0:00:36 > 0:00:39For 50 years after the Second World War Soviet muscle - both
0:00:39 > 0:00:43military and political - dominated the Baltic States.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50But in 1991 they gained their independence.
0:00:50 > 0:00:59Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were now free to live their lives, revive their culture and clear up the mess.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15This is Tallinn, capital of Estonia.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21From here I'll be travelling through the Baltics south to Kaliningrad.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23When I was last here,
0:01:23 > 0:01:2816 years ago, it was an unwelcoming Soviet republic.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Left to its own devices Tallinn has boomed.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Estonia has a population not much more than Birmingham,
0:01:38 > 0:01:42and everyone is doing rather nicely.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45I'm driving along the coast to meet some of these newly-affluent
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Estonians who are trying to come to terms with it all.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04The days of Communist conformity are long gone.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08Our hosts, Margus and Evelin and their family, live in a pyramid.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12What's it like,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14living inside a pyramid?
0:02:14 > 0:02:16It helps to find
0:02:16 > 0:02:25the way to do things and the way you find and feel the power inside you that, er, that's
0:02:25 > 0:02:28like the...like God.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31It helps to find God in you.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34- God or good?- God.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37God in you. God is everything.
0:02:37 > 0:02:44God is like the basic energy and if you find this God you can, er,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46you can create whatever.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51Are Estonians particularly interested in spiritual things?
0:02:51 > 0:02:58Many people are searching for spiritual enlightenment and
0:02:58 > 0:03:01looking for different practices, how
0:03:01 > 0:03:03to get their life
0:03:03 > 0:03:05getting...er,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09flowing easier, and to be happier.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Living in a pyramid is clearly not the only way to make your life happier,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17and tonight friends and neighbours are here to try another approach.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23At the moment it mainly involves staring.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44The sun is at last beginning to set,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47and Margus, our host, is making final preparations.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07It looks like any summer barbeque but the only difference is that
0:04:07 > 0:04:10what's going on this barbeque, are the guests.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22DRUMMING
0:04:28 > 0:04:30Margus leads off.
0:04:37 > 0:04:38Intrepid ladies follow him.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Some of the men are not so sure.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Why do you think people do this, Margus?
0:05:06 > 0:05:10I think they do it because the same reason why I do that.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12It gives me good feeling
0:05:12 > 0:05:14and, um...
0:05:15 > 0:05:17..my heart will be open.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20I know who I am better.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Is it about conquering fear?
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Yes, yes.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32To understand that fear, how it can
0:05:32 > 0:05:40be without fear, we have to bring fear so close, if we can to look, what is fear?
0:05:45 > 0:05:49- I feel, I scared at the moment more than...- Really?
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Really. Really!
0:05:51 > 0:05:54It's so funny. Really.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56I feel pfff - "What I need to say, how can I say?"
0:05:56 > 0:06:00You did very well. Very well. Very good.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02It's a curiously emotional evening.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06But I'm afraid the only things I'll be putting on fires are chestnuts.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Further up the coast are 100 concrete suitcases.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23They symbolise the plight of all those Estonians
0:06:23 > 0:06:27who fled abroad when the Red Army marched into their country in 1944.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33They're part of an art collection assembled by Jaan Manitski who,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35as a babe in arms, was caught up in it all.
0:06:35 > 0:06:41Just from this coastline here many small fishing boats
0:06:41 > 0:06:46left over the Finnish Gulf to Finland or the Baltics to Sweden.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49And most people could only bring with them
0:06:49 > 0:06:57a suitcase. And many times when the small boats were crowded they even had to leave them on the shore here.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00So this is some kind of...
0:07:01 > 0:07:05..a reminder of what has happened on these shores.
0:07:09 > 0:07:15Having made his money as business manger of the pop group Abba, Manitski came back home
0:07:15 > 0:07:18and offered his expertise to Estonia's new free-market economy.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Now all his energies are going into this arts centre.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30'His paintings by Estonian artists are a bit of everything.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33'The good, the bad and the ugly.'
0:07:35 > 0:07:38As my mother would say, I don't think I could live with that!
0:07:38 > 0:07:43- I would neither put it in my living room.- Exactly.
0:07:43 > 0:07:44Perhaps in the bathroom.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50'Jaan shows me his latest acquisition, and very topical it is.'
0:07:50 > 0:07:58This is the painter's view of the organised -
0:07:58 > 0:08:02by individuals - demolishing of the monster.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04The monster being...?
0:08:04 > 0:08:06The monster - this is the Soviet system.
0:08:06 > 0:08:12We started up in a very difficult situation.
0:08:12 > 0:08:19The Estonian economy and the whole society was so integrated in the Soviet system.
0:08:19 > 0:08:25For example, to illustrate it, a big shoe-making factory in Tallinn
0:08:25 > 0:08:27- produced...- Yeah.
