All language subtitles for ITV.Joanna.Lumleys.Unseen.Adventures.3of3.1080p.HDTV.x265.AAC.MVGroup.org.eng

'I've been lucky enough
to have visited

'some thrilling places
over the years.'

Holy smoke!

'Travel is in my blood.

'And I'm delighted
I've been able to take you with me

'on these journeys.'

Hang on a second,
hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on.

'What you eventually see on
your screen takes weeks to shoot

'and months to edit.'

Look at this!

It's magic.

'We haven't always had the time
to show you everything we film.'

Stark naked
and swimming like a fish.

'But we kept
the unshown stories safe.'

I sort of...
pretty much love these, actually.

'So, I've gone back as far as east
as Japan, all across the world,

'to Cuba in the west.'

Are you a pirate?
No.

Phew.

'And now I can reveal
this treasure trove.'

On our way to Shi...
LAUGHS

'Also, to show you a little about
how these programmes are made.'

These rather grand and beautiful
houses are called yelley, they're...

Ooh!

'And why I love making them.'

Here's my new nanna.
Lovely, lovely, lovely, lovely.

'Welcome, to my Unseen Adventures.'

We'd been trying to go to Iran
for about five years.

Since the Shah had been deposed
and the new regime came in,

nobody went there.

It was difficult to go there.
Foreigners weren't welcome.

It's a country
I have longed to visit.

My grandfather was there 100 years
ago in the Diplomatic Service,

and he and my grandmother
absolutely adored it.

And so it was something
that was in our family history.

Persia was just
somewhere extraordinary.

We'd got everything ready, but
it still took us forever to get in.

We thought,
"This is going to be tough."

The second we crossed over and were
in Iran itself, everything opened.

All the doors opened.
It was so exciting.

'Iran was formerly Persia.

'And 500 years before Christ,

'it commanded a huge
and sophisticated empire,

'stretching from eastern Europe
to Pakistan.

'The history of Persia and the
history, in particular, of one man.'

Cyrus, one of the greatest
human beings that ever lived.

One of the most extraordinary men,

who is much needed in the world
today because of what he thought.

'I wanted to see his tomb,

'which I knew was just
a masterpiece of architecture,

'standing alone
in its great desert place.'

'2,500 years ago,
Cyrus created a Bill of Rights

'around a philosophy of tolerance,
compassion and human liberty.

'Its message was inscribed
onto a clay cylinder.

'And such is its wisdom and virtue
that a replica is kept

'in the United Nations headquarters
in New York

'as a reminder to us all.'

The crew had been just filming
monument after monument after ruin,

and I dragged them out of the way
and I said,

"Please, we have
to see Cyrus' tomb."

So, a little bit of grumbling.
I know they're grateful to me,

they are often grateful to me
about all kinds of things,

but for this in particular,

they've seen one of the
great monuments of the world.

It was baking!

'It was a very trying day.'

I'm not going to be speaking,
because I'm walking.

Don't yawn, please, Clive, don't.
It's terribly distracting.

CLIVE: OK, well, can you clean
your glasses, please.

Yeah. I'll do them now.

Is it cos you want to
see yourself in them...

Yes. ..or because you think
they look like old ladies glasses?

Do they have food on them,
or something? Bits of potato? God.

On our way to Shiraz,

we've stopped to see
this extraordinary monument.

It's the tomb... no.

'By the time we started filming,
the temperature was over 50 degrees,

'and the tourists
walking on the noisy gravel

'were playing havoc
with our sound recording.'

Look at the sun behind it.
GRAVEL CRUNCHES BENEATH FEET

It seems to kind of shine
this strange...

MULTIPLE FOOTSTEPS ON GRAVEL

CLIVE: Sorry, can you just
start that one again, Joanna.

It was really...
FOOTSTEPS CRUNCH

..a series of...
I honestly don't...

I honestly think all our effort.
Is Clive helping there?

CAMERAMAN: 'No.'

LAUGHTER

CLIVE: OK, and, er...

Speed, Joanna.

You will have to go further than
that, Joanna.

Oh, well tell me where...

'There, our cameraman became
obsessed with a thistle.

'He wanted to have a thistle
in the front of shot

'and me walking to the back a shot.'

And there wasn't a thistle there.

So, I said, "I don't think
the thistle really matters."

And he said, "No,
I want the thistle."

'He was being very artistic.'

On our way to...
LAUGHTER

CREW LAUGH

Please, can we not
have the thistle.

It's turning into
a really tense shot, this.

'It looks great.'

