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Romania is a land of a thousand faces.

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The crossing point
between the Occident and the Orient.

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And a melting pot of different cultures.

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It is also a country
unlike any other in Europe,

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With over half the Carpathian
mountain range weaving through it,

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Romania is the custodian of
Europe's greatest surviving mixed forest.

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And two thirds of its apex predators.

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As well as native Romanians,
it is home to Hungarian,

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Saxon,

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Roma,

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Serbian,

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Greek and many more diverse peoples,

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United by the borders of a nation

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that stretches to the mouth of the Danube.

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Here, Europe's largest
wetland fans out into the Black Sea,

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Creating its own
vast priceless and fragile ecosystem.

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In land, Romania is rich
with historic cities and villages,

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majestic national parks,

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ruined castles,

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medieval monasteries.

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And a legacy
that dates back thousands of years.

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However, this unique country's
natural and built heritage

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is under threat from reckless development

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and a race to modernise
which often destroys

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the very things that could
ensure prosperity for generations to come.

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In season two, the Flavours Of Romania,

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we will again embark on a journey
through Romania's nine historic regions,

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Discovering magical landscapes,

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mouthwatering recipes,

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music,

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crafts and local traditions,

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and meeting the people that make this

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one of the warmest and most
hospitable countries in the world.

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We will also find out how Romania
has evolved in the last five years.

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And identify some of
the challenges it now faces.

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And how tourism could still provide
one of its best hopes for the future.

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Welcome back to our gourmet gallivant

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around Romania's nine historic regions.

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Leaving Oltenia behind,

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I'm on one of the most
spectacular rides of my journey so far.

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The road that takes you
from Baia de Aramă,

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across the mountains,
through deep forests,

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down hairpin bends,

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and around rocky crags

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as we descend
into Banat and the Cernei Valley.

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This is another remote part of the country

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where isolated communities
can only be reached by dirt roads.

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Or, in the case of Ineleț,
a wooden ladder that takes you up a cliff.

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There are numerous
hiking trails that dissect these hills,

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including Via Transilvanica.

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The Cerna River starts as
a small stream high in the mountains

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and cuts downwards,
exploiting a faultline in the bedrock,

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eroding a gorge so deep

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that it connects with underground
reservoirs of geothermal water

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which bubble to the surface
along its banks.

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At the largest confluence of these
lies Băile Herculane,

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or the Baths of Hercules,

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wedged between towering cliffs.

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The historic Old town dates back
to the Roman conquest

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and used to be one of the top
thermal spa resorts in the world

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under the Austro Hungarians,

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until, like Borsec,
it fell into complete decay

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at the end of the Communist era.

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I have come back here
to see if any progress has been made

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since we visited in season one,

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and what steps have been taken
to save the illustrious Imperial Spa.

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One of the most important
historic buildings in Eastern Europe

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and described in 1852
by Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph

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as the most beautiful resort
on the continent.

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I am meeting Oana Chirilă,
who heads up a group of young architects

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that have taken on the Tantalean task

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of trying to stop this priceless monument

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from collapsing into a pile of rubble,

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something
it is likely to do at any minute.

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- This is for you.
- Thank you.

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- I think we need one now, don't we?
- Yeah. It's not safe, unfortunately.

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So what have you done?
Because we were here in 2017,

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as people watching
who follow our series will know.

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{\an8}So we started this also in 2017.

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{\an8}We were a group
of young architecture students

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and our plan was

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to do safety works
and conserve the building,

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let's say, keep it from collapsing.

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Everything that we have done so far
was with the support of the civic society,

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the state, the Romanian state,
didn't helped us almost at all.

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Okay, so what is the exact
position right now with the building?

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With the building, unfortunately,
the building has some legal issues.

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The building belongs to the state,

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but the land underneath the building
it's private

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and it's seized
by the National Anti-corruption Agency.

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- Which also belongs to the state.
- Yeah.

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So one part of the state have seized it,
which means they currently own it.

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- In a way, yeah.
- Yeah?

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And the other part
belongs to the state as well.

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Yeah.

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Can't they just communicate?

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In a way they can,
but I think they have to wait

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until the trial it's over

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to have, like,
a definitive solution for the legal issue.

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And how long is that going to take?

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I think years and years, because
only this summer the trial has started.