0:08:27 > 0:08:33..Left foot shoes number 44.
0:08:33 > 0:08:39The right foot shoes were made in Irkutzk, or Murmansk, or somewhere.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Back in Tallinn the incoming ferries are
0:08:43 > 0:08:47full as yet more people discover the unhurried appeal of the old town.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49BELL TOLLS
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Across the Gothic roof-tops rises the new Estonia,
0:08:53 > 0:08:58a mini Manhattan, with a state-of-the-art electronic economy.
0:08:58 > 0:08:59But in Old Town Square
0:08:59 > 0:09:03I discover there are limits to the Estonian dream.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07Businessman Peter Knoll tells me that for the Russians
0:09:07 > 0:09:12who stayed on here, the government has devised an exquisite torture.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15Russians are obliged to learn Estonian, aren't they?
0:09:15 > 0:09:17That's correct. In order to become an Estonian citizen,
0:09:17 > 0:09:23you must pass a test in Estonian, which comprises about 3,000 characters.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27That's why we have still, I think it's around 10,000 or just slightly below,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30of residents in Estonia without nationality.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33So they're not citizens of Estonia but they're not Russians anymore
0:09:33 > 0:09:36because they've given up their Russian citizenship.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39So what rights do they have?
0:09:39 > 0:09:42They have the right to live here.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46They're mainly elderly people that are not learning the language
0:09:46 > 0:09:49any more, but the family are taking care of them.
0:09:49 > 0:09:56However this has been discussed by the European Union as well because you cannot have it that somebody
0:09:56 > 0:10:02is a resident in your country, who has been living all his life, and cannot have citizenship.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05So it's an issue on the European Union agenda.
0:10:12 > 0:10:18In Soviet times the Baltic States were seen as something of a bracing seaside sanatorium.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21I've been recommended a clinic outside Tallinn where all sorts
0:10:21 > 0:10:24of traditional treatments await the tired traveller.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28The lady I've come to see is one of those Russians who stayed on.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37Her name is Lyudmilla Agajeva and she's an hirudotherapist.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44- Next.- Hello. - Ooh! Hello, how are you?
0:10:44 > 0:10:46Very bad.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Oh, I'll help you. Let's go with me.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52I'm very bad because I've come here!
0:10:57 > 0:11:01What do you want me to take off? Shirt?
0:11:01 > 0:11:03- Everything.- Small striptease.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05- Small striptease?- Yes.
0:11:05 > 0:11:06OK.
0:11:11 > 0:11:12Right. There we go.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14It's here.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16What? And go behind the screens?
0:11:19 > 0:11:21There we go.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Small, not very good striptease, is that OK? Enough?
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Is that OK? Enough?
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Very nice, very nice.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34- Please?- On back or front?
0:11:34 > 0:11:36- No...- Back. OK.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41You see, I've never done this before.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44This is the first time so I don't know what happens.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47- Comfort? Do you have comfort?- Yes, I'm comfortable, very comfortable.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52- Yes, yes. - My heart's beating rather fast.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Isn't it?
0:11:54 > 0:11:58- Quickly, quickly!- Yes, I'm nervous. I've never had small creatures...
0:12:08 > 0:12:09- You can see....- Yeah.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Oh, right!
0:12:15 > 0:12:17Ooh, yes, that doesn't make me feel any better.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21- Better, very better.- But they work?
0:12:21 > 0:12:24They do work, to make me feel stronger?
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Yes. Translator?
0:12:27 > 0:12:29I've been doing so much travelling.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32It's just, is that on my body now?
0:12:32 > 0:12:33So it is. Ooh.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38I experienced a slight sting, nothing more than...
0:12:39 > 0:12:41..having an injection.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47So it's, it's sucking out bad blood? Or...? How...?
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Yes, yes.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53- Bad blood. - It's stuck to you now, isn't it?
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Ah! Ooh! Oh! Jesus!
0:12:58 > 0:13:02- Definitely like a little electric charge.- Mm-hm.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07These special leeches? Leeches that...
0:13:07 > 0:13:11- Yes, yes, special.- It's not so bad.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13It's just...
0:13:14 > 0:13:18You start thinking about what is going on.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24Little black things with their heads into your body.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30It's like a series of quite sharp electric shocks. Oof!
0:13:33 > 0:13:36It's quite, um...
0:13:36 > 0:13:39It's quite a...
0:13:39 > 0:13:41strong stinging sensation.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Put it this way, I won't be doing it again for a bit!
0:13:53 > 0:13:54Ah, I feel better.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56How much blood do they take?
0:13:56 > 0:13:58One glass vodka.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01One glass of vodka?
0:14:01 > 0:14:02Yes please!
0:14:02 > 0:14:07200, maybe 300 millilitres.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12Are you enjoying it? Look, they're getting quite engorged.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16Is that growing? Full of blood?
