Original subtitles

I'm re-joining the rails for another epic adventure.

Are you excited? Who wouldn't be?

I'm riding around the globe again riding some

of the most legendary trains in the world.

To experience more spectacular railways.

Look at this place!

From the Arctic Circle...

Ooh!

..to the glorious Andes.

And the heart of Europe...

Isn't it fantastic? It's just a ticket hall.

..to the edge of America.

Oh, this is amazing!

And I'll venture off the tracks to discover-awe inspiring places...

ENGLAND!

..extraordinary people...

Hey, hello! Turn here!

..and unforgettable experiences.

Staggering, isn't it?

Ah!

This is Vladivostok in Russia's Far East.

In fact it's so far east, it's seven time zones east of Moscow.

But more importantly for me

it's the terminus of the longest railway in the world,

the Trans-Siberian Express, which runs 9,228km

round the globe.

Starting here in Vladivostok, I'll be heading up the Chinese border

to Khabarovsk where I'll turn west

and travel the length of Russia, visit its capital, Moscow,

then cross over into Finland and end my journey in Helsinki.

When I think of Russia, I think of gloomy grey videos

from the communist era.

As I travel across it, I want to get to grips with this massive country.

Get to know the different regions and communities,

and see how it's changed since Soviet times.

But before getting on the longest railway in the world,

I'm stepping onboard another that might just be one of the shortest.

In 1959, President Khrushchev of Russia

came back from a visit to America

where he'd been blown away by San Francisco.

And when he came back he said,

"I want to create a Russian San Francisco."

And shortly after that the "Big Vladivostok" project was started.

And three years later in 1962, this Funicular was put in.

It may be a short journey to the top,

but the view doesn't disappoint.

This is stunning, isn't it?

And it is like San Francisco.

Well, halfway between San Francisco and Glasgow.

And look how busy it is.

People come here from China and Korea and Japan...

They're only a few hours' flight away,

whereas Moscow is half a world away.

But it wasn't always like this.

Between 1958 and 1992, it was completely closed

to foreigners because of its strategic importance.

And you can see here, can't you, this beautiful natural harbour -

but it's still bristling with warships.

These days, Vladivostok has thrown its arms open

to the rest of the world.

In 2015, the president of Russia declared it a free trade zone

and businesses and tourists are flooding in

to this fantastic natural harbour.

HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

I do think that when you're in a foreign country,

you'll at least have a crack at using the local language,

just to get a feel of the place more than anything else.

This seems like a good place to give it a go.

Black, green?

Oh, you speak a bit of English? I speak English.

You're a long way from home!

Yes, this tea shop is run by Barry from Bolton and his wife Anya.

How long you been out here? Here? 22 years.

Can I have a cuppa?

This is nice, isn't it? Home from home.

How did you end up here?

Well, I was working in Moscow and my company... Doing what?

I was managing casinos.

Oh, were you?

The same company had casinos around the country,

so they sent me here for six months in 1997.

And that's when you married your beautiful wife? Yeah.

I wouldn't have stayed if I hadn't have met Anya, for sure.

So, you had this idea?

It's all Anya's idea.

She decided that this was a perfect venture for Vladivostok

cos there was nothing like it.

What was Vladivostok like when you came here in the '90s?

It was much different, it was quite a violent town, it was pretty...

Quite lawless in many respects, a lot of corruption. Why was that?

I think it's cos it's so far from Moscow,

it's just difficult to govern you know, from so far away.

How come it changed?

Well, huge investment, basically.

The president decided that he wanted to use Vladivostok

as a hub for the Far East.

Barry's got time to give me a quick tour of the local area.

This crossroad is like the borders of what used to be Millionka.

What does Millionka mean?

Millionka is a Russian word for "Million",

so they used to say, "There's a million Chinese here."

There may not be a million now,

but I do really feel like I'm in the Far East.

Vladivostok is a melting pot of different nationalities.

Koreans, Japanese, this place is called the Chinese market...

