Michael Portillo in Stockholm S01E01 1080p HDTV H264-DARKFLiX en subtitles – 100+ languages (SRT)

All language subtitles for Michael.Portillo.in.Stockholm.S01E01.1080p.HDTV.H264-DARKFLiX.en

Afrikaans

Akan

Albanian

Amharic

Arabic

Armenian

Azerbaijani

Basque

Belarusian

Bemba

Bengali

Bihari

Bosnian

Breton

Bulgarian

Cambodian

Catalan

Cebuano

Cherokee

Chichewa

Chinese (Simplified)

Chinese (Traditional)

Corsican

Croatian

Czech

Danish

Dutch

English Download

Esperanto

Estonian

Ewe

Faroese

Filipino

Finnish

French

Frisian

Galician

Georgian

German

Greek

Guarani

Gujarati

Haitian Creole

Hausa

Hawaiian

Hebrew

Hindi

Hmong

Hungarian

Icelandic

Igbo

Indonesian

Interlingua

Irish

Italian

Japanese

Javanese

Kannada

Kazakh

Kinyarwanda

Kirundi

Kongo

Korean

Krio (Sierra Leone)

Kurdish

Kurdish (Soranî)

Kyrgyz

Laothian

Latin

Latvian

Lingala

Lithuanian

Lozi

Luganda

Luo

Luxembourgish

Macedonian

Malagasy

Malay

Malayalam

Maltese

Maori

Marathi

Mauritian Creole

Moldavian

Mongolian

Myanmar (Burmese)

Montenegrin

Nepali

Nigerian Pidgin

Northern Sotho

Norwegian

Norwegian (Nynorsk)

Occitan

Oriya

Oromo

Pashto

Persian

Polish

Portuguese (Brazil)

Portuguese (Portugal)

Punjabi

Quechua

Romanian

Romansh

Runyakitara

Russian

Samoan

Scots Gaelic

Serbian

Serbo-Croatian

Sesotho

Setswana

Seychellois Creole

Shona

Sindhi

Sinhalese

Slovak

Slovenian

Somali

Spanish Download

Spanish (Latin American)

Sundanese

Swahili

Swedish

Tajik

Tamil

Tatar

Telugu

Thai

Tigrinya

Tonga

Tshiluba

Tumbuka

Turkish

Turkmen

Twi

Uighur

Ukrainian

Urdu

Uzbek

Vietnamese

Welsh

Wolof

Xhosa

Yiddish

Yoruba

Zulu

Original subtitles

Come with me as I take you to some of my favourite cities

on a long weekend.

Buongiorno tutti.

'Together, we'll explore the places I love.'

Oh, Palermo, what a beauty you are.

Oh, my word. Madrid is next to heaven.

'And discover places new.'

We put the vroom-vroom into Milano.

Oh, my. This is astonishing.

From Stockholm to Lisbon, we'll raise a glass.

Saude. Saude.

And enjoy great food.

Mmm. Pork that melts in your mouth.

I don't think there's any delicate way of eating it.

Oh... SHE CHUCKLES

'We'll leave the tourist trail behind.'

Every bone in my body has been shaken.

My goodness. We are on the ice. Yes.

Oh, my word. We are tacking.

'And seek out special places to stay.'

The view of Prague is magnificent.

'Along the way, we'll make new friends.'

Ciao, ciao!

Do you mind if we do a selfie? Oh, really?

'And memories to last a lifetime.'

Oh! Oh! That's great!

I think I shall always remember this. This is a beautiful moment.

I have rarely seen such opulence.

What an amazing sight.

I am loving this. I can't wait to show you more.

CAR HORN HONKS

'Welcome to a capital city

'whose beautiful buildings are reflected

'in intensely blue waters...

'..but which is not mobbed by visitors.

'Stockholm in Sweden.

'Around 500 miles south of the Arctic Circle,

'Stockholm is 2.5 hours from Britain.

'The city is set between a sprawling freshwater lake

'and the Baltic Sea, spread across a patchwork of islands,

'making it one of the most exciting places to explore

'on a long weekend.'