0:14:16 > 0:14:18I stimulation.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20- You're stimulating the leech?- Yes.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26Oh Gosh. That's something I thought
0:14:26 > 0:14:28I'd never see in my lifetime, someone stimulating a leech.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31There's a first time for everything.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Do they have teeth?
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Yes, teeth. I understand.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49- Ah, 300 teeth.- 300 teeth?
0:14:49 > 0:14:51Each of these little fellows?
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Yes, and three jaws.
0:14:54 > 0:14:55Three j...?
0:14:55 > 0:14:57- Jaws.- Jaws, oh jaws! Yes.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Three jaws.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02That must give them some power.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04Three jaws?
0:15:04 > 0:15:06I mean, that's great!
0:15:06 > 0:15:07Breakfast, lunch and dinner!
0:15:07 > 0:15:09At the same time!
0:15:12 > 0:15:19After they finish taking the blood, then what? What happens then?
0:15:19 > 0:15:20Do you kill them?
0:15:20 > 0:15:22I kill they.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25- I kill.- Yes, why?
0:15:25 > 0:15:28- Because...- I'm very fond of them.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31- They're my friends!- Yes, yes.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Well, I don't want you to kill them.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37- No... - Can they go somewhere to retire?
0:15:37 > 0:15:39Sit quietly in an armchair?
0:15:39 > 0:15:43It's surprise for you? Yes, yes.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45You're a hard woman.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49- When they are hungry...- Yes.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53..You apart second.
0:15:53 > 0:15:54OK.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58Ah! They're still sucking away, those, aren't they?
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Imagine that - halfway through a nice little steak,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04and someone comes and pulls your chair away.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06- Don't want!- OK.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11- Is that blood in them?- Yes.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Can I just touch them?
0:16:13 > 0:16:17- Very nice blood!- Yes, there you are, thank you very much.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Thank you, Frank, thank you, Arthur.
0:16:20 > 0:16:21They're hermaphrodites?
0:16:21 > 0:16:24Thank you, Frank and Diana.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26Thank you Arthur and Elizabeth.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Done a good job.
0:16:29 > 0:16:30There they go.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Yes. They no alcoholics.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37Aw! Now that hurt!
0:16:41 > 0:16:43I don't want to watch them...
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Vodka, very strong vodka.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47That's what it is.
0:16:52 > 0:16:53You're right.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58- Can I have some of that vodka?
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Do you want vodka? Now?
0:17:01 > 0:17:03- Yeah, lovely.- No. Don't want.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06They've had the vodka.
0:17:06 > 0:17:07I have vodka.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Ooh. Ow! Ooh! Ow!
0:17:10 > 0:17:11SHE LAUGHS
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Now that is something - that is something else. Ooh!
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Ooh! Four breasts!
0:17:22 > 0:17:24See?
0:17:24 > 0:17:27- Your friends.- Gonna kill them? I don't want to watch that.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31All finish!
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Thank you. Thank you.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36- They die like that.- Yes.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39No long, drawn out suffering?
0:17:39 > 0:17:44- No, I was mafioso.- You were? You're a caring person.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46But when the moment comes you can...
0:17:48 > 0:17:51..turn into a killer.
0:17:51 > 0:17:52Natasha!
0:18:10 > 0:18:12This is Ape. My idea of the perfect border post.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15- First time?- First time, yes.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19'No queues, no metal detectors, just a man in a hut.'
0:18:19 > 0:18:20Thank you. Thank you very much.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27Pausing only to correct my pronunciation to Ar-pay, not Ape,
0:18:27 > 0:18:31my courteous guard shows me into Latvia.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Half as big again as Estonia,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37its population is little more than two million.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39Is this why their trains are so short?
0:18:43 > 0:18:44Something's missing.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47This is supposed to be the 7:50.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Maybe it's a national holiday.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53Maybe they've heard about the leeches.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Eventually an engine
0:19:00 > 0:19:05arrives and we become, officially, the 7.50 from Aluksne to Gulbene.
0:19:33 > 0:19:34INDISTINCT
0:20:01 > 0:20:05Our progress through this sylvan countryside seems unreal.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Almost dreamlike. Which seems entirely suitable.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12For this is Midsummer's Eve and a big night for Latvians, as people
0:20:12 > 0:20:15up and down the country gather for the pagan festival of Jani.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27The Latvians converted to Christianity much later than most of Europe.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29So resolutely pagan were the local tribes
0:20:29 > 0:20:32that in 1198 the Pope launched a crusade against them.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41Here in the heart of the countryside, the pre-Christian
0:20:41 > 0:20:45traditions of Jani are being painstakingly revived.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50The women wear Garlands, which must contain at least 27 different flowers.