'Eventually, we were able
to focus on Cyrus's tomb.'

'I had long been fascinated
by this man,

'because he was
extraordinarily respectful

'of the many people he conquered.

'He allowed them
to govern themselves

'and worship as they wished.

'He ruled, but with a gentle hand.'

He said that all the slaves were
to be freed and allowed to go home.

He said that there should be
absolute equality between religion,

racial distinguishments
and linguistics.

All of those should be treated
as absolutely equal,

and he said that every temple that
had been destroyed must be rebuilt.

A man of such benevolence.
He was adored.

In fact, the Iranian people
voted him the most famous

and lovely Iranian of all time.

Which didn't go down terribly well
with the present regime,

but that's a fact.

There's a fabulous speech
in Shakespeare,

which I'm obviously not going
to tell you now - oh, yes, I am.

It's Portia's speech,
which is the Quality Of Mercy.

And in it she says,

"Earthly power doth then show likest
God's when mercy seasons justice."

She says that the attributes
of all majesty are mercy.

So, the more powerful you are,
the gentler you can be.

And Persia had this tradition

of being the iron fist
in a velvet glove.

Treating people gently,
but when it needed to, bam.

'We had a fantastic female fixer
in Iran called Mannas.

'She was brilliant,
and completely fearless.'

Do you want some
of your lovely aloe vera?

Yes, please. Thank you so much.

'She's been to jail four times
in Iran,

'but she still loves her country
and knows everything.

'As we barrelled across hundreds
of miles of desert

'on our Iranian roadtrip,
she was great company.'

I'm just going to have a go
at letting these flies out.

Yeah. Disturbing.

Flies, go out!

Mine has gone.

THEY LAUGH

'We were on the way
to the desert city of Yazd

'where I was hoping to see
the Zurkhaneh,

'the strange of an ancient blend of
music, physicality and high morals.

'Mannas was able to tell me
all about these men.'

So, this extraordinary
body-building technique,

it's more than just being strong,
isn't it? Exactly.

I'm travelling to the city,
I don't have any...

I don't know
any person on that city.

If I found...
I find one of those guys,

their house is open for you
and you can trust on any way.

It's extraordinary. So,
they are honourable people, brave.

Yeah, trustable.

Trustable, I love that word,

So, it's a sort of vow you take
to become part of this brotherhood?

Yeah.
How fantastic.

'I remember being astonished
at the remoteness of Yazd.

'It lies at the border
of two of Iran's largest deserts

'and is one of the oldest cities
on the Earth.

'When we were here,
we investigated Zoroastrianism,

'a religion that started here
in Persia 3,500 years ago.'

Zoroaster, the great priest,
whose name also is Zarathushtra.

Also Sprach Zarathustra, you know
that famous piece which is played...

MIMICS MUSIC: Dun-dun-dun-baa!

Richard Strauss.
Play it now.

MUSIC PLAYS
That's it.

That's Zarathustra.

MUSIC: 'Also Sprach Zarathustra'
by Richard Strauss.

'I remember the students playing
charades in the back streets.'

Walt Disney, Walt Disney.

CLAPPING

'And this time,

'I can bring you the amazing
spectacle of the Zurkhaneh

'in one of their musical
training sessions.'

VOCALISES ZURKHANEH MUSIC

RHYTHMIC BEAT

'The men limber up
in a preordained routine.

'Their every move is co-ordinated by
the rhythmic drumming and chanting

'of Persian poetry
from the Morshed, who sits above.'

This is limbering up
for the next bit,

which has these
huge wooden dumbbells -

that's not the right word,
but great wooden things.

But it's really lovely,
cos watching it,

I almost thought I could almost
join in. I mean, obviously, not.

Look they've got these things.

Zurkhaneh is the art of chivalry

that was originally used
to train Persian warriors.

RHYTHMIC DRUMMING

There's something happening now
with great jingling... bell.

BELL RINGS

'Zurkhaneh is often touted
as the reason why Iran wins

'international wrestling
and weightlifting events.

HE SINGS

'The Kabbadeh, a heavy rod of iron
connected to a chain,

'symbolises ancient war bows.

'Some of them
weigh over 100 lbs.'

SINGS ZURKHANEH POETRY

I think I'm going to sneak out now,
I think there's a bit of a break.

WHISPERS: Goodnight,
boys, goodnight.

Merci. Merci,
thank you very much indeed.

That was wonderful, thank you.

'For me, 2018 was the year
of the Silk Road.

'We filmed in eight countries
in all,

'and the second episode brought me
to the shores of the Caspian Sea

'and the intriguing town
of Baku in Azerbaijan.'