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But this building doesn't have years.

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- It has perhaps months.
- It has months.

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When I was here last,
these walls were standing.

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Yes. Unfortunately, it collapsed.

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It was very degraded structurally,

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and with the water infiltration...

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How difficult has it been
to raise the money to do this?

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Because you've raised 60,000, haven't you?

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Yeah, we raised in 2019, 60,000,

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which was very helpful

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because we could do some works here.

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But for such a big building
like square metres,

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thousands of square metres,
it wasn't enough.

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- So we did what... yeah.
- You need millions.

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We need for restoration,
between ten and 12 millions.

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But we cannot access
governmental money or European money

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for the conservation of the building.

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So just to keep it alive.

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- That because it's in court?
- Yeah.

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When certain sites, heritage sites,

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have legal issues,
you cannot do permanent works.

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Well, as in permanent works,

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as in putting in the necessary
things to stop it falling down.

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Yeah. For example... yeah.

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For example, here,
we will have to rebuild the walls

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from scratch here and
take down the roof and rebuild it.

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So we can't do that because we have to do,
like, reversible work.

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So if there's a legal issue,
you have to reverse it back to a room.

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Yeah. For example, if the trial says

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everything goes back to the private owner...

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- Then you take all of this down.
- Yeah.

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- But then the building will fall down.
- Yeah.

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So will the private owner sue you

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for taking it down because
then the building collapses?

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- No, but we wouldn't take it down.
- No, but I mean, this is the point.

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If it goes back to the private owner,
then he can say...

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- Take...
- Take this all away.

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...all your interventions away,
I want to do something else here.

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But I think the good part of this
project and this situation

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is that many, many people

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have come together for Herculane
to help us, like regular people.

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But I still can't believe, I can't quite
get my head around the fact

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that this has been going on now
since I first visited in 2011,

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and still nothing has been done.

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And the government could do that.
They could expropriate the building,

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take it out of legal contest
by saying, "No, we're taking it."

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And then a fair price can be paid
subject to the outcome of the trial.

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- We know.
- And that's it.

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And then permanent work can be
undertaken immediately to save it.

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If it's a five year trial,
this won't be here in five years time.

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Yeah, it's going to take months
and it will be down for sure.

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Every other country in Europe

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can get there together
to save buildings like this.

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Why is it that Romania is incapable
of saving such a priceless building?

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Because of the indifference. That's...

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all over the society in a way.

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The Romanians,
apart from a few, don't care.

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They care, but they feel like
it's not in their hands to do something.

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- So with time, perhaps they...
- They give up caring.

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- Yeah, they give up.
- It's easier not to care, isn't it?

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Yeah, but many people helped us

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and we wouldn't be here

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without the support of thousands of people
that helped us.

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But we need like, millions.

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The angle of the roof.

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Yeah. You can see here the damage and...

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We cannot support it anymore
with reversible structures.

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We have to take
it down and rebuild the wall

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and do consolidation,
proper consolidation work.

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We are thinking of doing it either way.

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- Doing it anyway.
- Yeah.

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- Well, if you don't, it'll fall down.
- Yeah.

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If you do, someone will say,
"Oh, what you've done is illegal."

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But I dare any
caring person in this country,

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any judge, to prosecute you
for saving a building.

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I mean, if we've got to that state
in Romania

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where good people who are working
to protect the patrimony

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get sent to jail because they've done
the only thing they can do

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to save one of the most
priceless buildings,

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then this country is in real trouble.

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- Yeah.
- So, let's...

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- We also feel that...
- Let's hope that's not the case.

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Let's hope that. But, yeah,
we want to do the permanent works

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and we are in discussion with
a few construction firms

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and perhaps we will start this winter,
or before the winter starts.

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I think it's urgent now,
every day that you lose...

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It's in a pre-collapse state.

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So basically it can collapse now.
Hopefully not, but it can.

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I know. We're even taking a risk
standing here, aren't we?

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Yeah, it's very risky.

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Well, I'm in huge admiration
of what you're doing.

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Thank you very much.

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Congratulations,
and thank you for doing this.

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I think the whole of Romania
should be thanking you for doing this.

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The story of the Imperial Spa

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is equally applicable
to other parts of the Old Town.