0:20:50 > 0:20:51THEY SING IN LATVIAN
0:20:51 > 0:20:56New arrivals at the celebration are ritually insulted, and then expected to reply.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58THEY SING IN LATVIAN
0:21:07 > 0:21:11Once you've shown you can hold your own, you're allowed to hug the host.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13HE SPEAKS LATVIAN
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Jani is a celebration of birth, growth and fecundity.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25And they do it in style.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27The Latvians have preserved
0:21:27 > 0:21:321,200 - 1,200 melodies for this one night.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34To sing on this one night.
0:21:34 > 0:21:35< SHE SPEAKS LATVIAN
0:21:35 > 0:21:40And 28,000, um, texts - little song lyrics.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Are these written down? Or just handed down.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47- Ja. Written down.- Yeah, they're written down. There's a book.
0:21:47 > 0:21:48SHE SPEAKS LATVIAN
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Yeah. At the moment the sad thing is that people just get drunk.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56And they think that tradition's not necessary,
0:21:56 > 0:21:59and they don't know what to do on Jani, so that's all they do.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01WOMAN SPEAKS LATVIAN
0:22:01 > 0:22:06In the evening we say goodbye to the sun, in the morning we welcome the sun again.
0:22:06 > 0:22:07And you can't sleep tonight.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10- I don't think we're going to. - No! Are you staying here?
0:22:13 > 0:22:18Dancers circle the oak tree, symbol of strength and virility.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24Single women are entreated to find partners.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32The food consists of cheese and bread.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36A little severe, but bread and cheese were all that was left to eat before the new harvest.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Mind you, there's plenty of home-brew to wash it down.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51I hear my name called out, and fear the worst.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56WOMAN SINGS, ALL JOIN IN.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27Thank you.
0:23:30 > 0:23:31What were they saying?
0:23:31 > 0:23:37They were saying to you that you are now Michelis, not Michael,
0:23:37 > 0:23:41which is the Latvian version and the oak
0:23:41 > 0:23:45is always the symbol of strength and virility
0:23:45 > 0:23:49and on Midsummer Night, in the circle,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52it's concentrated on your head.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56So, you are crowned with strength, virility,
0:23:56 > 0:24:01and their singing, and wishing that you will see everything well.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03You will hear everything well,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06and you will film everything well.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10And the filming part is part of the tradition.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Do I have to wear this throughout the rest of the filming?
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Of course!
0:24:15 > 0:24:17- And the rest of the night. - The rest of the night.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21SINGING IN LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Believe me, it's not easy to dance with half a national park on your head.
0:24:55 > 0:25:00The setting of the Midsummer Night's sun is the most important moment of the evening.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06Just before 11 o'clock we process up the nearest hill to watch and to celebrate.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11BAGPIPES PLAY
0:25:17 > 0:25:20This is developing into quite a test of stamina.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24And I've lost my National Park.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36As darkness falls, last years' Jani wreath is ceremonially burnt.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48And a symbolic new fire is lit.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10A blazing wheel of hopes and fears and thanks bowls down the hill.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12And we all cheer.
0:26:24 > 0:26:30Riga, the Latvian capital, rich in buildings from Stalinist grandeur to Medieval Gothic,
0:26:30 > 0:26:35has recently acquired a reputation as a safe place for summit meetings.
0:26:40 > 0:26:45To find out more about Riga's status as a world host,
0:26:45 > 0:26:50I'm on my way to meet one of the Baltic's top chefs, Martin Ritins.
0:26:50 > 0:26:56A Latvian who learnt his trade in Canada and Corby, Northants, he now cooks for the world's most powerful.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01This is a starter that we did for George Bush when he was here.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Crayfish.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05It is very traditional.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08- Did he ask for this? - No, he didn't.
0:27:08 > 0:27:13But we talked to his, to his...
0:27:13 > 0:27:16Look - I mustn't get too fond of it.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19- You can take this home with you. - Lovely.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23So, Baltic crayfish?
0:27:23 > 0:27:25It's a freshwater.
0:27:25 > 0:27:31It's a team work. And Bush has a team, so do we here.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36So, the sauce...
0:27:36 > 0:27:42it's onions... With Latvian produce.
0:27:42 > 0:27:49..carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic and Cognac.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52- Cognac?- Cognac.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56Now, I want to see how can you...
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Oh, right!
0:28:00 > 0:28:03Up, up, up, up, higher!
0:28:10 > 0:28:13- When George came he only had an hour and a half.- Well...
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Now, can I show you the trick?
0:28:17 > 0:28:20Like tennis.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23You don't shake the pan, you shake the wrist.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25It's so heavy, oops...
0:28:27 > 0:28:28It's incredibly heavy.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35- Now, how do you think... - Wow, that is heavy.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37Respect to you guys who do that.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39How do you think Fanny Cradock did this?
0:28:41 > 0:28:44I think she must've had a few pints beforehand or something stronger.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46And a bit of colour.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49When you have someone like the President of the United States,
0:28:49 > 0:28:57or whatever, well, not whatever, but your friend George and Laura to cook for, is it a big palaver?