Too small.

..and it's the perfect place to pick up some gear

for the frozen temperatures I'm going to encounter

on this epic voyage.

Well, that's not so bad, is it?

Oh, wow, what are these?

Are they...

It's not a hat? THEY SPEAK RUSSIAN

Panties?!

These are panties.

I've got to get a pair of these.

These will be good for the snowy west, won't they?

They're made of goat!

Result, I've got something.

TRAIN HORN BLOWS

I've been so busy charging around Vladivostok

I almost missed the ruddy train.

21 to 24? OK, thank you.

That would have been a good start,

the train only leaves every two days.

I thought that I would have...

..something that I could pull over here and have privacy.

Instead, I seem to have quite a lot of bunks.

I really enjoyed Vladivostok, I can see why Barry left Bolton for here.

It's not what I expected at all, it was so much lighter and airier.

And really nicely developed, too.

This is quite ridiculous, I'm setting off on a journey

that will span about a quarter of the globe.

Getting on for 9000km.

In 1891, construction of the railway started simultaneously

in both Moscow and Vladivostok and it all linked up in 1916.

It's gonna be a pretty epic journey,

but I can't wait to see what the rest of the country has to offer.

Hi!

Excuse me.

Do I get one of these?

SHE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

Oh.

OK, I'll come down and get it later. SHE LAUGHS

Thank you. You're so happy, I have no idea what you're saying

but it's nice to see you so happy in your work.

First thing I love to do when I get on a train is explore.

Can I get through here?

I don't know if I'm allowed to do this.

Oh, here's the toilet.

What word would you use to describe that?

Sturdy, I think, is the word I'd use.

Certainly, the loo paper is quite sturdy!

That's not going to take any prisoners.

Oh, look down there.

It always freaks me out walking across here,

I know it's probably perfectly safe but you just know that

if something went wrong, you'd just be plummeting straight down.

Next stop is a place called Khabarovsk,

we get there at 7.00 in the morning, it's...

..just gone 6.00 in the evening now, so that's 13 hours.

I'm never quite sure

how much I enjoy third class travel!

It's kind of fun in a way, but round about 3:00 in the morning,

you can get a bit depressed.

Time to hit the hay.

She just walked through my bedroom!

And another one, she was carrying a pizza!

Maybe I should order one to eat in bed.

Coming up, I experience how cold this country truly gets.

Isn't this river fantastic?

It's sort of frozen mid-wave.

I drink hardcore home brew with the locals.

It looks like a space machine.

I'm not going up in that!

THEY LAUGH

And lose myself at a very Russian folklore theme park.

I didn't get very far, did I? HE LAUGHS

SHAVER WHIRRING

I've travelled almost 800km from Vladivostok

and I'm pulling into my first stop on the Trans-Siberian Express.

I really enjoyed that in a strange sort of way.

It feels like an adventure.

It was a bit like when you're a kid and you're camping

and it's dark and stormy and in the night,

you peep out of the little flap to see what's there -

that's how it felt.

The great thing about this adventure is that I can jump off the train

at any point along its route

and explore places I've never even heard of.

This place, apparently, is called Khabarovsk...

..about which I know absolutely nothing!

Hopefully in a few hours we'll know a little bit more.

After a quick dusting off in the hotel and with the help of daylight,

I get my first look at the city.

And the beautiful River Amur.

Isn't this river fantastic?

It's the tenth longest river in the world.

Completely frozen over.

In some places, it's sort of frozen mid-wave.

And it's really important to the history of this place cos

this whole area, from Vladivostok all the way up here to Khabarovsk,

up until the mid-19th century wasn't Russian at all. It was Chinese.

But then in 1858, the Russians saw the opportunity of a China

that was incredibly weakened by fighting the British

in the Opium Wars.

So they attacked this, and they took over the whole place.

And from then on, the border here for 800km was - and still is -

this river, the Amur.