I've usually heard of the towns
and cities we're going to visit

before we get there.

I'd never heard of Baku.
I mean, shame on me, but I hadn't.

The second we'd filmed there,
I only heard of Baku,

Baku was on everybody's lips.

There was a European Cup final
was there,

Eurovision Song Contest was there,
everything suddenly was Baku, Baku!

"Oh, surely, you've been to Baku,
Baku, in Baku."

Well, when we got there,
what was I expecting?

It was sensationally modern.

JOANNA GASPS

Look at this!

It's magic.

'This place reeks of money,

'and the gleaming, modern
architecture that forms the skyline

'is testament to that.

'Despite my vertigo,
I was dragged up onto the roof

'of the Rose Petal Building.'

So, I'm tied on to the roof,
so even if I just go, "Ah,"

like a girlie and fall off,
I'll be attached.

Um, and now we're going up.

This is a very steep slope,
but we've got a lovely rubber mat.

And I've got a hand to hold, too.

Oh, my giddy aunt!

'But there's a whole lot more
to Baku that you didn't get to see

'the first time round.'

Oh, this is just marvellous.

This part of Baku
is called the White City.

It used to be called the Black City

because it was so polluted
and so dark and filthy,

but now it's been
completely rebuilt

and you can see
they've planted new trees.

Beautiful, and then
you come out from old,

straight back into new again.

'Baku's ostentatious new buildings
seem to compete with one another

'to be the most outlandish.'

Look at that!

That's the Heydar Aliyev Centre,

built to commemorate the founding
father of modern-day Azerbaijan.

The architect?
The legendary Zaha Hadid,

and it contains an exhibition
about the great man's life.

And he was a great man. I mean,

even his opponents
think he was a genius.

And if you look at this fabulous
building from the sky

it's built on a...
a stylised version

of Heydar Aliyev's signature.
Amazing!

UPBEAT MUSIC

'As we travelled across Azerbaijan,

'I was getting worried about
the lack of shopping opportunities.'

Whenever you're travelling -
actually, wherever you are -

even if you're travelling
in your own country,

you want to go into a little shop
and buy something.

I don't know why,
you just long to buy something.

It isn't clothes and things,
it might be something to eat,

some excuse for that,
or it might be a little memento,

something you want to take home.

You want to spend money, you just
want to go and buy something.

We'd heard of this,

not a street market
so much as a road market.

So, we get there and we pull up
and, ahh, it looks ravishing!

Jugs and jars of pickles
and fruits and things.

And they're not in jars
just fresh things,

you think, "Oh,
we'd better buy plenty of this."

I don't think I've ever seen
vegetable stalls like this.

Hazelnuts and walnuts, and we've got
nectarines and peaches.

But look at those figs, I've never
seen figs that size. Gooseberries.

Salam, salam, salam.
Salam, darling.

Fresh delicious cherries.

Little, tiny wild raspberries,
thank you.

Gholosorkh. Rose water.

That's rose water. Look at that.

That's something divine.
That's for your heart.

So, he spotted me,
poor eyesight and a rasping heart,

but look at that, look at those
little flowers in there.

INDISTINCT CHAT

Darling, I love you,
look I love the teeth as well,

I love it, look, here's my
new nanny. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

LAUGHTER

Can you change that for me?
Uh-huh.

There we are.
Is that too big?

So, that was 15,
so, that's quite a lot of money

for my little pot of jam,
quite a lot,

but there we are,
I didn't ask, cos that's my fault.

SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

Your mother pick, pick, pick,
pick from here.

Look at that,
how much is this?

REPLIES IN OWN LANGUAGE

25.
OK.

So, that's...
TRADER SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

£10. So, do you know what I mean?

There we are.
Bye-bye.

Bye-bye. Bye-bye, darlings.
A lot, a lot.

Darling, I've run out of money,
as you can see,

I've used all my money up.

That was quite expensive.

£10 for a pot of something.
Well, they were collected by hand,

her mother collected them by hand
from up here,

"Pick, pick, pick, pick, pick."

'I was completely ripped off.'

I think I paid about £15
for a pot of jam.

I didn't mind.

Look my face, did I mind?

JOANNA LUMLEY: 'From gleaming
Azerbaijan, we travelled west

'to the ex-Russian

'and now fiercely-independent
country of Georgia.'

When people say to me,
"Which country that you visited

"would you advise
our family to go to?"

I pretty much always
now say Georgia.

It is simply spectacular.

It's got the coast,
it's got Batumi on the Black Sea,

it's got the great
Caucasus Mountains,

but above all,
it's an extremely brave

and fine and independent
little country.

It's got its own language,

you haven't a hope in hell
of learning it,

because it's got its own alphabet,
you can't read it.

It's got delicious food,

it is the oldest wine-making region
in the whole world,

it's been making wine
for 8,000 years.

Every part of it
is simply wonderful.

'The Caucasus Mountains
form an imposing geographic border

'with Georgia's
northern neighbour, Russia.

'It's beautiful up there,

'but it's not just the scenery
that takes your breath away.'

These roads
are absolutely hair-raising.

I mean, it's a brilliant
piece of engineering.

But actually they're
just winding round, hair-pin bends,

sheer drops, and sometimes
you've got the wandering cows...

SING-SONG VOICE: ..so it's all
quite hazardous!

It is thrilling.
If I could stop looking at the road

I would be very, very thrilled.

It is so perilous here.

Little bits of wire stopping you
falling huge distances into a valley

and probably saying,
"Goodnight, nurse" at the end of it.

FROM CAR: Whoops.

'Georgians grow an immense
amount of fresh vegetables.

'And if you go there, I assure you,

'you'll become a fan
of their delicious cuisine.'

'Don't let anything put you off.'

When you look at this,
this is a light Georgian lunch,

it's got this stuff
called khachapuri,

which is kind of cheesy,
bready, potato-y stuff,

delicious salad, gherkins,
couldn't be nicer,

but I have the strangest feeling
that I'm being overlooked.

Joseph Stalin.

Well, Joseph Stalin
was born in Georgia.

He was born in Gori in 1879.

When Lenin died in 1924,

Joe Stalin took over
the reins of power,

and he remained in power
until 1953, when he died.

During his, well, reign of terror,

millions of Russians were killed,
some say as many as ten million.

He persecuted them,
he executed them,

there were famines,
there were purges,

it was a simply terrible time.

And although the young
now condemn him,

hate the thought of his history,

the old people have
a sense of nostalgia for Uncle Joe.

When he was young,
he looked like a rock star.

When he was old,
with his big moustache

and his fine Georgian face,

he looked very impressive.

And, so, the kind of
mists of memory have clouded over,

the rose pink clouds of memory

made him seem like
a genial old uncle

instead of one of the worst
murderers of the 20th century,

or indeed of all time.

Anyway, the waterfall is falling,
and it's cool and delicious

and I've got khachapuri to dig into,
and life is sweet.

And Stalin's gone.

'The capital of Georgia is Tbilisi.

'This city seems to have an old,

'wise and sophisticated style
about it.

'I was completely smitten.'

I fell in love with Tbilisi
the second I arrived,

it's built on hills, it's
a spa city, it's very beautiful,

its architecture is quite wonderful,

a lot of it is crumbling away,
and it's kind of poor,

it's been a bit neglected,
but it is simply sensational.

During the 18th century,

Tbilisi was known as the Southern
Jewel in the Russian Empire's crown

because of its immense
civilisation and culture

and architectural beauty.

It's just so stunning,
but sadly now a bit shabby,

because during the Soviet era,

a lot of these houses
were subdivided,

as they are in all great cities,

and a lot of them
have simply fallen down.

A lot of them being tacked together
with bits of old tin.

But some people
are making a valiant effort

to keep them alive and intact.

'The Kipshidzes' fantastic home
was built in 1897,

'and it's been in the family
ever since.

'Last time, we had had a tour
of their incredible house,

'but now time we can
also stop for some tea

'and share some
old family photographs.'

And this is my grandfather
and my grandmother.

Beautiful photograph.

So, this was a grand family
in Tbilisi.

Yes, their name was Nikoloz.

Look how handsome,
look at that handsome boy.

Yeah, he's very good-looking.

And how he loved black and white.

Look at him.
That's a fantastic picture.

He knows how to pose it.
He does, doesn't he?

'Katarina's grandfather
was a doctor, and in 1951,

'he found himself attending
to Georgia's most infamous son.'

'Stalin's paranoia was such
that he ordered the arrest

'and torture of hundreds of doctors,
accusing them of poisoning him.'

'A great many of the doctors
were killed.

'But luckily, Katarina's grandfather
was not amongst them.

'In fact, he helped save the lives
of three other medical men

'who had been forced
to treat the dictator.'

And here he is,
reading a paper,

and it looks as though he's on this
very balcony here, is that right?

Yes.
It's exactly the same,

it hasn't changed at all, has it?
No, it hasn't.

It is so beautiful,
it really, really is.

I've never fallen in love
with a city

as fast as Tbilisi.
I adore it.

'I'd been to Turkey before,

'but on our 2018
Silk Road travels,

'we explored some
of the lesser-known parts

'of this breath-taking country.

'Spending time with
the semi-nomadic Hensen people

'in the eastern highlands
was a particular joy.

'And such stunning landscapes
to travel through.'

'In central Turkey,
we explored some of

'the long-neglected
13th-century churches.

'Vandalised over the centuries
and used as animal keeps,

'they were a far cry from
the spectacular renovated churches

'around Cappadocia.'

This is majestic,
absolutely every inch of it painted.

'Cappadocia is extraordinary.

'It looks like a mass of ant hills
with holes in them.'

I'd seen photographs,
of course,

but I had no idea what it
would be like to be there

in these sort of ancient villages
which are built into the hillside.

Very beautiful.

However, practically all the
photographs I'd seen of Cappadocia

in these extraordinary places
had balloons over them.

Nothing wrong with that,
but I didn't want to do it.

All that night I put a hex on it,

I said, "Don't let me
go up in the balloon".

And the next morning,
it was grey

and there was
a very strong wind blowing,

and they said, "Sorry,
no balloons going up today."

MOUTHS: Yes!

If you want things changed,
world events changed, come to me.

'In Cappadocia, the accommodation
was well above standard,

'but several feet below ground.'

Come and look at this.
It's fantastic.

'In Cappadocia, we stayed in a hotel
which was built into the hillside,

'and to sleep in a room which is
hollowed out into the rock'

and you know that people have
lived there for thousands of years

is very exciting,
it's very different.

You have different dreams,
and it's thrilling.

You can't really
go to sleep at night

for looking
at these strange, porous walls

and imagining
who was there before you.

CALL TO PRAYER

'It was fascinating
to meet Asli Ozbay,

'one of the architects
who's been redeveloping the area

'and making astonishing discovering
along the way.'

The guy who actually
erected this place came here,

he bought a building,
he started to restorate it.

But they discovered
a huge space underneath the road,

which turned out
to be the main church

of the Byzantine underground city.
It was a huge surprise.

Then he started buying
the surrounding lots,

and here we are,
still discovering for 22 years,

trying to reconstruct
the old demolished village

in Cappadocia.

Many of which...
Because my beautiful bedroom here

goes back right into the wall.

This is going into the old
cave dwellings that people had?

Yes. The cave dwellings
are the oldest part.

We definitely know
that Romans were here,

so we're talking about...
2,000 years old. ..2,000 years old.

They make terraces on the slopes,

so those terraces
become their gardens.

And they discovered pigeon droppings
as fertilisers,

to have their gardens
in front of their houses.

So they took great care
of the pigeons,

cos they realised how valuable
the guano, the dropping, was.

The air was covered with pigeons
once.

They were like clouds.
There were thousands of pigeons.

Asli, it's been such a privilege
staying here.

It's lovely to have had a glimpse
into how life must have been.

Thank you.
Thank you so much.

It's my pleasure. Thank YOU.
We've just loved it.

'Time to leave Cappadocia
on the midnight train.

'I just love long train journeys,

'although they can lose
some of their romance.'

TRAIN HORN BLARES

Here we are. I'll just be in here.

Reading.

Eating.

Actually, I should think
there's a restaurant car.

But not now, because now
is about 1:45 in the morning.

This train was supposed to be...

This was supposed to be
a midnight train,

or 12:30 train,

then it was going to be
a 1:30 train,

and now I think it's...
CLEARS HER THROAT

..quite a bit later than that.

But as I don't wear a watch,
I don't really mind.

It's just the middle, middle,
middle of the night.

This is the crew,
loading everything up.

But Olly, Will and I
do nothing at all

because we carry cameras
and pretend we're working.

And so the poor, staggering crew...

Here comes Steph,
bringing all the rest of my stuff,

which I was too idle
to bring myself.

The reason I've got all these things

is that in all those,
I've put my shoes,

all these are all the clothes
I have to wear.

All that's all the sort of makeup
and hair washing kit

and everything like that.
Ooh, we're off.

Look at that. Isn't it divine?

There's something so exciting about
travelling by train at night-time.

When we were little
and leaving Malaysia,

Malaya as it was then,
for the last time,

my sister and I
got dressed in pyjamas

and we went
to Kuala Lumpur train station

and got on the train,
the midnight train.

There's a huge excitement
about the train

inexorably going along,
hooting as it goes...

..charging through the night.
It knows exactly what's up,

and you're tucked up
and fast asleep.

Goodnight.

Yeah?
OK, that's gorgeous. OK, lovely.

Yeah?
Quiet, everyone.

'We arrived
in the world's most beautiful city

'to see
where the Silk Road started.

'Santa Maria della Salute

'stands at the entrance
to the Grand Canal.'

Will, if you just say,
when the church is looking good,

will you say "Joanna"?
And then I'll be looking at her

and then I'll turn.
Perfect. Will do.

Joanna.

Was that "Joanna"?
Yeah, Joanna.

Henry James called it
"a grand lady

"on the threshold of her salon,"

but its creation
was for a deathly serious reason.

This beautiful church
was built as a thanksgiving

for deliverance of
the city of Venice from the plague.

'Art, food and philosophy
travelled down the Silk Road,

'but also rats, fleas and contagion,

'turning Venice
into a plague hotspot.'

For over 300 years,

the bubonic plague
swept across the world.

It roared along
the routes of the Silk Road,

killing millions in its wake.

China lost
two thirds of its population,

Europe a third, and Venice
was particularly hard-hit.

And this lovely basilica
was built to give thanks to God

for those who managed
to survive the awful ordeal.

So, here she stands,
the Santa Maria della Salute,

which means
"St Mary of good health",

facing seawards, to protect the city

from any further outbreaks
of this deadly disease.

It's extraordinary.
That was the bubonic plague.

They were saying thanks
that they had remained alive

and to try to keep
the terrible disease

away from their beautiful city.

And now we're
in the middle of a pandemic

which has spread across
the entire world.

Who could've foreseen it?

'We showed you the outside
of the church before,

'but not the fabulous interior.

'Now, in 2020,
Santa Maria della Salute

'has taken on
a much greater relevance.'

'Inside this glorious building

'are some stunning paintings
by Titian and Tintoretto.

'Art like this had never been
seen before in Europe.

'Exciting new pigments
were transforming painting

'and starting a renaissance.

'Exotic colours
made from crushed insects

'and lapis lazuli from Afghanistan,

'all products
arriving here from the East

'via the Silk Road.

'Titian was commissioned
to paint this work of St Mark,

'Patron Saint of Venice,

'so people
could come and give thanks

'for their salvation
from the pestilence.'

'But even Titian didn't escape,

'and in the end,
he died from the plague in 1576.'

'And there's another lovely church
that we didn't have time to fit in

'the first time around.
It's not big,

'and it's not easy to find.

'The Chiesa
di Santa Maria del Giglio.'

Oh, little narrow alleyway.
Look at that.

Only as wide as this.

Bit of a whiff here.
They always say a bit of a smell.

You want that. You don't want
to have just a non-smelling Venice.

Santa Maria del Giglio,
and I don't know where it is.

But it must be somewhere near.

SHE GASPS

Oh, look! This surely has to be it.

Look at that!

The strangest thing
about this church -

it hasn't got anything to do
with religion on the front of it.

There's no Santa Maria here.

There are maps,
beautiful boats here.

These are merchants. This isn't...

Look at these maps here.

'It's all down to this
rather grand Venetian gentleman,

'Antonio Barbaro.'

He was a hugely successful trader,
great, rich merchant,

merchant of Venice,
and he wanted to be remembered

and he wanted to kind of
slightly re-write history.

So all his ancestors are here.
Look, he's done as a Roman Emperor.

The Barbaros through the ages.

SHE GASPS

I wonder if there's a way
I can get...

get to see this
so I'm not absolutely inside out.

Oh, this looks promising.

Hotel Bel Sito.

SHE GASPS

Well, look at this!

Marinus Barbaro, Carolus Barbaro,

Francesco Barbaro.

And up here,
the great Antonio Barbaro himself

with something
quite strange on his head.

Quite strange. Even for
a Venetian hat, that's strange.

Can you imagine
the conceit of saying,

"When I'm dead,
I'm going to leave enough money

"so that you can depict
on the front of the church

"all the power and glory
that I achieved,

"not only for myself,
but for Venice"?

Would we do that ourselves?

Possibly.

'Our Silk Road journey has
come to a glorious end in Venice.

'But next, a sizzling adventure
that I've saved for last.'

'We went to Haiti in 2019
for the Hidden Caribbean series,

'and it had quite an effect on me.'

There's a skull up there.

Hello.

'I've travelled a lot
in the developing world,

'but Haiti seems to have had

'more than its fair share
of troubles.

'The country
is rich in natural beauty

'and has such potential,
but the reality is

'that it's in a shocking state.'

Look at this fabulous bay.

It breaks your heart
to see so much plastic.

'Back in the 18th century,

'Haiti was at the centre
of the pirate world,

'and we thought
it would be an excellent idea

'to do a seafaring opening
to introduce Haiti

'and a well-known Welsh pirate

'who used to frequent the waters
around Ile-a-Vache.'

That's looking great, Jo.
We could have a practice now.

OK.

But, I mean, when?

Right, now, now, now. Now, Jo, now.

That's incredibly difficult.

This...

BOAT CREAKS

This whole island
was once the stronghold...

Now, I hate boats.
That's the truth of it.

'So I said, "Can we not do this?" '

Hang on, I can't see anything.
I can't get my feet round.

And our director,
marvellous man in many ways...

We've got to stay in front of her.

..said, "No, no, I've researched it

"and it's going to be
flat as a pancake.

"You'll just come
dipping through the isthmus

"on this lovely clear water."

'Well, when we got there that day,

'the water was very rough,
very naughty,

'very, very choppy. The boat...'

If you can imagine,
this is the boat, sideways on.

It had nothing in the middle of it,
it had nothing across it.

'It had no floor.'

Joanna, one more.

They were filming
in a boat over there, going,

"Do this, do that!"
I was going, "I can't hear."

I kept slipping down into the boat
and trying to get up again.

Trying to hang on
with my old person's hands

and gripping onto the side.

It was absolutely terrifying.

It was terrifying.

I was black and blue. I was injured.

I broke bones.
Well, some of that isn't true,

but anyway, I was very afraid.

And it was terribly,
terribly funny, too.

Have another go, Joanna!

And there was a Welshman
called Captain Henry Morgan.

Some of you
may have heard that name.

It comes on
the bottle of a famous rum,

and he chose this island.

This whole island
was once a stronghold

for the English privateers,
or pirates,

who established themselves here

especially to torment and harass
the French and Spanish

who occupied the main island.

I wouldn't mind going back soon.

'There are all sorts
of myths and legends

'about where Captain Morgan's
flagship HMS Oxford sank.

'We got hold of Gilbert,
a local diver and ship-owner,

'who claims to have located
the ship's last resting place.'

This is Port Morgan. Is this
where Henry Morgan's boat sank?

Is this where HMS Oxford is?

No.
No?

The Oxford is on the other side.
Because he...

Come on, Gilbert.
I'm not gonna... Come on, Gilbert!

I'm not gonna be 100% sure,

but what I can tell you, in 2004,
after a storm,

I went diving and we discovered
big pieces of timber

buried under the sea.

At the tip of the timber,

we found burning woods.
SHE GASPS

I think the Oxford was the only ship
that blew up...

And burnt.
..and burnt in Ile-a-Vache.

That might be it.

Gilbert, I... I want you to be...

Are you a pirate?
No.

You know...
Please be a Haitian pirate. No.

What is your description
of a pirate?

Well, first of all,
you have to have an eye patch.

No, I don't have an eye patch.

THEY CHUCKLE

You have to wear earrings like mine.
I don't have.

SHE LAUGHS

And you have to have
a bandana round your head.

I don't have, which I don't have.

I'm so disappointed.

THEY LAUGH

'Haiti's close neighbour, Cuba,

'has been on my radar
for a long time,

'and I was hell-bent
on convincing everyone concerned

'that it would be
a fabulous place to visit.'

When we make these programmes,
we have to go to the bosses at ITV

and say why we want to go there.

And I was so determined
to get to Cuba, that I...

I... Well, I sort of took leave
of my senses.

I said, "Don't you remember
that fabulous Barry Manilow song,

"Copacabana?
The hottest spot north of Havana."

# The hottest spot
North of Havana. #

I said, "We'll be there.
We can get Barry Manilow.

"He'll come down.
I've met him before.

"He'll come racing down there.
We'll have a great time,

"bit of bants with Barry." And it
was only later that I found out

that the Copacabana was in fact a
nightclub in Manhattan in New York.

But, anyway, they said yes.

So I think it was worth it,
don't you?

'Music and dance seem to
run in the blood of all Cubans,

'and we covered
one revolutionary story

'that encapsulates that perfectly.

'Come with me to the leafy suburbs
of northern Havana.'

Look at the scale of this.

In 1961, this was a country club.

Golf courses, the clubhouse.

But at the beginning
of the revolution,

all the rich people who used it
had to leave the country.