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Have you got security people coming around?
0:29:01 > 0:29:04It's very much so.
0:29:04 > 0:29:10We do all the state dinners but never anything has been like this.
0:29:11 > 0:29:16We had three days with their security people, their chefs.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18- Three days for one meal? - For one meal.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20Yes, I was with their chefs for three days.
0:29:20 > 0:29:25We discussed the menu, we went through it in very much detail and
0:29:25 > 0:29:29I had to show them where everything came from.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32- Have you any juicy details? - Absolutely no, no.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36Personal habits? Don't give him apricot jam cos his leg starts to wobble...
0:29:42 > 0:29:46Now, here we'll try again. Your tennis.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53No, it's in the wrist.
0:29:59 > 0:30:01It's not shaking...
0:30:05 > 0:30:07That's embarrassing.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09Let me see your wrists.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12Look at that - that is a wrist!
0:30:12 > 0:30:14It's the tennis, it's the tennis.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16I'll work on it, I'll work on it.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22The whole lot?
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Not the whole lot. As you...
0:30:33 > 0:30:36We nearly had a Molotov cocktail.
0:30:40 > 0:30:48You were telling me in the kitchen that the process is, he vets, his chefs are with you for three days.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51Three days. We cook for 22.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55And I couldn't say this, I usually say the nicest one,
0:30:55 > 0:31:00that's for our President, or that's for that Prime Minister.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02But we weren't allowed this time.
0:31:02 > 0:31:03I had to keep my mouth shut,
0:31:03 > 0:31:08which is difficult for me!
0:31:08 > 0:31:10And they said, that's the one,
0:31:10 > 0:31:12even if it's the most horrible one.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15Because this is, we're under stress,
0:31:15 > 0:31:19very quick, it was all cooked in the last minute.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21It wasn't pre-cooked.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24And that was the one that he had.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27Another one I had to taste,
0:31:27 > 0:31:31and another one, one of his security people tasted.
0:31:31 > 0:31:32- Really?- Yes.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35So it was very exciting.
0:31:35 > 0:31:36It was like a movie.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41- And that's the way they do it. - That's it.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55On Latvia's Baltic coast stands an abandoned cluster of concrete housing blocks,
0:31:55 > 0:31:59the remains of a once substantial Soviet presence.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16Once they spoke of pride, achievement and a better future.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19Now they're turning to dust.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32And this is the reason why they were here.
0:32:32 > 0:32:37This was one of the Soviet Union's most important ears on the outside world.
0:32:39 > 0:32:40So here we are.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44In the belly of the beast.
0:32:44 > 0:32:50It was so important that, when the Cold War ended, the people who built it tried to destroy it.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52But they reckoned without world opinion.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56In the old control room Yuris Zagars, a Latvian astronomer,
0:32:56 > 0:33:02explains how they saved the Ventspils Radio Telescope in the nick of time.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05It was like in a fairytale,
0:33:05 > 0:33:09some 15 minutes before execution,
0:33:09 > 0:33:14the order of destroying was changed, for some kind of
0:33:14 > 0:33:19electrical immolation but not touching the important parts of it.
0:33:19 > 0:33:25It was because the world's radio astronomical societies was making
0:33:25 > 0:33:30some protestations, as well as Russian Academy of Science.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33That to destroy the best radio telescope in Northern Europe,
0:33:33 > 0:33:37only on political reasons, it's some kind of vandalism.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41Instead they sent in a wrecking team to make it impossible to use.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46This is one of the examples of electric sabotage,
0:33:46 > 0:33:51because all these connections has been dismounted and disconnected.
0:33:51 > 0:33:56And no paper, no diagram, how to connect them.
0:33:56 > 0:34:03So, it was some scientific puzzle for our engineers, some challenge to put them to,
0:34:03 > 0:34:05and this is not the only box.
0:34:05 > 0:34:11We have at least four such boxes, eight panels, but how to connect it was a hard job.
0:34:11 > 0:34:17And this demolition work was performed during one week.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20We worked four years to put them back.
0:34:22 > 0:34:28How does this compare in size and scale to other radio telescopes?
0:34:28 > 0:34:32From the point of the scale, it's not the biggest one in Europe.
0:34:32 > 0:34:38Three to five is bigger, radio telescopes of the scale of 70 metres.
0:34:38 > 0:34:43As in Jodrell Bank, and in Spain, and in Effelsberg in Germany
0:34:43 > 0:34:46but the value of the telescope is not only the size but
0:34:46 > 0:34:52also the accuracy of the surface, and the accuracy of the surface is very high for this telescope.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55It's the best radio telescope of Northern Europe.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07- Let's come.- OK.