The railway line arrived here in Khabarovsk back in 1897

which transformed the place from a small town to a full-blown city

with a population of over half a million people.

The average temperature this time of year is -18 degrees.

So, I head indoors to meet some locals

and hear a bit more about the town.

Hello. Hello?

Hi...

VOICEOVER: I'm not sure what one brings to a Russian gathering.

So, I brought a lovely little cake.

..this is for you.

Marat and Anja have invited a bunch of friends round

for grub and a gossip.

Does anybody want some potatoes?

Surrounded by conversations I don't understand,

I go to an Englishman's safe place.

Tell me about the weather here.

How many months of the year is it cold?

Seven.

Seven months, that's a long winter.

Can I just say thank you very, very much for inviting me?

It's a pleasure to meet you.

LAUGHTER

Hmm, what is this?

Self-made vodka. Self-made vodka?

You're allowed to have home-made vodka?

They don't arrest you for it?

No, we are not allowed to sell but we are allowed to produce.

For ourselves. It's very good.

During the communist times of the Soviet Union,

it was strictly forbidden to brew your own

moonshine, but now it's a fairly normal pastime

to have a still in your home.

ANIMATED CHATTER

I'm not going up in that! LAUGHTER

Apparently, there are five shops in town who sell

all shapes and sizes of stills,

for those starting out to the

master distillers.

Do you call it vodka?

We call it samogon. Samogon. That means that

when you produce something by yourself.

This lot are such samogon aficionados,

they've even made up a song for it.

THEY SING

THEY LAUGH

Great fun, lovely company, and warm people.

It's been a pleasure and insightful

to spend time with these Russians,

even though it left me with a bit of a headache!

From Khabarovsk, the train heads west,

through the heart of Siberia,

to a city called Yekaterinburg,

which lies at the foot of the Ural Mountains.

In all, it's estimated that

90,000 people were employed

during the construction of

this massive railway project

and, boy, did they have a lot of ground to cover!

Russian Siberia stretches over

an area of over two-and-a-half million square miles,

which I can't really get my head round!

There's plenty of time to kill in the dining carriage.

Luckily, the menu is in English.

I'd like some borscht. Borscht? You know that

you have to drink vodka before borscht?

No, not more vodka!

While I'm waiting, fellow traveller Daria

tells me more about how the Russians used the railways.

It's amazing how popular this railway is with local people.

I'd thought that we might see quite a few tourists,

and we've not seen any.

Well, this is the cheapest way to travel.

People are very poor

in Russia, so they will

spend a day -

or, sometimes, two days -

on the train just to save money.

From Moscow to St Petersburg,

you can see the difference.

They're well dressed, they work on their laptops.

But as people say here, Moscow and

St Petersburg, they are not Russia.

Whereas...for people like me, from abroad,

we think of Moscow and Russia in the same breath. No.

How has Russia changed since the days of communism?

At first, there was a difficult time

of reforms and new rules

and uncertainty in the future, but still hope.

Then after Putin came to power,

all those freedoms started to be taken away.

Old people were giving away those freedoms.

For security, for quiet life.

So, now we are very close to communism, I think.

So, the wheel has gone full circle. Yeah. I think so, yes.

Yeah. Unfortunately, yes.

Oh, that's mine, isn't it? SHE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

JOLTING Oops! Ah!

Ha-ha!

Almost got a lapful of borscht. That would have warmed things up!

Doesn't look like borscht, actually.

It's not borscht, I would say, because borscht definitely

has to have beetroot. Beetroot in it, yeah.

Smells of chicken.

Whatever it is, it's warm and tasty.

To be honest, I thought we were going to get a really rotten meal,

but this is great, and the wine's fine.

Here's to Russian railways.

Yekaterinburg is Russia's fourth

largest city, and the main reason

I wanted to get off the train here

was to explore this

impressive building. It's called

The Church on the Blood.

It plays a crucial role in Russia's

communist history. You see, communism

is an ideology where all things are shared equally,

and this here is a reminder of how far

the communist movement would go

to make it a reality.