They were exiled, they fled,
they were banished.

'In a bizarre photo opportunity
intended as a dig at the West,

'Cuba's new leaders,
Che Guevara and Fidel Castro,

'posed playing golf.

'As symbols
of the bourgeoisie lifestyle,

'most golf courses in Cuba
were ploughed up

'to provide farmland.

'But Che and Fidel
had lofty ambitions for this one.'

They hatched up
this extraordinary dream

of a utopian centre of culture.

For the arts, for music,
for modern dance, for ballet,

for dramatic art, for sculpture.

And they would get
the best architects in the world

and they would build it here,
and it would be free.

It was the Communist dream
that everybody should be equal,

everybody would have a chance
at high culture.

And it was never finished,
it was never completed.

And now, it's just left.

It's protected, but it's just...

It's like a half-finished dream.

'This place
may not have come to fruition,

'but the Cuban dream
of taking underprivileged kids

'into the world of ballet
is a continuing success.'

'Carlos Acosta was born in Havana
in 1973 into a very poor family.

'He was an overactive child,

'and his father sent him
to ballet lessons

'because of the discipline,
and they were free.

'A product of
the Cuban National Ballet School,

'his talent saw him rise

'to become one of the most
acclaimed dancers of his time.'

MINKUS' ORCHESTRAL SCORE

'This is a 2014 performance
of the Royal Ballet's Don Quixote,

'where Carlos is dancing the finale
of Act One.'

ORCHESTRAL FLOURISH

ORCHESTRAL FLOURISH

APPLAUSE

'He currently runs a world-famous
ballet company based in Havana

'that bears his name.

'He's also established
a dance academy

'that offers a three-year course

'in a particularly Cuban mixture
of contemporary and classical ballet

'for some talented teenagers.

'Like so many of us,
I did ballet when I was a child.

'I only did it
up to the age of about... 11,

'but I loved it.'

Did I want to be a ballet dancer?
I don't know.

But I wanted to be able
to dance properly.

There's something
about seeing dancers

that is just... heavenly.

I think they're magical.
I can never stop watching dancing.

I gave it up. I wish I hadn't.

Listen, anybody watching
who's younger than me,

don't give it up. Keep going.

Even if you're old, dance a bit.
Dance a bit.

'On the day that we visited,

'it was busy with young hopefuls
awaiting their auditions.

'Only a lucky 24 gain entry
into the academy each year.'

I can remember auditioning.
The horror of it at the end

is when you're told,
"Thank you very much",

and you know
by the fall of their voice,

they don't want you back again.

'Inside, the second year students
were limbering up.'

Just notice how dancers walk.

You can't tell if somebody's
a composer or a writer.

You can't tell
if somebody's a painter

if you just see them walking in
the street. You can tell a dancer.

It never leaves them.
Look at the way they stand -

the grace, the upright stance.
None of that.

None of that.

Even when relaxing,
they're like cats.

And it looks so effortless.

They fly, they float.

It's awesome. I love it.

You don't just get it by
being flexible or feeling like it.

Slog, slog, slog.

I adore it. I adore the disciplines
of ballet.

La lutte c'est la vie,
"struggle is life".

That's the smart French for you.

'Who knows if we've got
another Carlos Acosta

'emerging from his own academy?

'But these two rising stars
are in the right place

'to benefit from his experience.'

Does Carlos Acosta come here
to the school?

Si.
Si? Si. Si.

Is he friendly?

Yeah, super.
Muy.

In performance, in dance,

acting is very important.

Yeah.

Ballet is very important in Cuba.
Si.

I shall look forward
to seeing both of you

in theatres across the world.

I shall be watching.

I shall have your names
written down. Leandro...

Fernandez.
Leandro Fernandez.

You have difficult name.

Amisaday.
Amisaday.

Rodriguez.
Rodriguez.

Gracias. Muchas gracias.
Thank you so much.

Thanks.
Thanks.

And good luck for the performance.
Yes.

'The reason we do these programmes

'and the reason
why I love travelling so much is,'

above all, the people we meet.

The places are sensational,
but in every country,

the people we meet
is what remains with me.

And the further afield you go,
the more extraordinary it is

to find that we're all the same.

We have the same aspirations,

the same longing to dance,
to eat good food,

to bring our children up well.

And this has given me
an opportunity of looking through

some of the places we've been to,

right from the Far East,
right to ending up here in Cuba.

So thrilling and so exciting.

So, thank you for seeing
my Unseen Adventures

and now what memories we share.

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