0:35:07 > 0:35:12It's like a submarine in the sky.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15And now the next level.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30And here's our submarine.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35Looks like a submarine and it's tilting when we are working.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38This chamber tilts, does it?
0:35:38 > 0:35:41Yes. You can walk on the left hand as well, so it is...
0:35:41 > 0:35:45How far does it tilt? How many degrees?
0:35:45 > 0:35:48About 100. More than 90 degrees.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50Must be a weird sensation.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19- Be careful. - You could have got a lift!
0:36:19 > 0:36:21Wow!
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Fantastic!
0:36:24 > 0:36:25Pointing at the heavens.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30I really feel,
0:36:30 > 0:36:34well done to you and your team, you have saved this thing.
0:36:34 > 0:36:40Yes, we have saved the thing, saved it for, there is not so many beautiful radio telescopes
0:36:40 > 0:36:43in the world, and this is one of the top instruments.
0:36:43 > 0:36:50So it's to be used for extra-galactic radio astronomy.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54It's the best application we can hope.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57And it's a wonderful sun trap.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00Yes, as well as for...
0:37:00 > 0:37:03You could have a few loungers round here,
0:37:03 > 0:37:05you could make all the money you need.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10But this surface is the most valuable part of the telescope.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13Its accuracy is better than one millimetre.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16Saving the telescope was a rare victory for common sense.
0:37:20 > 0:37:25Across the border is the largest of the Baltic Republics - Lithuania.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29Influenced more by Poland than Sweden, it's staunchly Catholic,
0:37:29 > 0:37:34and in the middle of its green and pleasant countryside is a remarkable religious site.
0:37:41 > 0:37:48This is the Hill Of Crosses - a symbol of Lithuanian defiance for over 150 years.
0:37:48 > 0:37:55The Communists bulldozed it three times and once even flooded the area with sewage before a Papal visit.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Which only served to make it even more popular.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31The skyline of the capital, Vilnius, shows Lithuania's mixed fortunes.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34One of the most enlightened empires of medieval Europe, it's since
0:38:34 > 0:38:40fallen under the sway of Poland, Sweden, Germany and Tsarist Russia.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48In the Second World War alone it was occupied three times,
0:38:48 > 0:38:49by the Soviet Union,
0:38:49 > 0:38:53then by the Germans, then again by Soviet troops.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56These are the names of Lithuanians who tried to resist.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01In this building in the heart of Vilnius, once a courthouse,
0:39:01 > 0:39:06once even a boys' school, the occupiers dealt, brutally, with that resistance.
0:39:18 > 0:39:23The basement where prisoners were kept and often tortured is now open to the public.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26I put on a headset to let me know what I am about to see.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31VOICEOVER: Welcome to the Genocide Victims Museum.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34Housed in the former KGB headquarters,
0:39:34 > 0:39:40the museum is the only one of its kind in the Baltic States.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43Object number one,
0:39:43 > 0:39:45the padded cell.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49This is one of the grimmest places in the prison.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54The walls are padded and soundproofed,
0:39:54 > 0:40:02with a straitjacket on the wall used for those who resisted or who were deranged with torture.
0:40:03 > 0:40:08The walls absorbed their cries and shouts for help.
0:40:08 > 0:40:15This cell was fitted out in 1973, though there were similar cells before that.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30Object number two.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33This is a guard post.
0:40:33 > 0:40:42From the far end of this room, the guards watched the outside window of the cells round the clock.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46In 1964 when the prison premises were reduced,
0:40:46 > 0:40:53four guard booths remained, three inside and one in the courtyard.
0:40:53 > 0:40:57There were telephones and alarm systems in the booths for armed guards.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00It was a high security prison.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Only one escape is known.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09Object number three.
0:41:09 > 0:41:18The next room contains two cells with concrete pools in the floors, fitted out in about 1945.
0:41:18 > 0:41:24Witnesses say that they had to either stand in ice cold water and
0:41:24 > 0:41:28ice in winter, or on a small stand.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32When they dosed off they fell into the water.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35A political prisoner recalled,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38"I did everything not to freeze to death.
0:41:38 > 0:41:44"Though I was weak with illness, I would walk, run or try to stand.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47"But I kept slipping off onto the ice.
0:41:47 > 0:41:54"Eventually I curled up, exhausted, on the bloodstained ice floor."
0:41:54 > 0:41:57Some prisoners were kept there for five days and nights.
0:42:00 > 0:42:05The television tower above Vilnius has become a shrine to Baltic liberation.
0:42:11 > 0:42:16In 1991, 13 unarmed Lithuanians were killed by by the Red Army
0:42:16 > 0:42:21as they tried to protect the freedom to broadcast Lithuania's independence vote.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24It was the climax of three years of protest.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32Two years earlier an estimated two million men, women and children
0:42:32 > 0:42:36from all the Baltic Republics joined hands in a human chain
0:42:36 > 0:42:39which stretched over 300 miles from Tallinn to Vilnius.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48The chain marked 50 years of smouldering resentment.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04ONE SINGER BEGINS, CROWD JOINS IN
0:43:04 > 0:43:08Song Festivals, which were permitted, provided an outlet
0:43:08 > 0:43:10for anti-Russian feeling.