This whole place is a memorial

to an event that took place in 1918.

The entire Russian royal family

was massacred in a little house on this spot.

And the reason that the Bolshevik revolutionaries

wanted to destroy not just Nicholas,

but his whole family as well,

was that they wanted to get rid of

the entire dynasty, so that Russia

would always be a republic and could never return to being a monarchy.

And they reckon that

the assassination itself took place

right there, and that's why that little chapel

is the colour of blood.

As you go upstairs, it all gets

a lot lighter and a bit cartoony.

So, now that the Communist Party

has collapsed and the Russian Orthodox Church

has been reinvigorated, this whole family,

which once were reviled as being

the epitome of a horrible royal family,

squashing down the poor and having to be removed

and massacred, they're now transformed

into martyrs - in this beautiful,

light, airy, religious Disneyland.

Real-life Russian stories

can be a bit morbid,

so it's important to be able to escape into

the world of fantasy from time to time.

I've always loved kids' stories and fairy tales,

and one of the reasons that I wanted to come to this region

is because the Urals contains some of Europe's best

folk stories, and in this park tonight,

they're celebrating the arrival of

a very important character, Father Frost.

We've got to meet him, haven't we?

This place has got plenty to keep you entertained...

I think this is the ancient dancing of the Urals.

..and you just have to get stuck in.

Ha! I didn't get very far, did I?!

HE LAUGHS

Before trying to find Father Frost,

I need to make a whistle-stop tour

and get my folklore fix.

Hey! She's come, she's come!

I meet the Mistress of Copper Mountain, who is said to be

the protector of underground riches in this mining region.

I love it, yeah, it twinkles.

Then to the house of Baba Yaga...

Oh, careful, your nose will fall off!

..a witch-like being, who lives in

a hut that stands on chicken legs.

It's magic! Da! SHE LAUGHS

Then it's on to the big man himself.

I'll see if I can engage him in conversation.

Hi, er, and you are...?

We have come from the United Kingdom.

Lots of people have come to see Father Frost,

so we can't keep him long.

It's very nice to meet you, I'm very honoured. And nice to meet you too.

Oh, he speaks English!

I wonder what fascinating facts he's got.

London is the capital of Great Britain.

Before I came to Russia, I thought it was going to be a faded,

harsh land, without a smile in sight..

Yay!

..but, so far, I've experienced nothing but colour

and a people that are just like us.

Still to come...

Here we go.

..My Trans-Siberian Express

crosses the Ural Mountains...

To Asian Russia! Salud.

..I dine on some

Soviet-style fast food...

This tastes good, actually.

..I plan for my onward journey.

If you rub that cockerel,

you get good luck,

but if you rub

this one,

you get bad luck.

ANNOUNCER: The boarding of Express train

to Moscow is now on Track Seven.

I'm hopping back on the Trans-Siberian Express

and heading west.

This leg of the journey, we're coming out of Asia,

into Europe, and I'm heading for Moscow.

Here we go.

Ooh...

HORN BLARES

The route's 1,700km long

and is going to take over 24 hours.

It's like a sauna. One moment, it's really warm,

then you get out to this bit and it's minus zero.

Minus zero is a temperature I've made up for this trip.

It just means really cold.

Luckily for me, I've stumbled across the party carriage

and a chance to warm up. DISCO MUSIC

Wasn't expecting this.

Vodka? Vodka.

All right, I'll have a vodka.

Must be mad!

This disco inferno,

in lime green and pink,

is the perfect place for me to conduct

a little tradition.

I pour out some vodka...

and I have a tot of it on one side of the Urals,

because that's where we're in Asian Russia,

and then I have another tot when we get to the other side,

where we're in European Russia.

To Asian Russia! Salud.

The Ural Mountain range

stretches 2,500 kilometres,

and marks the continental border

between Europe and Asia.

I'll drink to that!

Very nice vodka, this one.

It's only about half past four.

Loads of people are asleep.

I love these long train journeys.

It's almost like you're playing a team sport, all in it together,

all relying on each other to keep occupied and entertained.

All these people, some of them were here

two, three days...

..desperately thinking of things to do.

This couple here...

Can I show them your fish?

Look at this fish.

Beautiful.

High-five!

Three... Three. One, two, three.

By the time you finish this journey,

he'll be able to count up to 500!

Of course, you don't always need other people to fill the time!

Russia is so vast,

with an incredible mix of people

and places. I've seen the remoteness

and how important the railways are here

to connect the country, but it's not just vital for

the movement of the population, it's a critical component

to Russia's economy. An estimated 30% of Russian exports move

along these tracks.

So far, I've travelled over

9,000km - from the far east

of Russia, across Siberia,

through the Ural Mountains,

and I'm finally in Moscow.

I've got 24 hours to explore

this amazing city, and my adventure

starts underground.

Nine million people use this metro every day.

It's the busiest in the whole of Europe.

It was built in the 1930s, during the communist period.

And at that time, it was seen as the height of

modernisation.

I thought there was a big difference

between the London Underground and this,

and I've just realised what it is.

No adverts.

Oh, but instead,

these are pretty wonderful, aren't they?

Oh, I love these!

Look at this one here. I think it's...

It's not cut-out stained glass,

this is actually painted.

And look! The worker at the top,

what a hero he is!

This one's great.

More flowers and lovely patterns.

And at the top, another worker,

except this worker is an artist.

It's a beautiful mosaic.

You've got the young mum

and the little child, reaching up

to a pair of doves, except originally,

it wasn't a pair of doves

that was there, it was the head of

the dictator Joseph Stalin.

But after 1956 - when Stalin had died

and Nikita Khrushchev took over -

people began to realise quite how ghastly

Stalin had been, so they removed his head

and put the little birds there instead.

This is how the Communist Party

saw the new world that they wanted to make.

Cheap, easy transport for the working man and woman.

Beautiful art all over the place, no adverts.

This was the jewel in the crown of communist Moscow.

New York Subway may have the most stops, Tokyo's the cleanest,

but the Moscow Metro has got to be

the most beautiful in the world.

It may be beautiful, but it's a bit of

a rabbit warren for the likes of me.

ANNOUNCEMENT IN RUSSIAN

Oh, right.

Platform Two?

Uh-huh. Yeah?

This is what I really came to see,

these extraordinary statues. Look,

there are so many of them!

Did you see what the lady did just then?

She rubbed the nose of the dog.

If you do that, you're supposed to get good luck.

Can you see how it's so clean and smooth there,

compared to everywhere else, because of the

continual rubbing by all the passengers?

Here's another one that gets rubbed too.

See this? If you rub that cockerel,

you get good luck,

but if you rub this one -

and I'm not going to do it -

you get bad luck.

Only a few people have.

I wonder if they're still alive.

Cock-a-doodle don't rub this one!

Back above ground, and it's time

to take in some of

the better-known sights of this metropolis.

If you're anything like me,

you'll think of Red Square

as a big military parade,

with fat missiles on low-loaders,

and the Politburo up there somewhere,

with grey faces, and grey coats, and big black hats.

But nowadays, it's full of tourists

from all over the world,

and home to non-military aircraft.

It shouldn't really be called Red Square,

because it's a rectangle,

and the word red is

the old Russian word for beautiful.

So, it should really be called the Beautiful Rectangle.

This is one of the grandest hotels in the whole of the city,

but if you look really closely

at it, it's asymmetrical.

The story goes that the architects

who designed it wanted to offer the great dictator Stalin

two alternatives. So, they put the alternatives

on a piece of paper and they sent it to him,

and it came back with a tick and his signature.

The problem was that they didn't know which one he'd approved.

So, they incorporated both drawings

into the building so, that way,

they wouldn't get shot for disobeying him.

Let's go in, shall we?

They've let us in to have a quick sneak around their most

expensive suite.

And you can get it - for one night -

for £14,500.

There's a lot of money in this town.

For me, this is the big selling point of this suite -

a view right over Red Square

and the Kremlin.

And if you're staying over there,

you'll probably be shopping over here.

This place is called GUM.

It's the sort of Harrods-type department store

of Moscow. In the communist era,

it all looked pretty glum and the shelves were bare,

but now that capitalism has come back, for all its faults,

at least it's made the shops look pretty again.

And all the big names are here, Gucci and whatnot.

It was built in 1893,

with about a thousand shops.

It became Stalin's office through the 1920s.

Maybe he worked in there!

Walking through the isles here,

filled with luxurious goods,

I really do feel like I'm where the money is.

It's very good.

Always time for an ice cream!

But that showy opulence

is a world away from

the average life of most Muscovites.

This is a Cheburechnaya,

a kind of Soviet, no-frills

fast-food bar, standing room only.

Tarek has been in Moscow for over 40 years.

This tastes good, actually.

It's made from lamb, but

I don't know what they use here.

These days, there's not a deficit of meat

and Soviet times was all... Whatever.

Whatever you can imagine. Yeah.

So, this is very much a Soviet

kind of construction? Yes. It's a Soviet version of fast food.

My childhood was like

a big bowl somebody, er, brought home. Ha! Stuff like this.

How has Moscow changed since

the Communist Party was in power?

There is a lot of, er, advertisement everywhere

and there is new development in architecture. And would you say

it's a better city now?

It's better brand by the authorities

than it was before. They start thinking about the people.

Where they're going to eat. Where they're going to sit down for a...

glass of wine. Where're they going to sit down for a view of the city.

It's become more friendly to the people.

Moscow really does feel worlds away from the rest of Russia,

with its opulence and its sparkle,

but it's also nice to see that if you look hard enough,

life can be pretty normal as well.

I started off this journey expecting

Russia to be a gloomy, grey,

cold expanse.

What I've learnt is that everywhere

my train stopped has its own identity.

Yes, there's still undertones of

its Soviet history, but modern Russia

is trying to leave that as it is,

history.

So, now...

Ah, Helsinki. Platform Three.

..I'm boarding a sleeper train to Finland.

Think we're going any sec...

Oh, we are, great.

What do you do to kill the time

when you're on the sleeper from Moscow to Helsinki?

Link your phone to your tablet...

and then you can watch the footy.

No, I'm not, I'm buffering.

Still to come...

I pull into my final station of this epic saga...

Look at those four guys there,

with their big balls.

..I learn the intricacies of being Finnish.

You can ask anything, and you will get an honest reply.

..and I hob-nob with the country's elite.

And there is the President. Hello!

I'm on the final leg of this frozen odyssey.

Salmon caviar sandwich.

I started on the far-eastern coast of Russia,

travelled the length of the country to Moscow,

and I'm crossing the border, into Finland.

Morning! Good morning.

Passport control.

Please ignore the mess,

it's been a long trip!

Did you like Russia?

Yeah. Yeah, OK.

Well, it was a bit cold!

Thank you. Have a nice journey. Cheers.

Over 100 years ago,

this part of the journey

would actually still be in

the Russian Empire. You see,

between 1809 and 1917,

Finland was under Russian rule.

You can even see hints of its Russianness

here in the capital, Helsinki.

It's a stunning piece of architecture,

this station, isn't it? Look at those

four guys there, with their big balls.

Today is Independence Day,

and that's a very big notion for the Finnish.

Russian money built

a lot of the city centre,

and there are still hints of that

dotted around.

I head straight to meet up with

Helsinkian Vappu.

Hello! Hello. Hey.

She's going to fill me in on how the country celebrates.

Today's Independence Day.

Yes. So, what happens there?

Mmm, for Finland, er, the independence is a huge thing.

It's all about us Finns watching telly.

Why do you watch the telly, particularly, on Independence Day?