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At the end of Communism,
there was an enormous land grab.

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With rich,
well connected private interest,

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buying up many of Romania's
important historic buildings

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for rock bottom prices.

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And then sitting on them
like chickens on a dead egg.

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Partly because of the renovation costs,

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but often because they were waiting
to knock them down

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and build something new in their stead.

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For this reason,
much of the Old Town is still derelict,

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but there are small glimmers of hope
in amongst the dilapidated grandeur,

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my hotel for the night being one of them.

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Well, this building
is far worse than it was

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four years ago when I was last here.

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But behind me is a new hotel,
a complete restoration.

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It's exciting. Maybe the first of many.

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Let's go and have a look inside.

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- Hello.
- Hello.

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00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:19,720
Do you have a room?

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- Yes.
- Superb.

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Thank you very much.

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Yep, this is the sort
of place that foreign tourists

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will be very happy to stay in.

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It's four star,
it's not fussy, it's great.

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And it's a really nice
restoration of an old building.

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There are dozens
of other buildings like this

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waiting to be restored in Băile Herculane,

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and if they do succeed,

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this could become a go to
tourist destination

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for probably Europe
as well as just Romania.

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Will that ever happen?
Probably not, but we can hope.

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Much of the town used to be run
on geothermal water,

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Which today
is strictly and expensively rationed

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by a private company acting for the state.

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Even though there is plenty to spare,

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they'd rather waste the excess
and pump it back into the river,

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rather than reduce the price

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and make it more available
to hotels and guest houses.

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For this reason, there's a charge
to access most of the thermal pools.

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However, with a bit of local knowledge,
you can circumnavigate this issue,

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as I discovered
a few hundred metres down the street.

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00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,480
If you don't want to go
to any of the official spas,

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you can always find some hot pools
on the side of the river,

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haiduk style.

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For those of you not Romanian,
that means kind of Robin Hood style.

242
00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:14,160
It's faintly peculiar
that the local people here

243
00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:16,800
have to pay for the geothermal water,

244
00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:18,359
and yet there's enough of it

245
00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:23,680
to fuel most,
if not all of this community and provide

246
00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,319
them with hot water
for free out of the ground.

247
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,480
It's not as if someone's making it.

248
00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:30,480
It's coming from deep underground.

249
00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,240
So why are they getting charged?
I don't know.

250
00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,440
And actually, why should you pay
when you've got springs like this?

251
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,240
As a tourist, you can come and enjoy these

252
00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,320
without spending a penny.
At least I hope not.

253
00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,840
Another vital historic site
in Băile Herculane

254
00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,000
is the Roman spa itself,

255
00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:57,280
which hides under thousands
of tonnes of concrete that is Hotel Roman.

256
00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:02,440
If you turn left at the main lobby,

257
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:04,880
you leave the Austin Powers decor behind

258
00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:07,040
and enter a brick lined corridor

259
00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:10,600
that catapults you back
to the days of Emperor Trajan.

260
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:23,880
The most remarkable thing about this spa,
despite its concealment

261
00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:27,480
in a huge concrete
Ceaușescuesque building,

262
00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:30,680
is that this was built by Romans.

263
00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:36,360
And I'm sitting in a pool that was once
occupied by Centurions

264
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:38,600
and looking at it,
very little has changed.

265
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:40,920
This structure remains intact.

266
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:43,560
It's maybe the only place
at the moment in Romania

267
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,880
where you can enjoy a real Roman bath.

268
00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,880
Moving on from Băile Herculane,
as always, with mixed feelings,

269
00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:07,800
awed by its beauty and potential,
yet frustrated by its lack of progress,

270
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,600
we're back on the road,
heading down towards the town of Orșova

271
00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:13,280
on the shores of the Danube.

272
00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,320
A busy riparian port in its heyday,

273
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,640
Orșova changed hands several times

274
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,760
between the Habsburg and Ottoman empires.

275
00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,640
Today it's a quiet town with
a sleepy feel,

276
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,080
but serves as the main point of departure

277
00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:39,960
for boat trips
through the majestic Iron Gates,

278
00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:49,480
A series of cliffs that corral
the river into a narrow channel

279
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,800
that carves out the watery border
between Serbia and Romania.

