Boston
Sun, Jan 21, 2018
  • S3.E1
  • Boston
7.9 /10
7.8 /10
Plymouth to Nantucket
Michael travels from Plymouth to New London and uses historic rail. He traces the steps of the Pilgrim Fathers in Plymouth, Mass; we see how indigenous tribes of the Wampanoag people taught settlers to live off the land; he boards the Cape Cod Central Railroad, bound for Hyannis and then takes the ferry to Martha's Vineyard, where several presidents have holiday homes. Y
6.8 /10
New Haven to Mount Washington
New Haven to Plattsburgh A rail journey through Connecticut and New England; rowing in New Haven, Conn.; the world's first mountain climbing cog railway; the logging industry in Vermont; the Olympic bobsleigh run in Lake Placid, N.Y.
7.3 /10
Thousand Islands to Oshawa, Ontario
Michael travels parallel to the Canadian/US border. First stop is Brockville where he takes a river trip around the islands. Jim Clarke introduces him to the first railway Canadian tunnel. Then on to Fort Henry and the Royal Military College . Fort Hope presents slack-lining then onto Oshawa. Final destination is Toronto's Union Station to discuss the impact of the railways on the capital.
6.7 /10
Sacramento to Napa Valley
Reno to Napa Valley, over the Sierra Mountain range in Nevada and Lake Tahoe ; Michael meets experts in their field about how the west was opened by rail and due to the gold and silver mining.
7.4 /10
Monterey to Santa Barbara
Actually in this same show Michael travels on to Los Angeles also. He travels on the Coast Starlight rail service, he visits the historic port of Monterey, Warner Bros studio, and explores a rail link with 7 new stations on the LA Metro that was started in 2015 and expected finish date is 2024.
7 /10
Los Angeles to Laguna Beach
Michael Portillo travels by rail and visits the orange groves of Riverside; he learns how to make California rolls with a chef; he tries his hand at Plein Air painting in Laguna Beach and attends celebrations for Mexican Independence Day.
7 /10

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Stelvio. Crossroads of Peace

Stelvio. Crossroads of Peace

A documentary that showcases an extraordinary place in the heart of Europe: The Stelvio Pass. Here, at 3,000 metres above sea-level in the middle of the Italian Alps, one finds an imposing natural treasure where the present meets the past and the visitor discovers a breath-taking landscape and mountain sports experience. Whereas the Stelvio alpine glacier is a big tourist attraction for summer skiing, the mountain road to the Pass, an engineering wonder built in 1825 by the Austrian Empire, hosts the most famous stage of the Giro d'Italia. But people once battled here not just for sporting reasons: One hundred years ago soldiers on those peaks experienced the so-called White War which took place on the highest and coldest battlefield of World War I. After one hundred years trenches, cans, bombs and weapons from that cruel war are still found in the snow by people like Mario Pasinetti, a hotel porter and former member of the Italian Alpine brigade, who collects war remains in his spare time. Through Mario's story the viewer meets the people that make the Stelvio a lively microcosm: Claudia, a female forest ranger; Gustav Thöni, a former world skiing champion; Pompa, an aficionado and pilot of vintage airplanes as well as inventor of Artic rescue tools which he tests personally on the glacier; and Lorenz, a shaman who lives at the foot of the Stelvio road. Through these people and other characters, along with the help of majestic mountain shoots (including helicams and wescam shoots), this documentary enables us to discover the unexpected power and magic of this alpine microcosm that has changed from a point of collision between hostile forces to a place of interchange and discovery, of encounters and leisure activities: a "crossroad of peace".

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