I have arrived in Stockholm armed not with a guidebook

so much as preconceptions.

From Scandinavia, marauding Vikings raided the British Isles.

This is the land of ABBA,

the smorgasbord and flat-packed furniture.

Here, the winter nights and summer days are endless.

Stockholm gave its name to a hostage syndrome,

and it hosts the annual award of the Nobel Prizes.

It is the city of the Royal Family, equipped with palace and cathedral.

Let us brace ourselves against the cold,

and, like warriors of old,

don our horned helmets for a voyage of discovery.

We have much to learn.

'This is my first return in more than two decades.

'A long weekend of Scandinavian rediscovery lies ahead...'

I have not had this much fun since I was five.

SHE LAUGHS '..promising Nordic hospitality...'

Ah, the faithful Stefan. Hello. Hello.

'..fiery spirits...' Shall we have another go?

Well, I reckon.

'..the Midas touch...'

Oh, my. This is astonishing. HE CHUCKLES

'..and the clash of the icemen.' Oh! Oh! Oh!

Oh-ho! It's the Stockholm bloodbath.

'Today, we'll immerse ourselves in Swedish tradition...'

Oh, my word.

'..backstage at a royal banquet fit for a king,

'queen, and visiting president.'

You know, I've been to state banquets in Buckingham Palace.

Mm-hm? I don't think I've ever seen a table this big.

'We'll toast with Sweden's national drink.'

Jag alskar dig. It means "I love you".

You're so kind. I've only just arrived!

'And explore the breath-taking beauty.'

My goodness. We are on the ice.

'..of Stockholm's island archipelago.'

I think I shall always remember this. This is a beautiful moment.

Skal. Skal.

'I remember Stockholm as a relaxed, easy-going city.

'Fewer than 2.5 million international visitors

'overnight here per year.

'It's never too crowded, and in mid-winter, even less so.

'We have the place to ourselves, but we must wrap up.'

A week ago, the temperature was -17,

and snow came tumbling down aplenty.

And now there's lots of impacted ice.

'A long weekend begins on the central city island of Sodermalm,

'where I'm in search of a warming food and Swedish hospitality.'

I'm in a part of Stockholm called Sodermalm.

These blocks of flats were constructed for the working class.

But the whole neighbourhood has now been gentrified

and is full of hipsters.

I'm attracted like a moth to a flame.

'But it might not look that way.

'Sodermalm is one of Stockholm's oldest neighbourhoods,

'dating to the 13th century.

'In a city packed with emporia offering traditional Swedish fare,

'I hanker for a dish that we now associate

'with flat-pack furniture shopping.'

The time has come for great balls of meat.

Roll up, roll up. Hello.

'The average Swede eats hundreds of kottbullar every year.

'So I'm joining a table of fellow hipsters

'to find out why they can't get enough of them.'

And hello, meatball lovers. How are you?

Very good. Hi. How are you?

Yeah, well. Well, I'm Michael, what's your name?

My name is Lucas. Nice to meet you. Hello, Lucas.

Andreas. Andreas.

Julia. Nice to meet you. Julia.

Kristoffer. Kristoffer.

And Jenny. And Jenny.

This place is very popular.

I see there's a great queue outside at the moment.

Yeah. It's, like, crowded every day.

'Legend has it that this much-loved dish

'was introduced to Sweden in the 1700s,

'when King Charles XII brought back a recipe from Turkey.'

What's the thing with the Swedes and meatballs?

Thing with Swedes and meatballs? It's tradition.

It's in our blood.

It's in your blood. So, you're talking about your grandmother,

your mother cooking meatballs? Yes. Of course.

Yeah. Do you remember your mother, your grandmother, anyone making...?

Of course. Yeah. I think everyone has.

Yeah.That's, like, in every Swedish household.

Is the eating of meatballs

associated with any particular occasion?

I don't know, Christmas, Easter, midsummer?

Yeah, exactly. Midsummer...

All the holidays. All the holidays.

Every Monday. Thursdays?

