Original subtitles

FRANCESCO: This is my fourth week on board the Black Swan.

We are headed for Greek waters,

and it's perfect sailing weather.

This is the fastest headway we've made since leaving Venice.

But disaster strikes.

The mainsail has ripped right across.

We manage to secure the sail.

But Captain Giulio is not happy.

Luckily, our first Greek port is only an hour away.

I'm sailing from Venice to Istanbul,

following the trading routes of my ancestors.

Next stop, Corfu.

Our torn sail is still worrying the captain.

So we are using the engine to dock at Corfu.

We Venetians ruled Corfu for 400 years,

building this mighty fortress,

the first thing you see.

And yet nobody remembers us.

When people think of Corfu, they think of you British.

But they only ruled this island for 60 years.

Still, today, this is something of a...

How you say, little Britain?

British rule began in 1814.

And it all happened here

at the British High Commission.

This was the centre of British power in the Mediterraneo.

At that time, Britain was the grandest nation in the world.

You can really feel the muscle of the Empire here.

The first British High Commissioner was Sir Thomas Maitland.

He treated the island as if he owned it.

Here is Maitland, a really ugly, nasty-looking man.

This Thomas Maitland was a tyrant.

Something of a bastardo.

The locals didn't like him,

and they called him ''King Tom''

because of all his airs and graces.

He was, after all, just a high commissioner.

And yet he had a thrown room built for himself.

But there was one thing

the people here did like about you British.

The game of cricket.

Do you play often cricket here?

We've been playing cricket here since 1823.

-'23? -1823.

-And do you have a lot of teams? -There are 11 teams on Corfu altogether.

And what is that... That thing there, that castle?

-Castle? -Yeah, that thing of wood.

-Oh, the bat. The thing that they hold? -No, no, no.

The little house. I don't know, castle.

-You see the three things? -Oh, the stumps. They're stumps.

They're there because the bowler has to hit the batsman's stumps.

If he hits the stumps, then the batsman is out and has to leave.

-And the next one comes in. -Ah, I see.

-Can I have a go after? -Sure, why not?

-I pass around? -Yeah.

It's dangerous, the ball?

It's very dangerous. You've got to be careful. It's very hard.

Sorry.

I should be out, but they give me another chance.

Just as I'm starting to enjoy myself,

it's all over!

Nice, but if I have to be sincere, I don't know why I lost.

It's too confusing!

(ALL YELLING)

(BELLS RINGING)

Just outside of the historic town

sits the British cemetery.

Graves here date from the earliest years

of the British occupation.

But the British love affair with Corfu

continues into the 20th century

until today.

-Hello. -Hello.

-Francesco. -Welcome.

-Are you the caretaker? -I am the George, gardener here.

Sixty-three years, I gardener here.

But my family come in cemetery,

gardener, my father, from 1924.

I born in 1927.

Very different cemetery from all the other cemetery

because it's garden cemetery.

Yeah, it's marvellous with all these trees.

Here is garden, different flowers, yes.

In spring, many orchidaceae,

come from Europe, Germany, English botanical...

This is very, very old, the graves.

Very, very old.

-This is very, very old. -1822.

Yes, and today British people living now in Corfu

-uses the cemetery. -Ah.

This grave is very new,

from yesterday in afternoon.

The funeral here. Very, very new graves.

From one woman, British, living in Corfu.

62 years old, this woman.

Died in Corfu and buried here. Yes.

But it must be a big job for you?

Yes, but for me it's very nice,

this work here, for me.

And the British must be very grateful for all your job.

For me, very nice.

After many years, a medal for me.

-A medal? -Yes, the British buy a medal for me.

I never met a person that received a medal from the British.

Yes, and this from the Grave Commission.

This other.

-Yes. -Wow.

Because I am the gardener here.

-Oh, yes. -It's nice.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

And George has one more surprise.

This is my grave.

Because I born here, living here,

I like all this cemetery for me. It's paradise here.

And one day, it's natural, died in here, in cemetery,

and my grave is okay.

My memorial stone. My name, George.

Because from this corner, I look the entrance.

-It's nice. -It's very, very nice.

For me, it's very, very nice for me, for my grave here.

The plants and animals of Corfu are amazing.

And they inspired one of my favourite books,

My Family and Other Animals.

The author, Gerald Durrell, who grew up on the island,

died in 1995.

But one of his great friends still cares passionately for Corfu.

Ciao, ciao!

Wow, to meet you here!

-Snap. -Wow.

(BOTH LAUGHING)

-We got it! What a book! -Great.

Why do you think My Family and Other Animals was so successful?

Well, it is funny, he was a very, very good writer.

And he could always go... Like you do when you're talking,

you don't go... You go round the corner. You're a lateral thinker.

And he did that. And page after page you met people,

but you met animals.

And you got his love and his respect for the living world.

And, you know, he deserves every accolade

that we can give him. Good old Gerald.

He loved the nature here of Corfu.

Do you think you can show me something of the nature of Corfu?

-Certainly can. Follow me! -Come.

Did you hear the plop?

I think that was the frogs.

And there, sitting on the wet mud, eating tiny little insects.

We're not going to get bitten by mosquitoes, are we?

-Very useful and they dive very well. -Oh, they do.

And cool water, below the sun.

They're enjoying it. They don't have to pay for a swimming umbrella, do they?

See the little whirligig beetles?