280
00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:03,920
We're on a road that runs
parallel with the river and heads west,

281
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:05,600
dropping back to the water's edge

282
00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,760
as you approach the enormous
stonehead of Dacian King Decebal.

283
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,000
This is Romania's answer to Mount Rushmore

284
00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,480
and constitutes the tallest sculpture
of its kind in Europe.

285
00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:47,040
The Danube is
at one of its deepest points here

286
00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:51,400
due to the construction of several
massive hydroelectric dams,

287
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,640
the result of a collaboration

288
00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,680
between the former Yugoslavia
and Romania, back in 1964.

289
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,920
These caused
the water level to rise by 35 metres,

290
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:11,640
enveloping Old Orșova,
the Turkish inhabited island of Ada Kaleh,

291
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:13,840
and at least five other village

292
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,600
and requiring
the relocation of 17,000 people.

293
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:24,840
Further down the road,

294
00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:28,840
you can still see the remains
of the submerged castle of Tricule,

295
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:31,600
five kilometres from Svinița village,

296
00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:35,960
its lonely towers scowling
from the river like broken teeth.

297
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:57,080
Our accommodation for the evening
is the Panoramic Hotel La Pescador,

298
00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,040
which looks out across the river

299
00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:00,960
and affords an excellent place

300
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,160
from which to admire
the breathtaking sunset.

301
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:25,040
With the morning
light slanting over the water,

302
00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:29,520
this stretch of the Danube seems
more reminiscent of the Mediterranean

303
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:32,960
and completely unlike
any other part of the country.

304
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,200
We are following its banks
for a few more miles

305
00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:44,200
before turning northwards
through the forests towards Oravița.

306
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:57,160
This small town is rich in history
and has the first railway line

307
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,840
as well as the first theatre
established in present day Romania,

308
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:05,560
constructed as a miniature version
of the Burg Theatre in Vienna.

309
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,920
However, there is more to Oravița
than meets the eye.

310
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,920
We are here to delve beneath
the surface of this nostalgic town.

311
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:25,000
And explore a network of tunnels
built as a cutting edge sewage system

312
00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:27,160
during the Habsburg Empire

313
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,400
and soon to be repaired
and open to the public.

314
00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:38,320
I'm meeting Liviu Romanescu of
the Exploratory Paleological Association,

315
00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:41,440
who has kindly agreed
to show me the ropes.

316
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:08,640
It seems there are still a few people

317
00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,920
who are using these tunnels for
the purposes they were first designed for,

318
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:15,680
which may have to change

319
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,680
if they're going to open these
up to the public. Who knows?

320
00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:35,080
Great day for a swim,
but not in this water.

321
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:38,560
It's clean.

322
00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:40,440
Cleanish.

323
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:42,200
So and so.

324
00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:45,440
No, because here it comes from the dam.

325
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:47,600
Further on it gets dirtier.

326
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:50,440
So, yeah,

327
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:53,400
We've...

328
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:55,680
We've gone through a bit of a halt.

329
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,680
The problem is there's
a very deep plunge pool there

330
00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:04,880
and it's going to be about this deep
to get through it.

331
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:07,000
They've got waders on.

332
00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:08,440
I think what we're going to do is

333
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:12,360
we're going to take
another tunnel and have a look.

334
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:14,160
Maybe walk a bit more.

335
00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:23,240
It's an extraordinary feat of engineering.

336
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:25,440
{\an8}Yes, it's an impressive work.

337
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:26,480
{\an8}Seriously.

338
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,880
{\an8}And take into account that in 1719

339
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,960
they had the idea to build
this sewerage system.

340
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:35,560
It was designed like this.

341
00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,000
After the peace with the Turks,

342
00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:42,280
the Austro-Hungarian Empire
brought ten families from Austria.

343
00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:43,360
Ten families?

344
00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:44,640
Ten families.

345
00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:48,120
There were gold mines,
the area was very well developed.

346
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,480
And it was very beautiful.
Forests, clean air...

347
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:58,080
Since 1719 engineers came here,
studied and started to build dams,

348
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,240
there are two dams above
and the sewerage system.

349
00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,640
The work on the tunnel itself
lasted 21 years.

350
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:09,160
Big pieces of stone, slabs...
It is very beautiful.

351
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,480
I bet you pay a fortune in London
to see the underground.