Because there's a huge presidential gala.

The President shakes hands with nearly 2,000 people

in his castle, which is here in Helsinki.

I'm going to go and see a man shaking hands with

2,000 other people? That's what we do. I can't wait!

Before being surrounded by Finns on this, their most Finnish of days,

I thought it best that Vappu gave me a little starter class,

so I don't make any faux pas.

We don't have a big small-talk culture here in Finland.

You can ask anything, and you will get

an honest reply. It's all very sweet and nice, isn't it?

There's not much room for irony, or taking the mickey.

Ha! Yeah, we don't do banter here.

I, personally, I never get if

there's an irony-based joke.

You just don't get it? Yeah. THEY LAUGH

You're so polite, I want to make you cross!

THEY LAUGH

Well, um, that would be hard to do

because Finns don't usually show their emotions.

OK, be honest, no irony-based jokes,

and don't show my emotions.

Ooh, I reckon I could be Finnish!

Is it a cultural thing? Yes. And there is

a Finnish saying that we are not Swedish,

we are not Russian,

so let's be Finns.

So that you're independent, culturally, from

all those other influences? Yes.

I don't know where we're going, we're just following

the rest of the parade. But before long, we find ourselves

in front of the main palace entrance

and, just like that, I'm face-to-face with

Finland's First Family. And here is the President.

Up there on the balcony? Yes.

Oh, my goodness! Yeah, he's waving. I'm really impressed

that we are just here! That we're just here,

and there's the head of state. Exactly. How extraordinary!

It's a huge honour for anything to get invited to the castle ball.

RINGING

But instead of going to the ball, I get to experience it another way.

It's an Independence Day

tradition to watch the whole thing unfold

on TV. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country

tune in for it. The most interesting part

comes when they start hand shaking.

The most interesting part...

Yes. ..comes when they start hand shaking? Yes. Ha-ha!

It is a big, big event in Finland.

Why do you think it's a big event in Finland?

It has been for such a long time... Yeah.

..that it's embedded in our culture now.

Yeah. This is culturally so different from us.

We would be sitting here looking at that

really rather cynically.

Three hours' live coverage of shaking hands,

and the Finns seem to take it a lot more seriously than we would.

Now we are going through the floral arrangements.

For one horrible moment, I thought we'd miss that!

THEY LAUGH

Ooh, I don't like that dress.

The red one? The red one, yeah.

Are you getting into the vibe? Absolutely.

THEY LAUGH I'm hooked!

It's like a Royal Wedding meets Eurovision.

Graham Norton would have a field day with this!

Can we do one picture of us... Of course.

..with that in the background? Because I think it's funny.

What was that?!

Well, I have to say, I wrestled with that experience.

But also, I can see that from Vappu's point of view -

and, indeed, from the point of view of the whole country -

there was something

to make you feel proud about it.

It was very respectful,

very respectable.

And my cynicism and Vappu's pleasure

are just poles apart because we come from different cultures.

But I kind of enjoyed moaning about it!

As the sun sets on this beautiful city,

I've got time to enjoy

just one more Finnish tradition.

HOWLING

Wood-smoked salmon for dinner,

in a little wooden hut.

LAUGHTER AND CHATTER

It's the perfect setting to think back over the last couple of weeks.

When you set off on a train journey

spanning over 10,000km,

you just don't know what you're going to come across. Every place

can be so different and, yet,

so similar, at the same time.

You just need to travel with

an open mind...

and the correct clothing.

I can't wait to get back on the tracks!

Next time, I'm starting

in northern Scandinavia,

where I'll come face-to-face

with the local wildlife.

Ooh!

The wolf spit's all right, is it?

Yeah, yeah, I think so.

I'll heat up in Sweden...

You've had two saunas already today.

..then cool down again in the Icehotel...

Oh, this is amazing!

..before riding a train onto a ferry

and ending my journey across

the world in a much more

manageable location.

It would be so much easier if

the world was this big!