Every Wednesday. Thursdays. Yeah.

Regular day food. Exactly. Fridays.

So, meatballs are associated with holidays,

and also Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Yeah! OK. Right. So it sounds like they're eaten quite a lot.

Oh, hello. Come on in. Yes. There you go.

Then we've got the schnapps as well. Oh, here comes the schnapps.

It's very nice to meet you guys. We say skal, don't we, I think?

Skal. Skal, yeah. Skal. Yep. Skal.

How do you drink these, guys? Down in one, or...?

No, we do a song first. Oh, a song.

THEY SING IN SWEDISH

Amazing.

Nice. You did it. You did it!

Got the rest of today to work as well.

LAUGHTER It will be more fun that way.

Whoo!

'The menu includes reindeer, wild bull, moose,

'even bear in the right season.

'Head chef and co-owner Mathias

'will teach me the classic homemade recipe.'

Mathias, you have all the ingredients here

for some lovely meatballs.

Whose recipe is this? It's from my grandma.

We have a 50/50 by beef and pork.

Instead of just ordinary cream, we're going to use some cream sauce.

We also need some extra flavours.

So that's why I brought some anchovies.

Well, I love the taste of anchovy. In the liquid.

And then just put one fillet in.

It all smelling great, isn't it? Some onion.

What sort of flavours are in there?

It's a little bit of all spice. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

And we use it a lot in the traditional Swedish kitchen.

And then we just roll it up.

That's a funny feeling, that,

as you roll the cold meat in your hands.

If you make meatballs with a machine,

I'm sure they all come out the same size.

If you make them with a Portillo,

they come out in very different sizes and shapes.

But I love them.

'While my meatballs sizzle,

'Mathias prepares a selection from the menu

'for me to blind taste.

'Can I tell my wild boar from my elk?'

These ones look different.

I'm wondering whether these could be vegetarian.

It could be.

I guess that that might be lamb.

I am finding this very tricky.

I'm very surprised I'm not getting really strong flavours

of wild boar and, erm... and reindeer.

Of course, it could be tricky because we don't...

we don't only use the meat, we add some flavours. Mm.

No, it's really defeated me. I'm gonna say that's reindeer.

And I don't think that is elk, but I'm gonna put elk there.

So, what is the result, Mr Judge?

This one is reindeer, so we're happy.

The lamb is actually wild boar. Oh, dear, oh, dear.

Maybe the veggie was quite easy, but, yeah, you're right.

So I got the veggie right. Good.

And this one is the lamb. That's the lamb.

And the last one, we haven't got any flag yet...

Oh. ..because it's... it's yours.

Oh, it's the one I made.

Which was basically classic, but with the anchovy.

Yeah. Really classic. MICHAEL CHUCKLES

As we say in Britain, "Good game, good game."

Good game. THEY LAUGH

'Coming up...'

Oh, my word.

'..on the eve of an official state visit...'

What a glorious uniform you have.

I see you need a sword for your duties.Yes.

You never know what happens.

'..I catch a cab with a difference...'

I've never before been on a taxi

that had to pick its way between the icebergs.

'..and on my first night, venture off the beaten track.'

A candle in the window. It offers welcome to the stranger.

MICHAEL PORTILLO: 'It's early afternoon on my first day

'in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

'Situated on an archipelago,

'the city is spread across 14 islands.

'Two thirds of it is given over to water and green space,

'making it one of Europe's least urban cities.

'It's surprisingly easy to navigate on our visit.

'We're spoilt for choice between subways, buses and trams.

'I'd also recommend hiring a water taxi,

'perfect for island hopping around the archipelago.'

We all love water.

We enjoy watching its constantly changing light

and shapes and shadows.

Lucky Stockholm, to be on the sea.

Lucky us to be able to see the city from the boat.

As the day goes on, if anything, the ice is getting thicker.

I've never before been on a taxi

that had to pick its way between the icebergs.

'Across the water from Sodermalm,

'on the neighbouring island of Gamla Stan,

'is Stockholm's oldest neighbourhood.