0:43:14 > 0:43:19The protest, which became known as the Singing Revolution,
0:43:19 > 0:43:24was something quite unique in politics, and it led to the freedom of the Baltic States.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28- We are a singing nation. - I've heard a lot about this...
0:43:28 > 0:43:32'Algis Greitai is a Lithuanian TV star.'
0:43:32 > 0:43:35I want to see how it works.
0:43:35 > 0:43:36Can you just get people to sing?
0:43:36 > 0:43:38Well, it's very easy.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40HE SPEAKS LITHUANIAN
0:44:16 > 0:44:18- Convincing?- Very good.
0:44:26 > 0:44:28Beautiful, I'm convinced, yes.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31Maybe they could stay and we could get some other people.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38Have a sit down and we'll find...
0:44:38 > 0:44:42That's very good. If you get a little choir to do that I'd be very impressed.
0:44:47 > 0:44:49- Not that one.- No?
0:45:05 > 0:45:06Do you know this man?
0:45:06 > 0:45:07Do you know him?
0:45:07 > 0:45:10- Yes. - Yes. Wasn't very enthused - "ye-es."
0:45:27 > 0:45:30They will sing together the same song?
0:45:30 > 0:45:32HE SPEAKS LITHUANIAN
0:46:02 > 0:46:06- Enough? Maybe another song? - We don't know the words. Very good. You've made the point.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09- I think that's excellent. - Charge 50!- Very good.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11Eurovision Song contest next year!
0:46:11 > 0:46:15This is Nida in southern Lithuania.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23The chunky boat taking me out of the harbour
0:46:23 > 0:46:25is an old Baltic fishing barque.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43We're heading towards one of Europe's most intriguing landscapes,
0:46:43 > 0:46:48a 60-mile long, two-mile wide sandbank they call the Curonian Spit.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57This formidable wall of sand is one of the most extraordinary
0:46:57 > 0:47:00and fragile environments on the continent.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04Now protected as a National Park,
0:47:04 > 0:47:08these still-shifting sands curve away to the south and west
0:47:08 > 0:47:12with the Baltic waves on one side and lazy lagoons on the other.
0:47:36 > 0:47:42Forests have been planted to help hold this young and delicate strip of land together.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46As I follow the paths and roads that lead through them,
0:47:46 > 0:47:48I find that the curiosities of nature
0:47:48 > 0:47:51are matched by a few political surprises.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03In one of the odder twists of post-War politics,
0:48:03 > 0:48:07this part of East Prussia was ceded to the victorious Russians.
0:48:07 > 0:48:12They kicked out the Germans and re-named the ancient city of Konigsberg, Kaliningrad.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15But now their neighbours have won independence,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17Kaliningrad is marooned.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21A Russian island in a European sea.
0:48:26 > 0:48:31But today the mood in Kaliningrad is resolutely optimistic.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35It's exactly 60 years ago today that the old Prussian city of Konigsberg
0:48:35 > 0:48:38was consigned to history and Kaliningrad,
0:48:38 > 0:48:42named after a Stalinist president of the USSR, took its place.
0:48:45 > 0:48:51Today it's the red, white and blues of the Russian Federation that are the colours of celebration.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58As a result of the ethnic cleansing of the Germans,
0:48:58 > 0:49:01everyone gathered here can trace themselves back to Mother Russia.
0:49:05 > 0:49:09The opening ceremony in front of the new Victory monument
0:49:09 > 0:49:11owes more to Eurovision than any memories of Red Square.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20Note the brand new Orthodox cathedral in the background,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23of which the old communist regime would certainly not have approved.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27SINGING
0:49:39 > 0:49:40SINGING CONTINUES
0:49:55 > 0:49:57Now it's the turn of the suits,
0:49:57 > 0:50:00followed by a press circus hanging on every word.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06The Mayor of Kaliningrad welcomes, amongst others,
0:50:06 > 0:50:11President Putin's man from Moscow. Putin's wife, by the way, is a Kaliningrad girl.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15Also on parade is a Russian Orthodox priest,
0:50:15 > 0:50:18and a much be-medalled veteran of the great patriotic war.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25Representing Russian power today is the Admiral of the Baltic Fleet,
0:50:25 > 0:50:28whose nuclear submarines lie just up the coast.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45Then it's time for the Russian national anthem.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47Old tune, new words.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50RUSSIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS
0:51:23 > 0:51:26The rest of the celebrations are delightfully un-solemn.