They go round and round in circles looking for food.

And when they find some, they all go and gobble it up.

So they are cleaning the water the whole time.

Absolute purification. Mother Nature's own purification plant.

That's why we've got so many insects.

And Gerry, he'd been coming here time after time

to try and catch a big terrapin.

Which when it jumped in the water, it went plop, so he called it Plop.

Now, hold me book

because we are now going to get as close to Gerry as we possibly can.

Because we believe this is the exact place

he caught old Plop all those years ago.

So now, a big plop.

(DAVID EXCLAIMING)

Lovely cold water.

I wish I was a terrapin.

The Black Swan's mainsail still needs to be repaired.

Now Captain Giulio has decided

to make a detour to get it fixed.

So I'm going to make a little trip inland on my own.

I'm heading for Ionnina.

Before modern Greece existed,

this was the stronghold of a legendary tyrant,

Ali Pasha.

Ali Pasha was the Ottoman governor here

from the end of the 18th century.

Even today is a little bit of Turkey in the middle of Greece.

Standing in this beautiful room,

with all its lovely Islamic decorations,

it's almost impossible to think that only an hour ago I was in Corfu.

For 33 years, Ali Pasha ruled Ionnina with an iron fist.

This building was the site of one of Ali Pasha's most evil moments.

He tried to seduce Kyra Frosini,

the mistress of his eldest son.

But she pushed him away.

He was so angry that he put her in a sack

and drowned her in the lake.

And 17 of her friends, too.

Local legend has it that the colours on the lake at sunset

are not reflected light

but dye from the dresses of the drowned women.

I'm crossing the Katara Pass

through the Pindos mountains to my next destination.

A sacred kingdom in the clouds.

When I was a boy, my grandfather told me of monasteries high up in the sky.

Almost in heaven.

And since then, I always wanted to see them.

I will do like a pilgrim.

This region is called Meteora,

which means ''rocks in the air''.

As long ago as the 10th century,

monks fled here to escape war and turmoil.

It was here, 1,000 years ago,

that the first persecuted monks arrived.

They wanted to make a new home for themselves

where, at last, they could be safe.

As they look around, their eyes were drawn naturally up.

These are the rock monasteries of Meteora.

By the 16th century,

there were 24 monasteries in all.

It's amazing to be here.

I've seen photos before, but this is magic.

I'm already tired, but I'm going to the highest of all monasteries,

the Great Meteoron.

Great Meteoron is 700 years old.

In the Middle Ages,

it was the wealthiest and most powerful monastery of the area.

No more cigarettes.

These steps were only carved a few decades ago.

So the first monks had to climb the rock with ropes and pegs.

Once they had made it to the top,

they still had to hoist up all the building materials.

(SPEAKING GREEK)

-Francesco. Long walk arriving here. -Long and difficult walk.

But I want to say, I'm very honoured that I can come in your monastery.

First of all, take a breath,

here was the net.

I see. So they were coming up from there, not from the step?

No, the steps were made in 1923.

-And they still use it? -No.

Today, no, because the wind is very strong.

And sometimes the net went on the rock.

-So it was very dangerous. -Mamma mia!

Father Yonesus has been here for 17 years.

He's in charge of the upkeep of the monastery.

Now we will go to the main place.

At the heart of the monastery is the fine church

dedicated to the transfiguration of Christ.

It dates back to the 14th century.

Here, every day, we make the services.

Early in the morning from 4:30 till 7:30 in the morning

-and at the afternoon... -4:30?

Yes. And the afternoon, we have the Vespers

from 5:30 to 7:30.

-It's very moving. -Yes, moving and touching

because the wall paintings have warm colours, as you can see.

In the night, mostly because we haven't electricity, just the candles,

it's dark and just the candles,

so we feel very...

You are at another level of spirituality.

Yes, of course.

We feel the presentation of God.

-The presence. -The presence, yes, of God.

And of the saints.

Every surface is covered with frescoes.

They were painted in the mid 16th century

and they depict the saints

as well as scenes of the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Here we are in the old dining room from the 16th century.

And, as you can see, it is amazing architecture.

The domes have different styles.

Here we have cupola.

-Cruciform dome. -FRANCESCO: Very long.

This big one because then, in 16th century, were here 300 monks.

And how many you are?

Today we're about 150 monks.

I am surprised to hear there are so many monks

because so far I haven't seen anyone else here at all.

There's another thing that I want to show you.

At last, Father Yonesus takes me to meet his fellow monks.

And here they are.

Father Yonesus is one of only two surviving monks living here.

The others have been dead for some time.

-There are a lot. -Yes.

-This is our mirror. -Yeah.

Yes, because always we saw the bones,

and we remember that one day we will die.

And we must be prepared for this moment.

This is only a little moment.

Yes. The real meaning of our life is this.

I would like to make an offering,

but all I have from home is some Venetian biscuits.

Thank you very much.

-I hope you will accept them. -Of course.

We also want to give you

some editions of the monastery.

This is the book with the history of the monasteries of Meteora.

Thank you so much. Because this way I can show it to my family

and try to make them understand what I felt here, what is here.

-Thank you so much. -You're welcome. Let's go.

Oh!

I'm rejoining the Black Swan further along the Greek coast.

Thankfully, the mainsail has been repaired.

Now we can continue our journey

towards the Gulf of Corinth

and the wonders of ancient Greece.