352
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,640
Exactly like the London sewage system.

353
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:20,560
Here it's still free. Still.

354
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,800
Of course. But it's now
a historic monument, isn't it?

355
00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,600
Yes, it's considered a historic monument.

356
00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:31,760
Our association Exploratorii
and Speo Caraş started to explore it

357
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,400
and we hope that,
together with the City Hall,

358
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:37,320
when we'll finish the measurement
of the tunnel

359
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:39,120
to register it with the Land Office

360
00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,080
and be able to access European Funds
in order to make the most out of it.

361
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:44,560
Okay, and how difficult will that be?

362
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,360
There's a lot of restoration
that needs to be done, isn't it?

363
00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:54,240
It will be difficult because
many parts of it are fallen,

364
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,280
many clogged entrances.

365
00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:01,080
It's also dangerous because
it can't be visited by anyone,

366
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,200
you don't know what happens.
We don't know what to expect either.

367
00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,880
And some parts by boat, right?

368
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:12,600
Yes, we can set that up
beyond the four-meter waterfall.

369
00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:17,000
We can do trips by boat, of course.
Why not?

370
00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:18,160
That's going to be amazing.

371
00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,120
Yes, it should be very beautiful.

372
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:22,560
And there's a lot of history here.

373
00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:26,520
So fingers crossed you get
the European Fund to do this.

374
00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:28,560
How long will it take?

375
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:31,240
- Well, we hope...
- Two years, three years?

376
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:34,000
Two years, three years, four years...
This is a time frame

377
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,800
because we will need to do a lot of work
and there is a lot of...

378
00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,000
You know what it's like. It's not easy,

379
00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:41,440
but it's a start.

380
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:46,760
Back on the surface and
an hour or so drive from Oravița

381
00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,920
and you reach Valea Rudăriei.

382
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,480
I have come
to the village of Eftimie Murgu,

383
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,600
famous for its 22 water mills,

384
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,800
many of which
are still operational to this day.

385
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:52,000
Hello.

386
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:53,760
Pavel.

387
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:54,720
Nice to see you.

388
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:59,720
{\an8}This mill is called
"The Bullheaded Among Rivers".

389
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:03,600
It's called "The Bullheaded"
because it spins counterclockwise.

390
00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:06,600
This mill has an old legend.

391
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,520
It's a long one.
I'll tell you a shorter version.

392
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:14,120
If you want to get younger,
come to <i>Îndărătnica</i>

393
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,640
and grind flour
only during the full moon nights.

394
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,560
Come inside the mill
and I will explain you further.

395
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,560
For instance,
this is the basket of the mill.

396
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:26,400
We put the grains here.

397
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:30,680
This is a hopper.
The grains fall into the hopper.

398
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:35,440
From the hopper they fall into this bin.

399
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:37,720
This is called <i>ciocot</i>.

400
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:42,520
This one beats and regulates
the rhythm of the seeds by vibration.

401
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:46,240
If a lot of water reaches the mill
and it spins faster,

402
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:48,480
this makes the grains fall faster.

403
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:49,560
It regulates it.

404
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:52,840
If the water is flowing slowly,
this makes the grain fall slowly.

405
00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,880
From here, the grains fall into this bin,
they fall on these stones.

406
00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,320
The stones aren't straight,
they are concave.

407
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:04,240
By spinning, they grind them
and make flour

408
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:06,400
and throw it out there, on the edge.

409
00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:07,840
And it comes out here.

410
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,120
We take it from here
and sift it through the sieve.

411
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:12,880
Look how we sift it.

412
00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:15,680
This flour also has bran in it,
maize bran.

413
00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,280
We give the bran to the animals.

414
00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:24,080
- Animals? How much for a kilo?
- Five lei for a kilo. Already sifted.

415
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:29,240
There are around 30 families
for one mill. 28, 30, 32...

416
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:33,720
as people gathered, with their
relatives, and built the mill.

417
00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:36,080
Look, these are the owners of this mill.

418
00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:38,880
Each one of them uses it
one day and one night per month.

419
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,480
When the mill breaks,
they all come and fix it.

420
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:44,440
OK, so they will chip in.

421
00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:48,080
The mill is their property
just as the house and the land,

422
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:50,840
this right it's passed on
from father to son.