0:51:29 > 0:51:34A Bride's Bus cruises the streets, disgorging a dozen young girls
0:51:34 > 0:51:39all with one cry "Prazdnikom!" - happy holiday.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43CHEERING AND SHOUTING Prazdnikom!
0:51:46 > 0:51:49What is there not to like about Kaliningrad?
0:51:52 > 0:51:57I ask my guide Olga Danilova whether Kaliningraders feel Russian or European.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00Erm, we feel Russian.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04This goes without saying.
0:52:04 > 0:52:10But maybe special Russian, different from Russians living in the mainland Russia.
0:52:10 > 0:52:17Due to this geographical location we found ourselves in.
0:52:17 > 0:52:23In what way would you say you feel different from the others in what you call "mainland" Russia?
0:52:23 > 0:52:29Because we are so close to Europe. We are a geographical part of Europe and we travel more
0:52:29 > 0:52:33to Poland and to Lithuania, further to Europe than we travel to Russia.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36And some of children living here,
0:52:36 > 0:52:38they have never been to Russia.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41But to go to Poland or Lithuania is quite a common thing.
0:52:41 > 0:52:46- Is there any appetite here for independence from Russia? - No. No way.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50We don't even have this idea in our minds.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53It's not possible - we are Russians.
0:52:53 > 0:52:58Though we travel to Russia, not very often, most of us, but we are Russians.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01BAND PLAYS MELANCHOLY WALTZ
0:53:33 > 0:53:37So, is this open air singing, dancing, a big thing?
0:53:37 > 0:53:43Yes, yes it is. It is very popular, especially among older generations.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46Or just, enjoying themselves.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49And women, women a lot, see the women.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53Thank you. Is that because of the...
0:53:53 > 0:53:56lack of men?
0:53:56 > 0:53:57Correct, correct.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01- The war - legacy of the war, is it? - Yes, yes. Well spotted.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05I shall be leaving from this dockside early next morning.
0:54:05 > 0:54:10Very hospitably, the captain of this venerable old banana boat, Vityaz,
0:54:10 > 0:54:13has agreed to let me use his cabin as a temporary base.
0:54:15 > 0:54:16Famous ship?
0:54:16 > 0:54:21- Ah!- Hello!- Captain - how are you?
0:54:21 > 0:54:24Thank you very much indeed for letting us come here.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26Very kind of you.
0:54:26 > 0:54:32After its banana boat days the Vityaz evacuated 20,000 Germans from here in 1945.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36It was given to the British who in turn gave her to the Russians,
0:54:36 > 0:54:41for whom she ended up mapping the world's deepest sea-bed, the Mariana Trench in the Pacific.
0:54:44 > 0:54:50This is quite a tour, isn't it, to get to the captain's cabin? The bridge...
0:54:50 > 0:54:54'It's now the centrepiece of Kaliningrad's Museum Of The World Ocean.'
0:54:57 > 0:55:00- Look, it's your room. - Oh, thank you.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02Where you will be sleeping, it's your bed.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05Fantastic. Captains' cabin, thank you very much.
0:55:16 > 0:55:22'Not wanting my last night to be an anti-climax, Olga's laid on a cultural visit.'
0:55:25 > 0:55:27SWORDS CLANG
0:55:30 > 0:55:32ROCK MUSIC PLAYS
0:55:41 > 0:55:44Part historical re-enactment, part general punch-up,
0:55:44 > 0:55:49this homage to the Teutonic Knights ends in group hugs and a huge bonfire.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59It may be European rather than Russian history they're celebrating,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02but tonight in Kaliningrad nobody really cares.
0:56:13 > 0:56:20It seems strange to be marking in such flamboyant style a city named after Michael Kalinin,
0:56:20 > 0:56:24a Soviet bureaucrat who no-one remembers.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38Hi, hello there. Poland, I gather.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44Let me give you that. That's great, thanks.
0:56:44 > 0:56:45Thank you... OK.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50I'd hoped to sail down the River Pregel
0:56:50 > 0:56:56and across the Bay of Gdansk to my next destination and 17th country, Poland,
0:56:56 > 0:56:59but a sudden maritime tiff between the Russians and the Poles
0:56:59 > 0:57:02has resulted in a resounding "Nyet" to my plan.
0:57:09 > 0:57:11While I think of what else to do,
0:57:11 > 0:57:16I settle for a farewell cruise with Max and Sergei along the Kaliningrad waterfront.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21Past disused wharves and idle cranes,
0:57:21 > 0:57:26past my old friend, Vityaz.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35Remnants of the Baltic Fleet are in for refits
0:57:35 > 0:57:37but on the whole this is a ghost port.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46Kaliningrad, more than anywhere else I've seen,
0:57:46 > 0:57:48is a victim of its history.
0:57:48 > 0:57:50Physically European,
0:57:50 > 0:57:55but emotionally, spiritually and politically clinging to the Kremlin.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:13 > 0:58:16E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk