All language subtitles for The Worlds Most Scenic Railway Journeys S06E05 1080p WEB DL H264 BTN_track3_[eng]

Join us on a wonderful journey
through some very British parts

of Portugal, from the stunning
Douro Valley in the north...

I can never get enough
of travelling in this train

and observing this
beautiful landscape.

..to the magic and mystery
of Sintra in the south.

It's a journey that binds
together the countries

of Portugal and Britain.

We'll travel along rivers
and through vineyards,

making a very British tipple.

Foot treading continues to be the

method of reference
to make the best port.

Across water and land...

..and up and down the seven hills
of Lisbon...

In Portuguese, train driver
actually means brake-keeper.

..we'll explore the traditions...

The Portuguese are the only ones
in the world

that use the tiles like this to

cover the outside of the buildings.

..try to uncover the secret
of custard...

The secret is kept hidden here.

SPEAKS PORTUGUES

..and discovered the links
that have bound our seafaring

nations for centuries.

Codfish is my life.

It's a way of keeping the tradition.

This is no ordinary railway journey,

this is one of the most scenic

railway journeys in the world -
Portugal.

It's mid-winter high in the hills

of the Alto Douro Valley.

We're about to embark
on the Douro line,

one of Europe's
most scenic railways.

In cloudless summer months,

these fields bake in 40 degree heat.

But today, a cold, damp mist
envelops the land,

creating a strange beauty.

Our journey starts in the small town
of Pocinho.

We're travelling on newly
refurbished Swiss Schindler

carriages from the 1940s,

pulled by a class 1400
diesel engine,

designed by English Electric

and built in Portugal
in the late 1960s.

Our train leaves at 11:08.

The Douro Valley really
is really nice, it's...

I love water, I love the vineyards.

And just a trip down Douro Valley

can't be complete without having
some good food and great wine.

From Pocinho, we'll travel
along the Douro river

through Portugal's port wine country

past Pinghao and Peso da Regua,

heading west to the city of Porto.

In Porto, we change trains and

travel south towards
Aveiro and onwards

to Entroncamento

and then onto Lisbon, where we will
change trains one more time.

And from Lisbon, we take a short
ride to Sintra,

where our Portuguese
rail adventure ends.

Leaving Pocinho, we
are soon descending

through the terraced vineyards
of a region

almost entirely shaped by
British tastes.

Drinking the wine and
drinking the port

and then actually
coming here and seeing all

the vineyards,
definitely made me feel

excited when I travel along
on the train.

For over 400 years, these vineyards,

or quintas, as they are known,

have been making our favourite
after dinner tipple - port.

So this line was very important
for the vineyard, because it offered

a safer route
from the production site,

so Porto, where it was
exported worldwide.

Until the construction
of the line in 1875,

the port was taken downstream
on boats,

which were often destroyed
by the Douro's rapids.

For Hugo, this line is more than

just a way of getting port
to market...

..it's a symbol of Portugal emerging
into the industrial world.

It was a very important
piece of engineering.

Until then, most of the lines
were built

either by British engineers
or by French engineers.

And so, this line provided
the opportunity for Portuguese

engineers to show their expertise,
to show their skills

and to prove that they could also be
a valuable asset

to place Portugal in the path of
what was then considered progress.

150 years later, few of today's
passengers

appreciate the line's contribution
to Portugal's engineering prowess.

They've come along for the
astonishing views.

I think the scenery is beautiful.

And all of the vineyards
that you can see,

and the granite

you can see back there,

it's beautiful, just beautiful.

Our first stop is the tiny station
of Quinta de Vargelas,

once exclusively used
by port makers Taylor's,

who can trace their roots back
to English merchants in 1692.

In charge today is David,
a sixth-generation winemaker

who honed his winemaking skills
in Australia and the US

before gaining a degree in oenology.

The vineyards of the Douro Valley

in this mountain landscape

are unique for their ability
to produce grapes

which have tremendous
amount of concentration

and ripen naturally
to very high sugar level.

It is that high sugar level
which gives the uniqueness

for the port as a style of wine.

But there is something else about
the grapes here that makes them

almost unique, and that's the fact

that every one of them
gets stamped on

by a human foot in these

large vats called lagars.

The human foot has got that ability

to reach every single grape.

A machine tends to have
a repetitive movement

and there'll always be some berries

that will escape being trodden.

And that's why foot treading

continues to be the method of

reference to make the best port.

But don't worry,
it's not sweaty feet

that give port the distinctive taste
we all love,

it's all in the quality of the soil.

One of the characteristics
of the Douro Valley,

that it produces these grapes with

so much colour and so much tannin,
which gives port

its extraordinary ability to age.

However, that is why the traditional

foot treading is so important,

because the skins are so full
of all of this

colour matter,
that the physical action

of the foot treading
releases all of that colour.

When we finished filling each lagar,

at the end of the day,
a group of 20 people

will come in for
the initial treading,

what we call the cut,

and we'll have one person
who will be commanding the cut,

making sure that everybody is
doing the treading to step.

Um, dois, um, dois.

Esquerda, direito.

And this treading will go on

in this very rhythmic,

systematical way for two hours.

And that's important
to keep this rhythm,

because that is going to ensure that

this initial treading will reach

every grape that's in this lagar.

So far, all this grape stomping

has produced nothing more than wine.

What turns it into port
is a magic ingredient

first added to stop the wine going

off on its long journey to Britain.

What makes port different to wine

is that, halfway through
the fermentation,

we run off the juice and
we add an aguardente,

which is a neutral wine spirit,

which is going to stop
the fermentation.

So all of the sweetness
in every glass of port

is the natural sugar
which comes from the grape.

Adding a bit of spirit
during fermentation

gives port quite a punch

but it also allows it to age
for decades,

creating a truly vintage drink.

Port wine, being a fortified wine,

will be able to go into
these barrels and age

for many years until we decide
that they're ready for bottling.

Normal wine will normally
be bottled

two, three years
after it has been made.

Our port wines will age from
anything from two years

in the barrel before going
into the bottle.

But we have ports which we age
for over 80, 100 years

as these delicious,
very old tawny ports.

The downside of this ageing process
is that makers like David

might never live long enough
to taste some

of their greatest blends.

So the vat lodge is located
right alongside the railway

and that is to allow us in
the old days to load the young

ports onto the railway carriages,

to go to our port lodges
in Vila Nova de Gaia,

opposite the city of Porto,
to go into the next stage

of ageing of our port wines.

Sadly, our train no longer
carries port,

but it is taking us to the city

that gave the drink its name, Porto,

and to a train station that looks
more like an art gallery.

We're now 35 miles into our journey

through the cool, late winter grey

but very beautiful Douro Valley,

travelling through Pinhao,

towards the historic city of Porto.

I can never get enough of travelling

in this train and observing

this beautiful landscape.

It's quite an amazing experience.

After Pinhao, our train continues

to head west past Peso da Regua,

a major hub of the port wine
industry in the area.

We then head towards Porto...

..and in Porto, we'll change trains

to continue our journey south
towards Aveiro.

As our train winds its way
through the Douro Valley,

we follow the path of the river
for another 40 miles.

This railway is really beautiful
because it hugs the river,

it goes along the river,
very near the water.

I think this is a really special
place to be, yes.

But two and a half hours
into our journey,

we say goodbye to the Douro
to cut inland.

After three and a half hours,

our train pulls into
Porto's incredible

Sao Bento Station, a place

that looks more like an art gallery.

Most stations in Portugal are
decorated with tiles,

but none is as highly decorated
as this station here in Sao Bento.

This is my home station

and for those who live in Porto,
they feel very proud

about the station, about being one
of the most beautiful in Portugal,

one of the most beautiful
in the world.

Created in 1905 by the artist
Jorge Colaco,

the tiles give anyone
waiting for a train

a graphic history of the country

and a clue to why Britain

and Portugal became so entwined.

You can see the arrival of the
Portuguese King John, the first,

accompanied by his wife
Philippa of Lancaster,

and they got married here in Porto

and those titles,
they represent that arrival

and that moment of
Portuguese history.

Philippa's betrothal to
John The First

ensured British blood
would flow in the veins

of Portuguese kings for centuries.

Portugal's love of tiles or
azulejos, as they're known,

began in the 16th century,
when King Manuel The First

decorated his palace with them.

From that moment on, everybody
started to copy him.

But sadly, after 500 years,
that urge is on the wane,

something Porto artists Alba and

Marisa are keen to stop.

We just are a little bit
tile activist.

Can we say that?

So we are tile activists and we want

to preserve this art,
and we should do more.

Sometimes in the city,
when a building is being rebuilt,

the tiles are thrown to the garbage
in the construction works.

The tiles you see
on the train station,

on the chapels, they are protected.

But those tiles from the private

buildings are losing the tiles.

The Portuguese are the only ones
in the world

that use the tiles like this to

cover the outside of the buildings.

It was something that the Portuguese
middle class did to show others

that a wealthy family
was living in that house.

There are different types
of tiles in Portugal.

We paint reproduction of traditional

patterns from Portugal.

You see them from close,
they have some mistakes,

the imperfection on the tiles
makes them unique.

This one here, those lines
were painted freehand,

so people in the old days,

they paint the tiles fast.

So I think those little mistakes

are amazing.

Drab when they are first painted,

the colours only come alive

when the tiles are fired in a kiln

at over 1,000 degrees centigrade.

It's very rewarding when
you're working in something

that will last hundreds of years,

that is rewarding.

Your work is there for,
you know, forever.

You will be gone and your work
is still here.

I think that is rewarding, I think.

Time to leave
Porto's Azulejos behind

and head to the city's
busiest station,

Campanha, for the next leg of our

journey south to Lisbon.

We're catching the 1038 intercity

service pulled by an 85-ton

CP class 5600 electric loco

with driver Victor Manuel
at the controls.

You can go to almost 220km per hour,

but on this journey,
the maximum is 200.

We start travelling from Porto

in the north of Portugal

and we arrive in Lisbon,

350km approximately distance
between both towns.

Unusually, as a boy, Victor never

wanted to be a train driver.

I have to admit, he was not my dream
to become a train driver.

My wish was to become
a geography teacher.

But being a train driver,
I have the opportunity

to at the same time fulfil
my curiosity about landscape.

Most of the time when I'm driving,
I have to look

for the track, you know,
the signs and all.

But some brief moments, I'll be able

to look at the window
and see how things run.

I have to say, in these five years
that I'm in this service,

I'm never tired of looking outside.

Pulling out of Porto, we cross the

Douro River for the last time
on the modern

Pont de Sousa Bridge, built in 1991.

But just downstream, we can see

the old railway bridge it replaced,

the iconic Ponte Maria Pia...

..designed by a Frenchman
by the name of Gustave Eiffel,

he of the more famous tower.

The line between Porto and Lisbon
dates back to 1856

and is known as the Linha do Norte.

Since its inception,
it's been the backbone

of the Portuguese main line.

It serves passengers,
it serves freight

and it's quite a very busy track,

considering it serves
all sorts of services,

like this long distance services,
urban trams, regional trains.

And so it's completely overwhelmed
with traffic.

And that is the reason why Portugal
is currently now investing in other

tracks that can be exclusive
for passengers

and leaving this one
just with freight.

High speed tracks will make the
distance between the Porto

and Lisbon considerably shorter,

around an hour,
an hour and 15 minutes.

But for us, speed is not the key.

35 miles into our journey on
the Linha do Norte, we arrive

in Aveiro on the shores

of the Rio de Aveiro Lagoon.

Aveiro is a landscape dominated
by water.

This area is known as the Venice
of Portugal.

The traditional moliceiros
are colourful, gondolas

decorated with different scenes
depicting local life.

Today, tourists are
their main cargo,

but in days gone by, they were laden

with that other mainstay of English

Portuguese trade, salt...

..produced by evaporating
sea water in the lagoon.

Antonio is one of the few remaining

"marnotos" still working the lagoon.

But working the salt harvest season
from April to October

in this environment is tough
and unpredictable.

In the Middle Ages, the Portuguese

traded their salt for cod caught
by the English fishermen.

But the discovery of Newfoundland
in the 15th century meant

the Portuguese could
catch their own cod

preserved with salt
from the marshes.

Marta runs one of the few remaining

family businesses in the Aveiro area

that still produce salted cod,
known as bacalhau.

Codfish is my life
and I'm in a way,

I'm glad for it because it's a way

of keeping the tradition, not only

the tradition of the family,

because my father
always worked on codfish,

but also a tradition of the people
and of the country.

Because codfish is very important
to the Portuguese people.

It's like a symbol of
the way we are,

we are a country of fishermen.

The process of salting
and drying the cod

has always been done by women.

In the ancient times, the men lived

on the boats for fishing the cod

and women stayed at home
and take care of the family.

Just as it was done hundreds
of years ago,

the cod is put in salt on the boats

and when it arrives in the factory,
the salt needs to be washed out

before the drying process can begin.

So what the team is doing now is
putting the codfish

that is already washed in the trays,

and now these trays are
going to the driers,

where the cod the will stay for
almost one week

so the water that is inside the cod
can come out.

The wet cod is then kept in
the controlled environment

of the dryers at a temperature of
20 degrees centigrade

until the fish is completely dry.

Rock hard, it will keep like this
for months

until it's ready for cooking

using one of what is claimed

to be over 1,000 recipes.

My favourite dish is the cod
boiled water.

And then with oil and garlic
and pepper,

for me, it's the best.

Energised after a traditional
dish of bacalhau,

we're back on the train and continue

our journey to Lisbon.

For the next hundred miles,

our intercity train travels
through the beautiful

Portuguese countryside
and all we have to do

is sit back and
watch that beauty speed by.

We got first class tickets and the

chairs are much comfier
than our plane seats

so we're very happy with the train.

Yeah, we are a little jet-lagged,

was hoping we could get some sleep

but the views are
very beautiful, so.

Train is by far the best way
to travel, I think.

It's much more civilised,

you get to see more,
you get to experience more.

So if I have a choice
between flying and train,

I will always get the train.

And if you love trains, then the
next stop, Entrocamento is a must,

as it's the site of
the National Railway Museum,

a building housing a British

locomotive with a dark secret.

We're on the second leg of our

scenic railway journey
through Portugal.

Our CP 5600 locomotive is hurtling

down the Linha do Norte

from Porto to Lisbon at speeds of

around 200km an hour.

After Aveiro, our train continues

to head south through the Portuguese

countryside, past Entroncamento

and onwards to Portugal's capital,
Lisbon.

I think we are lucky
to have this railway

between the Porto and Lisbon.

It is a great way to commute
between two cities.

And furthermore, you can see some

beautiful landscape out the window

throughout the whole of the journey.

TANNOY: Next stop, Entroncamento.

We've travelled 130 miles since

we left Porto and now arrive
in Entroncamento.

It's the centre of Portugal's
railway network

where two major train lines meet,

the Linha do Norte
and the Linha do Oeste.

A fitting place for the nation's
much-celebrated railway museum.

The museum is home to
15 beautiful steam engines,

among them
Portugal's oldest locomotive,

the CP 02049.

Built in 1856 by William Fairbairn
and Sons in England,

the saddle tank Loco was nicknamed
andorinha - swallow.

The Swallow works in the

construction of the Douro lines.

It was the first one
to run in the Douro,

after open to the public.

It transport workers
on the vineyards

and also do the line between the
cities in the Douro margins.

But the jewel in the museum's crown
also has a British connection -

the royal train used by
the last kings of Portugal,

pulled by a Manchester-built
locomotive.

You will notice that many advises

was wrote in English because many

things that we have in Portuguese

Railways was bought in England.

Modelled on the trains
used by Queen Victoria,

this is a palace on wheels.

This is the Princes' salon.

Here travel the prince
and all the guests.

The sofas remind us,

the gentleman clubs.

I can imagine they having a port

or wine and have a cigar

and look at the beautiful view.

This special train have special

things, like this lavatory
that you can make

this movement to put off the water.

And here you have the Queen's Room.

This part here is for the maids
of the Queen.

There's also a special place
for the Queen's convenience.

I was surprised.

You have here a private
toilet for the Queen.

A time capsule.

Nothing has changed here
since Royal bottoms

sat on its thrones.

This is original.

All the things that you see
here is not renovated.

So this saloon is like the...

..as bought in 1877

for the 14th anniversary
of the prince.

But for all its splendours,
this train has a dark past.