'For many centuries, it was home to the Swedish royal family.

'The longest-reigning monarch, King Carl XVI,

'is on the throne today.'

Scandinavia has been a region of kingdoms since time immemorial.

Here in Sweden, the royal palace

is no longer the home of His Majesty the King,

although his standard flies above.

He drives himself here daily

in his Volvo to his office to do his official work.

But today, His Majesty is preparing for a state visit.

'Compared to some other royal palaces,

'Stockholm's might appear quite plain on the outside,

'but the guidebook promises opulence within.

'Well worth the £17 entrance fee.

'I'm meeting Kerstin, who'll guide me

'around the public and private spaces,

'and she's promised me a surprise.'

Kerstin, hello. Hello. Good to see you, Michael.

And welcome to the Royal Palace of Stockholm.

What an honour to be here.

'Just in case we bump into His Majesty,

'I've swapped my gilet for a jacket and tie.'

Kerstin, when I arrive at a magnificent building like this,

of course, my first two questions are, "How big and how old?"

Well, it is a huge palace. It's got more than 600 rooms.

And the royal family moved in here into the palace in 1754.

This is where they had the National Library,

also the National Museum, the Supreme Court...

everything was in the same building.

Yeah. And that accounts for its enormity.Yes.

'Ever since the palace was completed in 1754,

'it has played a central role in Swedish society.

'Today, much of it is open to the public all year round.

'A palace for the people.'

This is wonderful. Stockholm Slott guidebook.

It's published in 1875, and it describes this room.

So it says that it's so fresh and so shiny.

And it also describes the king's private rooms,

like his bedroom and his drawing room.

So people were allowed to come very close to the royal family.

At some point, the royal family stopped living here and moved out.

Where do they live now? At Drottningholm.

Because when our present royal family had three children,

they wanted to live closer to the nature.

I mean, this is magnificent, but not necessarily homely.

No. Not really.

'Many Swedish families own a second home,

'a summer house in the countryside.

'The royals are no exception.

'Drottningholm Palace, on one of Stockholm's outer islands,

'is now their main residence.

'However, the royal palace still hosts official engagements

'and visits by heads of state,

'and the first such visit in over a year

'just happens to fall tomorrow night.'

Imposing doors. Yes, very much so.

Entrance forbidden. MICHAEL LAUGHS

But we go in anyway. Oh, yes.

'Time for the surprise that Kerstin promised.'

Oh, my word. HE LAUGHS

What a magnificent sight.

A table that stretches... to the horizon.

Yes. Four to five metres long.

You know, I've been to state banquets in Buckingham Palace.

Mm-hm? I don't think I've ever seen a table this big.

'Inspired by the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles,

'this grand chamber, one of the palace's most opulent,

'is normally open to the public.

'Filling the room, this grandiose banqueting table

'is one of the world's largest.

'Responsible for perfecting this display is Royal Steward Kurt.'

I'm Michael, how marvellous to see you.

Nice to see you, too.

And what a glorious uniform you have.

Thank you.

I see you need a sword for your duties.Yes.

You never know what happens.

No, actually, it's a symbol for my uniform and my position.

And forgive me, cos I have come on a very busy day.

You are preparing for a state banquet.

Who's coming?

President Macron. France. Of France?

Yes. Yes.

Now, I assume because I've seen these preparations elsewhere,

that your people have been out with their measuring tapes.

Absolutely. Every single plate.

How many places have you set for dinner?

Today, it's actually 170, which is a record in here.

'Hosting a dinner like this

'requires the work of 42 footmen with specific roles.

'But where royal hospitality is involved,

'not all place settings are equal.'

Now we've come to a place where the menu cards are in place,

and the napkins are in place.

Yes. Not on this... This is actually Princess Sophia's seat.

Yes.All the royals have special napkins. Wow.

'A napkin fit for a king.

'I'm told that how to fold this gravity-defying piece of table linen

'is a closely guarded secret,

'known by only three members of the royal household,

'and it comes with a story.'

The napkin sitting in front of the plate is symbolic and decorative,

and the napkin on the plate,

folded quite differently from everybody else's,

is the one that royalty and the state guests will use.

It's quite fantastic.

'Before I leave, something else catches my eye.'

We also have an egg cup on this royal setting.

Nowadays, we don't have eggs in it. No.

But it was... If they thought,

"Maybe I can't eat this, it's poisoned," or whatever.

"I can always eat an egg." Ah. An egg was considered safe.

Yes, because you couldn't poison it.

I do hope that you have briefed the President of France,

because otherwise he may come here tomorrow,

see an egg cup and be very disappointed

if he doesn't have a boiled egg. Yeah, yeah.

Wow. May I wish you and all your colleagues all the best.

I hope it goes very, very smoothly. Thank you.

And with luck, you won't have to use your sword.

Hopefully not. Thank you very much. Thank you.

'Back outside, dusk draws in.

'During the winter months,

'Stockholm manages just six hours of daylight.

'And it's dark by three o'clock.

'And in the short time that I've been here,

'my perceptions of the city are changing.'

Stockholm has the grand buildings of a capital,

but the vibe of a town.

It has the facilities of a great city,

but people treat each other with the warmth of neighbours in a village.

I am learning to chill out, and things can only get cooler still

as we take it easy on our long weekend.

'During my stay, I do plan to overnight in the city,

'but tonight, I'll emulate those locals

'who love to steal away to a second home

'or a summer cabin at the weekend.

'Many families have one.'

In that spirit, I'm going to take a ferry,

which departs from under the shadow of the royal palace.

'I've been advised that the place to go is Vaxholm.

'Often referred to as the capital of the archipelago,

'Vaxholm consists of 70 islands

'and is an hour's ferry ride from Stockholm.'

Being on the ferry gives me a better idea than I had

of how Stockholm spreads out.

I'm passing suburbs now that...

I'm guessing not many tourists come to.

'The further that we sail from the city centre,

'the emptier the ferry becomes.'

Ferry acts like a bus within the city.

There's just a handful of us now for Vaxholm,

and I'm beginning to think that it must be quite exclusive.

'The picture-postcard town twinkles in the wind tonight.

'It's well below freezing,

'but the glowing lights suggest a warm welcome.'

Here is my bed and breakfast.

And in Sweden, a candle in the window,

it offers welcome to the stranger.

And in this house, all the windows are burning brightly,

like a beacon for the weary traveller.

Wonderful to meet you.

Welcome to Vaxholm Bed and Breakfast. I'm Linda.

What a lovely pleasure to see you, Linda. I'm Michael.

What a very pretty house you have. Oh, thank you.

So, this will be your room. Welcome in to the studio.

Oh, so warm and so homely. I'm glad to hear that.

I hope you'll make yourself at home here.

What a beautiful sight.

After my cold walk through the village,

it's like a mirage, like a warm embrace.

And my goodness, I needed it after that walk.

I'm going to enjoy this.

Actually, I feel like storing up all the warmth that I can.

Because tomorrow, my plan is to get pretty cold -

to venture out on the icy water, brr!

'Coming up, I become very "kneady"...'

Have you baked before? Hardly.

'..prepare to take an icy plunge...'

Men go to the moon in less equipment than I am wearing.

'..and go back to nature, Scandi style.'

In Sweden, the sauna is taken in the nude.

'I'm enjoying a long weekend in the Swedish capital, Stockholm,

'the biggest city in the Nordic region.

'My first morning dawns an hour away in Vaxholm...

'..a picturesque maritime town on Stockholm's island archipelago.

'Last night, I joined crowds of locals

'on their weekend exodus to rural homes,

'answering the Swedes' need to draw closer to nature.

'I feel happiest in the heart of a city,

'but now I find myself awake before everybody else...

'..startled by the sheer and utter tranquillity of this place.'

By day, Vaxholm turns out to be a very pretty village,

with old clapperboard houses and picket fences.

And after the darkness, there shall be light,

with a glorious sunrise over the Baltic Sea.

'Down by the water's edge, I'm pleased to discover

'that I wasn't the first out of bed after all.'

Hej. Hej.

My name is Michael, hello. Hello. Hello.

Did you, er...? Did you just go in the sea?

Yes, we did. THEY LAUGH

But there's ice on the water. Yes.

Revives you in the morning?

Yeah. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Makes you calm, and also, after you conquer the cold... Yes.

..just accept it.

What temperature is the water? Around two degrees.

How long do you spend in the water? Now it's about a minute or two.

Yeah. Ah. When it's this cold.

Yeah.But when we started, it was, like, seconds.

THEY LAUGH I can believe it.

Respect.

'Vaxholm was just a rocky outcrop in the archipelago until 1548,

'when a fortress was built on a neighbouring rock

'by one of the greatest Swedish kings, Gustav Vasa,

'who liberated the Swedes from Danish rule.

'By the 19th century, it was a popular resort town

'and steadily grew with the construction

'of wooden summer houses for the good people of Stockholm.

'My bed and breakfast owner, Linda,

'moved here 24 years ago to make a reality of her dream

'of running a small hotel close to nature.'

Hello, Linda. Hi. There you are.

I'm dressed for action. Happy to hear that.

'For the long weekender, she also offers baking classes,

'specialising in a very popular Swedish pastry.'

And today, it's cinnamon buns.

Yes. My favourite. So...

Have you baked before? Hardly.

OK, that's fun. THEY LAUGH

'Cinnamon buns are almost sacrosanct in Sweden.

'There's even a national day, October 4th, in their honour.

'Whenever you have guests for coffee,

'you generally offer cinnamon buns.'

Cinnamon buns have been on the Swedish coffee table

since at least the '40s, so right after the Second World War,

when all the spices could come back in stock.

But that's interesting. So, it's a 20th-century phenomenon.

It doesn't go further back than that, probably.No, exactly.

I think this is perfect. That looks pretty good to me.

I'm surprised how good it is, to tell you the truth.

Linda, I saw some ladies this morning who'd been into the sea.

Would you do that in winter? No.

THEY LAUGH

But we do have a lot of guests that does. Yeah.

We see ladies and men swimming down there every day of the year.

Yeah. Yeah.

So, let's fold this, and I fold it in three.

What kind of a village is Vaxholm?

Do you get commuters here? Yes.

People who live in Vaxholm, many of them commute to...

to Stockholm, for instance, for work.

Yeah.But we have around one million visitors every year on this island.

One million? One million, yeah.

That's astonishing. Many people go... they go hiking,

they go boating, fishing.

Even in the winter, if the ice is not on.

Easy, right? No.

THEY LAUGH

Hold one end, twist a little bit, and then you go round your fingers.

Oh, yeah.

'My buns need an hour to rise.

'Luckily, Linda prepared some earlier,

'ready for breakfast.'

Here you go. Ta-da!

Wow. There you go.

I think those are the ones you made, rather than the ones I made.

They look perfect.

'Coffee and cake for breakfast. What could be simpler?

'Except that here in Sweden, it's much more than that.'

Mm. That's so lovely.

'Taking time out over coffee and cake

'is a social phenomenon all of its own.

'It has a name - fika.'

What else would you say to me about, erm... about Vaxholm?

I think that, you know, we're not much of the bragging types.

I want to show you things, but it's very welcoming to come here,

but also relaxed.

And I think that's, erm, pretty unique, I think.

The nature, I mean,

the privilege we have to be out in the nature,

that's very exclusive.

And most of our guests want to,

in some way, experience the archipelago nature.

I understand. We better give it a look.

'The Stockholm archipelago is a vast cluster

'of some 30,000 islands spread out around the capital -

'the largest archipelago in Sweden.

'Most of the islands are uninhabited,

'have no roads or infrastructure.

'But under Swedish law, anyone can kayak and camp on them,

'except on private property.

'In Sweden, fuelled by cinnamon buns,

'any man or woman is an island, it appears.

'In the spirit of communing with nature,

'I've arranged to take to the water with local expedition guide Teresa.'

Hello. I'm Michael. Oh, hello.

Good morning. Good morning to you.

Whoa! Oh, la, la.

It's icy everywhere. Yes, everywhere.

Can we possibly go out in kayaks in this ice?

Yes. Luckily, we've been cutting the ice yesterday with a chainsaw.

Then the ice could just drifted out overnight.

So, is that something you have to do quite often?

Go out there with your chainsaw? Yeah.

On days in January, it can happen, yes.

Now, it looks as though you are very substantially kitted out.

Yes. That's our kayak fashion.

OK, well, I need to have gear like that, please.

Do you have something in my size, do you think?Of course.

'Even with sea temperatures close to freezing,

'kayaking is enjoyed all year round.

'Perfect weather for Swedish ducks.

'Theresa has carefully embalmed me from head to foot.'

Men go to the moon in less equipment than I am wearing.

'And with much of the Baltic iced over,

'we employ a boat with a reinforced hull to find a safe spot to launch.'

So, right now, our boat is crunching through the ice,

and that's the sound you can hear.

We are just ploughing through ice, pushing it aside.

ICE CRACKS

'According to Teresa, conditions can be very much worse.'

Baltic Sea is like an inland sea.

It only has 0.3% of salt, so it can actually freeze over.

So that means you really have to think

about where we're going kayaking today.Yes.

It's kind of open water.

We can still see the island,

but it's all covered in ice, basically.

Yeah. Wow. Wow.

If we are lucky, we can go on top of it.

That's quite funny. We will see if it will carry us, yes.

'I do hope she's joking.'

Your idea of fun is an interesting one.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Well, you take what you get in winter, yes.

'She's NOT joking.

'Finally, we arrive at a suitable stretch of water.'

I have been launched.

Yoo-hoo! May God bless all who sail in her.

'Just in case I plough into trouble,

'experienced kayaker Miley joins me, tandem kayaking.'

We're the only ones brave enough today.Yes, exactly.

But lucky those of us who have been brave today

because this is marvellous, isn't it?

I'm in a very, very, very beautiful place.

Quite a lot of greenery, quite a lot of trees.

'Plenty of birds on the water too.'

In winter, you can see a lot of swans and ducks.

We also have a lot of deers, actually, on the island

because they go over the ice in winter.

And then in summertime, they get stuck on the island, basically.

And then they just lay on your terrace for the rest of the year.

So, they become your domestic animals.

'The further out we go, the bolder I feel.'

So, now you can start to see

that the surface of the water is changing, right?

We have one kind of mirror-like surface,

so that's the ice, basically.

Mm-hm.

Oh, now we get a gust here.

Yeah. Suddenly, some very cold water in my face.Yes.

Which reminds me that the... the Baltic is a very cold sea.

And we're just approaching the sheet of ice.

Ah-ha. And my goodness, you...

We are on the ice! Yes!

I don't believe it. We are on the ice.

Great, right? I'm going to tap it with my...

You can try. It's so thick. Yes.

Wow. That's exciting. It is.

I think I shall always remember this.

This is a beautiful moment.

Mm. And now I would then drift myself off,

and we can find some shelter on this side.

OK, let's do that. Yes.

You're sitting completely up there on the ice at the moment.

I'm stuck here forever.

No, no, you'll be fine in the summer.Yes.

'I'm happily surprised at how much I've enjoyed this.

'I go so far as to recommend

'that you try it on your long weekend here.'

Hey, hey, hey! Voila. What a landing.

'But before I return to my natural urban habitat,

'Theresa has one more rural treat in store.'

The hardy Swede, having endured the rigours of the Baltic in the kayak,

then takes a plunge in the icy waters

and then to the bastu, which is Swedish for sauna.

I'm going to go in at 70 degrees for about ten minutes,

which is rather longer than a cinnamon bun.

And in Sweden, the sauna is taken in the nude.

'Coming up, I return to urbanism...'

Look at these beautiful gables,

the soft lighting and the restaurants that glow their welcome.

'..and at one of the world's oldest bars,

'I learn the language of love.'

IN SWEDISH:

'I'm back in the Swedish capital, Stockholm,

'ruddy cheeked from my icy archipelago adventure.

'And being mid-afternoon, it's already becoming dark.

'On the old town island of Gamla Stan,

'I'm inspired to continue my exploration

'of what connects the Swedes to this wonderful place.'

Returning from Vaxholm to Stockholm,

a city which is increasingly familiar to me,

has felt like a homecoming after a short holiday.

'Despite being one of Europe's richest countries,

'there's very little bling on display.

'Another very Swedish characteristic

'is the marked lack of towering glass skyscrapers.

'Strolling the medieval streets is a delight.'

The old town of Stockholm is very well preserved.

Cobbled streets, twists and turns and hills.

Very, very charming.

And a conservation marvel.

No modern buildings interrupting the facades.

Look at these beautiful gables, look at these pastel colours,

the soft lighting and the restaurants that glow their welcome.

'I'm learning that in Sweden, when the dark winter nights draw in,

'you arrange to pass the time by keeping yourself busy.

'A four-minute stroll away is a Stockholm institution

'which has been keeping locals occupied for centuries.'

Do you know, I think I might go into this old bar here.

It's what they call a "schnapps" decision.

'In fact, I've been looking forward to spending an evening here

'ever since arriving in Stockholm.

'Head barman Simon will be my host.'

Good evening. Good evening.

Hello, Michael. I'm Simon. Simon.

Good to see you, Simon. Are these schnapps glasses?

Yes. Well, you're in Sweden now, so... when in Rome.

This is, erm... This is a very well known and ancient place, isn't it?

Yeah. I mean, it's arguably the...

probably the oldest restaurant in the world.

I mean, Google says different.

There's a place in Madrid that opened in 1725.

I've been there. Oh, yeah, OK.

But this opened in 1722.

My goodness. I mean, that's more than 300 years.Yes.

There is a painter called Zorn who rescued the place

because it was near bankruptcy. Yes.

And then in his will, became a part of Swedish heritage.

He said that this restaurant will never close.

Ever, no matter what. MICHAEL LAUGHS

And that must be unique, I would think.Yeah.

'Sweden's preferred distilled liquor, schnapps,

'is made from potatoes or grains

'and flavoured with anything, from butterscotch to watermelon.

'At Den Gyldene Freden, there's an added extra.'

Usually, we serve it with a beer.

You drink it at the beginning of the dinner.

We have our own unique schnapps, which is this.

It's made in the archipelago, just past Vaxholm.

It's nice and chilled.

Now, do we have to think carefully about the beer as well?

Er, well, Swedes love lager. OK.

This is one of the oldest lagers in Sweden,

from a place called Falkenberg.

So, slurp, and then a sip of beer,

and then you're a fully qualified Swede.

Well, let me do that straight away. Yeah.

Ah! Fire, fire. Glorious.

Simon? Yes.

You have a very English accent.

I am English. So, I've lived here for nearly 20 years now.

What's it been like settling in? I mean, it's a beautiful country.

They're very open to tourists.

The problem for me is that I have quite a thick northern accent,

and when you speak Swedish, you have to do the melody.

Give me an example of a sentence

where you go up and down in your modulations,

where you sing... sing-song.

Well, jag alskar dig, you know, it means I love you...

MICHAEL LAUGHS You're so kind!

You've only been here two minutes. I've only just arrived.

Jag alskar dig. Jag alskar dig.

How did you find the schnapps? I can't remember.

I wonder if I could have one to remind me, please?

Do you want to try another one? Yeah, I do.

Ah! Wonderful! So, now you're officially a Swede.

Jag alskar dig.

So, you're picking up the lingo now?

Won't be able to talk at all soon. No.

THEY LAUGH

'Next time, in Stockholm...'

I've not had this much fun since I was five.

'..I discover more about this spectacular city...'

Ooh, la, la. This is astonishing.

This is not the sort of place where a man asks for a glass.

CHEERING