
0:44:48 > 0:44:55We are in the middle of the crossroads of all nation invaders, empires and everything else.
0:44:55 > 0:45:02And to survive, the Romanian people choose to be suspended in eternity.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06I'm not entirely sure what that means.
0:45:06 > 0:45:11When I set out to see Bucharest next morning, I'm not entirely sure where I am.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24Have I been flown back to London overnight?
0:45:39 > 0:45:42Perhaps I never left Maramures.
0:45:46 > 0:45:52Ah, now I understand! Of course, I'm in the American West!
0:45:52 > 0:45:54Hello, you're Bogdan.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Very good. Very good to meet you.
0:45:56 > 0:46:01I feel I have been all over the world in the last two minutes trying to get here.
0:46:01 > 0:46:06Bogdan runs the many make-believe worlds here at Castel Film Studios.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08It's a Romanian success story,
0:46:08 > 0:46:11with international hits like Cold Mountain shot here.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14And another American movie currently in production.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16Action!
0:46:17 > 0:46:21- How did it come to be you? - Post communism was very chaotic.
0:46:21 > 0:46:28Most of the industry is trying to find pace, trying to find direction, markets were collapsing,
0:46:28 > 0:46:31systems were collapsing and changing.
0:46:31 > 0:46:37So it seems to be crazy for a young DOP at that time called Vlad Paunescu to start a business like that.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42You know, it seems crazy but in the end, now,
0:46:42 > 0:46:46it seems to be a very successful business.
0:46:54 > 0:47:01Bucharest - a sprawl of some 2 million people, has been a capital for 350 years.
0:47:03 > 0:47:09But it's the traumatic recent history, shaped by the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu,
0:47:09 > 0:47:14who ran the place for 25 years, that is stamped all over it.
0:47:14 > 0:47:20That building in front of us there, the white building, was the central committee of the Communist Party.
0:47:21 > 0:47:27This is where the revolution in 1989 started in Bucharest.
0:47:27 > 0:47:33This is where a big crowd of people was gathered in December 1989,
0:47:33 > 0:47:38by Ceausescu, strangely enough, in a big rally,
0:47:38 > 0:47:43to support communism actually.
0:47:43 > 0:47:50And people started to boo him, and in a way to attack him verbally,
0:47:50 > 0:47:54and then, gradually, literally attacked this building
0:47:54 > 0:48:01and from the top of the building is a very famous shot of his helicopter taking off from the Palace.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05Within days he was executed.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08The Communist system in Romania was probably,
0:48:08 > 0:48:13if not the toughest, definitely one of the toughest in Eastern Europe.
0:48:13 > 0:48:18It was very similar... and he actually had models
0:48:18 > 0:48:24from those areas in North Korea and Vietnam at that time, in Iraq.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30He became a very good friend with all these dictators.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34And this was the result - Ceausescu's palace of the people.
0:48:34 > 0:48:39After the Pentagon, the second largest building in the world.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46It now houses, amongst other things, the Romanian parliament,
0:48:46 > 0:48:48and I'm shown around by another Bogdan,
0:48:48 > 0:48:53MP and current president of the Chamber of Deputies, Bogdan Olteanu.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00Frankly, everybody hated it because of its history,
0:49:00 > 0:49:04because of the people that were brought here by force.
0:49:04 > 0:49:09Some of them died. Thousands of houses had been demolished in this area
0:49:09 > 0:49:14and people were forcibly removed, so, basically Romanians hated it.
0:49:14 > 0:49:19There was a long debate in the early '90s about what to do with it
0:49:19 > 0:49:21and one of the ideas was to bomb it.
0:49:21 > 0:49:27- To bomb it?- To demolish it, OK. The idea was to bomb it from a plane.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35In the end it was easier to keep it.
0:49:35 > 0:49:40A headache for Bogdan and his colleagues now is how to fill the space.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54The statistics are staggering.
0:49:54 > 0:50:00Begun in 1984, 20,000 labourers and 700 architects
0:50:00 > 0:50:02worked 24 hours a day
0:50:02 > 0:50:08to build over 1,000 rooms, hang 4,500 chandeliers,
0:50:08 > 0:50:13lay 1 million cubic feet of marble, and it's still not finished.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21One carpet alone weighed 14 tons.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25There's a nuclear bunker dug 70 ft below ground
0:50:25 > 0:50:32and 26 churches and 7,000 homes were demolished for this and the civic centre that surrounds it.
0:50:34 > 0:50:39You can see the grand scheme here from this balcony.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42Yeah. Here, he can address the people, and they will never know
0:50:42 > 0:50:46who's addressing them because they can hardly see you from there.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49That's a bit of a mistake. Was he illuminated?
0:50:49 > 0:50:51- Minor mistake!- Minor mistake.
0:50:51 > 0:50:55If he had the time, probably he would have built a second building.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58Was that based on the Champs Elysees?
0:50:58 > 0:51:02I wouldn't say it's based on the looks, but it's certainly based on the size.
0:51:02 > 0:51:09He wanted to have a boulevard longer and wider, and he managed to have it longer and wider.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12It's a little bit wider and a little bit longer.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14Nobody compares them, obviously.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18Fragments of the old city can still be seen
0:51:18 > 0:51:23but, in truth, there's little left of the golden days of the 1920s and '30s,
0:51:23 > 0:51:26when Bucharest was known as Little Paris.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36Of course, there have been golden days for Romania since then,
0:51:36 > 0:51:43many of which involved their world number-one tennis player of the 1970s, Ilie Nastase.
0:51:44 > 0:51:46Oh!
0:51:46 > 0:51:48Oh, I say!
0:51:48 > 0:51:52I've never been in a tennis superstar's home before.
0:51:52 > 0:51:56- So show me these... - I'm not any more. I'm no superstar.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59Well, there you are. That was the superstar days.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02There's one with the ugly chap. Oh, my God!
0:52:02 > 0:52:05- How long have you been in this house?- 33 years.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07Have you ever wanted to live in another city?
0:52:07 > 0:52:12Yeah - New York. And also Rome, but I was in New York the first time.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14I don't have time for Rome after.
0:52:14 > 0:52:19I feel I know you because I've seen you so often and followed your...
0:52:19 > 0:52:22I think I saw you, too. Seriously.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24- Not playing tennis?- No, no.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31I know your face, I don't know from when, but your face, I saw, yes.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33- Way back, way back.- Way back?
0:52:33 > 0:52:35- Me too.- Yeah.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38When you were a tennis superstar in the '70s,
0:52:38 > 0:52:42what was it like here in Ceausescu's Communist Romania?
0:52:42 > 0:52:47Yet being able to leave the country and go to the bright lights of the West?
0:52:47 > 0:52:49Did you feel a bit in two worlds?
0:52:49 > 0:52:54It was difficult for me because, you know, I was living mostly in the West.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57And I play in the West all the time.
0:52:57 > 0:53:03And when I play Davis Cup, I have to come back, and I know the situation not very good.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06Because my parents told me what's happening.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09They have a good life, but other people not.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12We're looking at new Europe, and how it's changing.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15How much has Romania changed, since the fall of communism?
0:53:15 > 0:53:18Unfortunately, I think the people have more freedom
0:53:18 > 0:53:21but they have less money, unfortunately.
0:53:21 > 0:53:26I'm talking about general people, not the few who are very rich,
0:53:26 > 0:53:31and they have not millions but billions, some of them.
0:53:31 > 0:53:36But unfortunately, like I said, freedom is there, but they cannot travel.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39Before, they have the money to travel, they do not have the passport.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42Sorry, this is a slightly different tack.
0:53:42 > 0:53:47It may be rather personal, but I read a quote where you said you had slept with 250,000...
0:53:47 > 0:53:51- Sorry, no, 250,000 women.- No, 2,500.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55- 2,500 women.- Well, it's not exactly like that, but I just said it.
0:53:55 > 0:54:01I cannot tell you the story because then the autobiography, it not sell my books!
0:54:01 > 0:54:06No, I did with David Beckham, and she's English, the lady I did the book.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10- And of course... - Was that a round figure?
0:54:10 > 0:54:15He came to me, and asked me, how many girls do you think you sleep with?
0:54:15 > 0:54:20I said, I don't know, I never count them, but I said, for 30 years,
0:54:20 > 0:54:25I didn't put more than 30 years, but 30 years, maybe three a month,
0:54:25 > 0:54:30four a month, five a month, it's, you know, almost 2,000.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33No, I said, 800, 900.
0:54:33 > 0:54:38And she said, no, it cannot be like this. First, it doesn't look good for your reputation,
0:54:38 > 0:54:41it does not look good for my book, can't sell the book,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44and then I said, OK. I said 2,500.
0:54:44 > 0:54:46"That sounds very good!"
0:54:46 > 0:54:49So, that's what I said. It is a joke, you know?
0:54:49 > 0:54:53I think I'll try and say that. You can get away with it, I can't.
0:54:53 > 0:54:56No, but it's, you know, you never count.
0:54:56 > 0:55:00For me, the one that counts is the last one.
0:55:02 > 0:55:07In the villages and towns of northern Romania, we saw the legacy of the past respected.
0:55:07 > 0:55:13Ceausescu, the son of peasants, signally failed to do the same for Bucharest.
0:55:13 > 0:55:18He treated the capital as his plaything, destroying lives and history in the process.
0:55:24 > 0:55:30The time has come for me to leave this rather oddly endearing mess of a capital.
0:55:30 > 0:55:35It seems to have got over the indignities of the Ceausescu years
0:55:35 > 0:55:40and is coming well on the way to becoming Little Paris again, or maybe Little Milan.
0:55:40 > 0:55:45It's time to head on back to the Danube - my highway through Europe.
0:55:50 > 0:55:55At the spot where a Roman bridge once spanned this far frontier of their empire,
0:55:55 > 0:56:00I walk with Dan Badorau, who was born and brought up here.
0:56:00 > 0:56:05A National Theatre actor, he's also much in demand to play baddies in American action movies.
0:56:05 > 0:56:10The ideal person, perhaps, to escort me out of Romania.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18A massive Hydro-Electric plant has transformed this dramatic stretch
0:56:18 > 0:56:22of the Danube from a turbulent gorge called the Iron Gates,
0:56:22 > 0:56:25to a wide, windswept sea.
0:56:35 > 0:56:40- The gorge is...there? - Where those rocks are, yes.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42You'll see.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46- It's fantastic.- The whole thing narrows, very, very tight.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49The Danube here is like a big lake.
0:56:49 > 0:56:53'Ahead of me and Dan, another gorge waits to be navigated..
0:56:53 > 0:56:57And now you will see, in one minute,
0:56:57 > 0:57:00a huge statue of, er...
0:57:00 > 0:57:03of our ancient king, Decebalus.
0:57:03 > 0:57:09- Really?- Yeah.- Where is it? Just round the inlet there?- Yes.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16Strange place for a statue.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19I still can't see anything.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22- The eyes.- Oh, yes!
0:57:22 > 0:57:24- Nose!- Yes!
0:57:26 > 0:57:29- Huge...- That's very good.
0:57:31 > 0:57:33And what does it say?
0:57:33 > 0:57:38It says in Latin, "Decebalus Rex. Dragan fecit."
0:57:38 > 0:57:43- Dragan made it.- Dragan made it. - Who's Dragan?
0:57:43 > 0:57:49He made his fortune in Italy and he gave a gift for the Romanian people.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52- Gift to the Romanian people?- Yes.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54King Decebalus is a hero?
0:57:54 > 0:57:59- He's a hero, he fight with the Romans.- Ah, right, yeah.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02With Trajan, Emperor Trajan.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04Trajan, yeah.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06Trajan, yes.
0:58:07 > 0:58:09As we approach the gorge,
0:58:09 > 0:58:14I experience a feeling the Roman legionnaires might have shared,
0:58:14 > 0:58:16of leaving a far-off outpost,
0:58:16 > 0:58:19as the Danube carries me onwards.
0:58:38 > 0:58:41Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:41 > 0:58:45E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk