Michael Palin's New Europe

Throughout most of my lifetime,

an Iron Curtain has divided Eastern Europe from the West,

preventing me from really getting to know it!

I've flown over it, I've peered at bits of it,

but I've never really travelled through it!

Now the Iron Curtain has lifted, I'm going to make up for lost time

and explore the other half of my continent, Europe!

Here in the Slovenian Alps, I'm turning my back on Western Europe

and heading east to a world which is changing at a remarkable speed.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Empire,

the number of countries in Eastern Europe has doubled.

Ten have already become members of the European Union

and even countries like Turkey are keen to join them.

What lies ahead is, for me, a voyage of discovery,

an exploration of the people, the places, the mood and the spirit

that is transforming old lands Into a new Europe.

As we meander through the tranquil countryside of Slovenia,

It's hard to believe that this was the country

whose walk-out from the Communist conference in 1990

began the break-up of Yugoslavia,

one of the cornerstones of post-war Europe,

and put six new European countries on the map.

I'll be travelling through them, to Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia,

and beyond them, to the mysterious land of Albania.

My first port of call is Slovenia's southern neighbour, Croatia,

whose beautiful coastline stretches languorously along the Adriatic.

Like many of the countries of New Europe,

Croatia has a very old history.

Here in the port of Split, off a square built at the time of Napoleon,

Goran Golovko teaches children about the city's most famous son,

the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

Goran's way of bringing history to life

is to portray the Romans as just one of the many peoples

who have occupied Croatia over the years,

very much like present-day tour groups that flock here every summer.

And I can see girls wearing tanga! Beautiful!

Of all the ex-Yugoslav countries,

Croatia is the one that seems most comfortable

with International attention.

You could say the Idea of East and West Europe began here.

It was Diocletian who took the momentous decision

to divide the Roman Empire in two.

He ruled the East from a mighty palace here in Split,

which is still Inhabited.

The palace is still alive! People still live within it!

And we can see architectural changes from medieval time onwards!

Has there been any attempt by municipal authorities

to get rid of all the parasitic buildings on this beautiful thing?

Because many people would think that was a bit of architectural desecration!

Well, not any more! This is also part of traditional culture!

This is how Split was developed!

- That washing looks very old indeed! - Yes, it's Roman, actually!

They didn't advertise it, but!!!

- It's still not dry! - Yeah, but it's still there!

So now we are at Peristil, which is the main square of the palace,

where the emperor was appearing to his subjects!

And we see these great colonnades of Corinthian style!

- Pillars! - And this extraordinary feeling!

You've got modern buildings with aluminium windows!

- Yes, this is my bank over there! - That's your bank?

Indeed! Where I shake in front of my bank manager!

Okay!

I don't think I've been anywhere quite like this,

where you get the feeling of an empire which has just crumbled

and been absorbed again by somebody else, been adapted!

It's remarkable!

I spy a piece of more recent Croatian history,

the name of the local football club.

- Famous name for us football lovers! - Yes!

- One of Split's symbols! - Yeah!

If you're born into being a Hajduk fan,

then you're a Hajduk fan for the rest of your life!

The word Hajduk means a bandit,

but in the good sense of bandit as patriot,

fighting for his country against Venetians and Ottoman Turks.

Goran takes me to meet Zdravko, a modern Croatian patriot,

who also happens to run one of the best restaurants in town.

Hello! Yes, that's very good!

Are you happy the way it's happening now with the tourists here?

Of course, absolutely! You see, I always say to everybody I'm very, very happy!

Of course, I'm very critical!

But imagine, living, the fall of Communism,

the creation of the free Croatia, a modern Croatian state,

for the first time in modern history,

winning the war, and sitting here at the age of 60!

You know, the creation of the state alive and erect!

It's a fantastic feeling! Of course, it's very emotional!

- Yeah! - And, the other side,

I am, of course, critical! Why not?

Because, at the very beginning, I was very, very mad

because my Croatia was like a baby in a cradle!

Now you can kick it in the!!! You know!

Oh, right! Now you can take it apart a bit!

In the '90s, I wouldn't do that! Now, I'm very critical!

It sounds as though you were a bit unhappy in the Communist time!

Well, you know, Communism!!!

I didn't like Communism because it was very limiting for work!

You know what I mean?

You see, people felt much more secure in ex-Yugoslavia

because you'd get a job and you'd keep it for life!

- You know what I mean? - Yeah!