On the 1st of February 1908,
King Don Carlos and much

of his family journeyed
in it to their deaths.

One thing that this train
reminds us

is the last trip for Don Carlos,
the day that he was murdered.

And all the ministers that
go on this trip

say to Don Carlos
to stop the trip

because someone in Lisbon,
someone wants to kill the king.

But Don Carlos didn't want
to end the trip,

so they came to Lisbon and
he was murdered that evening.

The King and Crown Prince were
killed as they arrived in Lisbon.

Portugal became a republic
two years later in 1910.

They may be gone, but the lines
they travelled on live on.

As we are nearing Lisbon, you can
see how the landscape changes.

Now, we can see that the plains
of the Ribatejo Province

near Santarem, and you can see
it's a very rural area,

lots of productions going on here,
mainly rice.

Rice is probably the biggest
production here in this region.

After three and a half hours,
our train arrives at its terminus,

Lisbon's Oriente Station.

But our Portuguese railway
adventure continues.

We're off to take a ride on
one of Lisbon's famous trams.

Lisbon is the city of Seven Hills.

Comparisons are often made
with San Francisco.

Even the suspension bridge
crossing the river Tagus

looks rather familiar.

Joana Andreia has been a tram driver
in the city for four years

and works on the iconic
number 28 route.

But with Seven Hills to contend
with, she doesn't do much driving.

In Portuguese, tram driver
actually means brake-keeper.

So we don't steer.

Everything we do, actually,
is to put some energy, take some

energy to drive it, and then
everything else,

it's brakes, actually,
we have lots of brakes.

This is a brake, it's also
a magnet brake and emergency brake.

And we have a cool thing here
in trams that is to help

us on braking, it's sand.

So if you press it...

..you can hear the sound
of sand release.

These old wooden trams are equipped
with a total of five different

brakes, plus the sand that gets
dumped on the tracks for better

grip, especially when it rains.

We don't drive fast, but the tram
is always moving.

And the thing is, it's everything
made of iron.

The tracks are made of iron
and the wheels are made of iron.

So we need to increase
traction to brake.

That's why we need the sand.

I love driving trams because
it's part of Lisbon history.

We have the opportunity to get to
the old part of town every time

with the old folks that thrive
here, even before I was born.

So it's a very nice job. I love it.

Driving through the city
is a challenge, of course.

We need to pay very attention.
We're always alert,

but with practice, with experience,
it becomes very natural.

And we do things without thinking
and it begins to be very fun.

We're tram drivers,
it's a fun job.

Lisbon's historic trams are
popular with tourists, but also

with the locals, who still use
their beloved electricos.

Julia has been taking the tram
to visit her grandmother

since she was a child.

I really love the tram.
I think it's my favourite way

of moving around in Lisbon.

When you go on a tram, you can
feel the city's energy.

But like when you go on a bus,
it's much more artificial.

Or when you go on the subway,
you can't see the city.

So I think it's my favourite way
out of all the options.

And when it's in the summer and
you can open the window and feel

the fresh air, it's really,
it's really wonderful.

As our tram rumbles on through
the narrow streets of Lisbon's

old town, taking tight turns
and climbing steep hills,

we travelled past
countless bakeries.

But there is one that is special,
Pasteis de Belem,

the pastry shop where the original
recipe for Portugal's famous

custard tart is kept in a safe.

A recipe only known to six people.

Here to tell us more is a veteran
of the custard tart business,

Maria Dulce.

This secret is kept,
like you can see him here,

for... since 1837.

So I don't know it.

And I work here for 45 years
and I don't know anything

about the secret.

Incredibly, these tarts
are the by-product

of an ecclesiastical laundry.

In years gone by, the monks of
the Jeronimos Monastery used

egg whites to starch their habits,

which meant that they had
a lot of egg yolks to use up.

The result was the custard tart.

When the monastery was closed,
the recipe was sold

to the Antigua Confiteria,
the old pastry shop in Belem,

who have kept it a secret
ever since.

So whilst other bakeries make
custard tarts, it's only

here you can buy the original,
called Pasteis de Belem.

The difference between Pasteis de
Nata and Pasteis de Belem,

is that so, so big that you have
to try them and tell us.

Every day, 20,000 creamy delights
leave the production line.

These are all done by hand,
not by machines, because machines

cannot replicate the measurements
and cannot replicate

what the ladies do too.

Machines cannot replicate
a woman's hand.

With a gentle caress, ramekins
aligned with puff pastry and filled

with the secret custard mix
before they're baked at

400 degrees centigrade
for about 30 minutes.

The temperature, the turning,
everything you see is part

of the secret, you know?

Now we are going to try
and see the secret room, OK?

KNOCKING

Hola...

SHE SPEAKS PORTUGUESE

Well, it was worth a try.

Now the baking is done, the cart
with a tray is coming here

to the table, and we will
spill the trays

over the table to cool them
and everything begins again.

Filled with custard tarts,
we head to Rossio,

one of Lisbon's oldest
train stations, for the last

leg of our railway journey
through Portugal.

We're catching an Urbano,
a commuter train.

The 40-minute ride will take us
to the magical palaces of Sintra.

A place of stunning castles and
exotic gardens that once seduced

English romantics like Lord Byron.

We're at Lisbon's Rossio station,
ready to board an Urbano,

a commuter train for
the third and final leg

of our railway journey
through Portugal.

Our train speeds at over 60mph
through the Rossio Tunnel.

2,850 yards long,

this is the start
of the Central Line.

The urban landscape of Lisbon's
outskirts is in direct contrast

to the magical place
where we're heading -

Sintra, our final destination.

Looming high in the surrounding
forest are the ruins

of the Moorish castle,
dating back to the eighth century,

when Portugal was part of
a vast Muslim kingdom.

Maria has been digging deep
into the castle's past.

What is great in this castle
is that we found lots of vestige

from other times since
the Neolithic until now.

So this says to us
this place is very special,

because all populations start here.

So in 5,000 BC, they were here.

Then the Moors were here,
then the Christians were here.

So this is a place that has
this mystique,

embracing all the culture that
passed through this place.

In the 12th century, the Christians
took the castle from the Muslims

during the Reconquista and
turned it into a fortress.

The Moorish castle was very
important from a strategic point.

It's very high, as you can
see from here.

And you can also see from
each towers,

almost a 360 viewpoint.

So it was perfect for defence
and nobody could attack a place

so high with such boulders
in the way.

As you can see from here,
you see all the land

until the Atlantic Ocean.

On clear days, you can see
all the palaces

that surround the Moorish castle.

And the most important,
the way to get to Sintra by train.

We can see the railway station
from here.

Inspired by the Moorish
architecture of the fortress,

the area around Sintra is dotted
with fairytale-like castles,

exotic gardens
and opulent palaces...

..like the Quinta de Regaleria.

De Monteiro hired
Italian architect Luigi Manini

to realise his vision for a place
unlike any other.

The palaces of Sintra were a magnet
for romantic Englishmen

like Lord Byron, who took
a particular shine

to Monserrate Palace, the private
retreat of Francis Cook,

a wealthy English merchant.

It's a house made to enjoy the park.

It's a house that has large windows.

It's very open, very in harmony
with the park.

This this thing, it's very
important in most parts.

You see the columns,
the arches are the same

outside and inside the house.

This harmony, this continuity
between the exterior and interior

are the main thing in
the Monserrate architecture.

Nestled between hills
and the Atlantic Ocean,

Sintra's microclimate produces
above average rainfall.

Perfect for an English
garden to thrive.

The garden was built by 100 men
that constructed here.

The first one in Portugal
had brought trees

from all over the world
to do here a little piece of heaven

to Francis Cook and his family
and friends.

They came here to enjoy
the outside, the outdoors.

They are English people,
they love the outdoors.

And in Portugal,
they can have an English garden

in the Mediterranean climate.

And that is the main thing
that the Cooks love here.

Byron called Montserrate,
with its enchanting gardens,

"a glorious Eden" and "the most
delightful palace in Europe".

The glorious palaces of Sintra
will always be a fitting end

to anyone's journey.

And what a journey!

On our 270-mile train ride
through Portugal,

we travelled through
one of the most stunning

wine regions in the world,

crossed rivers and lagoons,
and savoured some of the most

traditional culinary delights
along the way.

Our Portuguese voyage
from north to south

has been a truly
magnificent railway journey.