You get what you get, but!!!

We didn't have so many possibilities to work, like this one!

- Like I'm working now, you see! - Yeah!

What sort of things define Croatia now,

- Its role in the world, if you like? - It is!!! Yes!

When we look here now, the first time in history that we have our modern state!

- Yeah! - You see!!!

For example, in ex-Yugoslavia, I could not express my patriotism,

I would say, as freely as I do now!

It had to fit into Yugoslavia, you know?

But now you say, "I am Croatian!"

It's a fantastic feeling when you can say it openly,

without any fear, without any consequences!

That's the point!

These days self-expression breaks out Just about anywhere in Split,

Improvised, energetic and, after a few beers, embarrassingly Irresistible.

Can't wait to get home and tell the wife about this.

One of the most seductive attractions of Croatia are her Islands.

I take the ferry to Hvar, which comes highly recommended.

- What can we expect to see there? - It's a paradise!

A paradise? oh, we're not allowed to go to paradises!

- You are! - Yeah?

- You are! - In what way?

Just the look of the place? What is there to do there?

The sands, the flowers of the island, the colours!

- You should love it! - Yeah!

I'm sure you will love it! Everyone does!

Hvar beckons you before you even reach It

with the heady scent of lavender, oregano

and the broom that seems to cover the Island.

Attractive as this might be to the tourists,

It hasn't done much for the locals,

who have, over the years, left in droves to find work abroad.

One man who says he'll never leave is Igor Zivanovic.

Raconteur, bon viveur and all-round character,

Igor has his own bar and restaurant in a back street of Stari Grad.

This is the family house, because my family has stayed 500 years!

And then I'm here!

- Steeped in history, this! - Yes, history!

Do you know about all that slow food that they write about in Italy?

- Sometimes!!! - Some of them try to do the slow food!

Sometimes when we have friends in the bar

and we are drinking wine, we are talking about the wine, about!!! I don't know!

About my grandmother, about your grandmother,

about the time when you were 16 or 17!

And the stupid tourist, but really stupid, not a friend,

he wants to eat something!

I say, "You have 20 kuna! You can go get fast food!

- "I have no time!" - I see!

So if you want a quick meal, don't come in here!

- You are the Basil Fawlty of slow food! - I enjoy to cook, to make the joke!

- What can I do for you now? - You can bring me a glass of wine!

White wine from the island of Hvar, please!

- Okay, okay! - There on the bar!

My glass is on the left, yours is on the right!

May take a few hours, but I'll do my best!

Yeah!

- Igor, is this all right? - And where is your glass?

Well, I've got the bottle and the glass!

You're the most important person at the moment!

I'm taking it slowly today!

According to your philosophy, there's no need to hurry! There you are!

- One for you, one for me! - Is this the right one?

- Okay, I'll go and get one for me! - This is the one from the island here!

- Oh, right! - It's a table wine!

- On Hvar! Lovely! - Yes!

The meal, peppery lamb stew and fresh grilled sardines, is delicious

and I find myself helplessly drawn Into Igor's world,

which Includes opinions on everything from Marshal Tlto to McDonald's.

- My rules! - I think if you're going to travel,

you should obey and accept the terms!

If they make here a McDonald's, I will hang!

You'd hang?

- We need a little!!! - The first McDonald's martyr!

- The clocks all over!!! - They're all at 3:04!

- Look, up there are some more! - They're all at 3:04!

- 3:04! - Why 3:04?

This is the story, my dear!

At that time, it's my ex-president, Josip Broz Tito, is dying!

- Ah, Tito died at 3:04? - Tito! 3:04!

Maybe not, but so it was on TV! They said, "Now he's dying!" Super!

- Then I put all the clocks on 3:04! - Yeah!

- And he was the biggest hedonist!!! - Yeah!

!!! in the history of modern civilisation!

He was wonderful!

After our lunch, Igor takes me out of the town to see the farms

deserted by those who couldn't make these stony fields pay.

They are from the 16th century!

Sixteenth, seventeenth century! This is from the seventeenth century!

- What, this little!!! - Yes, this one!

- Because in the middle!!! - Ah, yes!

You know, this triangle! How do you say?

- Headstone? - Headstone! Bravo, bravo, bravo!

You know everything about our architecture!

Yeah, I've cracked it! At last!

- Yeah! - Something I know about!

Would you be happy to stay here, in this paradise,

for the rest of your life?

What have you said? You have said, "Paradise!"