423
00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:53,000
If you want to sell your turn at the mill,

424
00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,120
you can sell it just as you sell
your house and land.

425
00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,200
Many of them are away in the cities

426
00:30:57,280 --> 00:30:59,160
but they don't sell their turn
at the mill.

427
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:01,560
Because once retired, they come back home,

428
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:04,320
they grow animals
and have their turn at the mill.

429
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:09,040
They grind flour. They grow a pig,
a cow, an animal, a sheep...

430
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:11,880
and they have their turn at the mill.
They don't sell that right.

431
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:13,600
How many mills are there?

432
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,360
There were many in our village

433
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:20,480
but only around 23 are still working.

434
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:25,560
My mom put us to sleep in this mill,
against the wall. We were four brothers.

435
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:30,400
We were carrying sacks on our shoulders.
Mom couldn’t just leave us home alone.

436
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:31,600
We came here to make flour.

437
00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:34,240
All the mills were working day and night.

438
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:36,360
That's why they were so many.

439
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,920
There were many animals.
We didn't trade the flour.

440
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,800
We wanted to do it for our animals
so we can earn our living.

441
00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:45,960
Back then there weren't jobs
in the village.

442
00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:49,560
This is the turbine.
This turbine shaft, this fork

443
00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,960
moves the turbine, higher or lower.
It lifts the stone.

444
00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,480
Down on that fork there's a big stone

445
00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:01,160
fixed very tight with reinforced steel

446
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:04,040
and on top of it there's a small stone.

447
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:07,120
They fit into each other and spin.

448
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:09,000
This is the gutter where water flows.

449
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:11,600
If there's a lot of water coming,
it spins faster.

450
00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:14,640
If there's less water, it spins slower.

451
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:17,200
That's brilliant.

452
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:22,680
The technology... of history at work.

453
00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:29,240
This mill doesn't need gas, oil,
or Diesel.

454
00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:30,880
- Nothing.
- Nothing. Not even electricity.

455
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:32,960
- Nothing. Water.
- Water, for it to work.

456
00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:36,320
- Gravity.
- If there's water, there's more flour.

457
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,640
Superb. Thank you so much.

458
00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:41,200
- I like it very much.
- It's beautiful.

459
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:47,600
I love the beauty and the simplicity
of these mills

460
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:49,000
and the way they work,

461
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:53,440
but also the fact that they're
a focal point for an entire community.

462
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,880
People rally around them,
they have shares in them.

463
00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:00,760
They guard them fiercely
and jealously from other people.

464
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:02,520
They don't want to sell those shares

465
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:06,520
because this is something
that this town is really proud of.

466
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,880
And they don't necessarily even
have all the animals they used to have.

467
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,040
They don't need to make so much flour.

468
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:17,400
They still maintain and preserve

469
00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:21,440
and service these mills on a daily basis.

470
00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:37,160
The next morning, we set off for Timișoara

471
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,360
driving through the hills
of Caraș Severin.

472
00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,840
This is one of the prettiest counties
in Romania

473
00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:51,760
and home to well groomed
and scenic hamlets like Brebu Nou,

474
00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:54,000
with its colourful houses,

475
00:33:55,880 --> 00:34:00,480
Several of which have been converted into
small restaurants and boutique pensions.

476
00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:14,280
As we continue north, we pass through
a sprawling expanse of thick forest.

477
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:22,440
The road winds up and down
through gentle valleys

478
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:26,239
punctuated by
farmland, lakes and sleepy villages.

479
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:33,600
With a few hours left to travel,

480
00:34:33,679 --> 00:34:36,800
I stopped to refuel at a roadside inn
in Văliug

481
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:41,159
that bore more than a passing
resemblance to a classic English pub.

482
00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:48,679
- Hello!
- Hello.

483
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:51,199
- Tables?
- Yes, of course.

484
00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:55,440
Really nice design. Historic Vransdorf.

485
00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:58,560
Yeah. It has German history, this city.

486
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:00,000
So it's a German community?

487
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:04,360
Yeah, a bit of Bavarian influences,
but, yeah, mostly German.

488
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,520
Yeah, it feels a bit Bavarian.
I love the patterns on the walls.

489
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:11,120
Yeah, it was the owner's idea to put them.

490
00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:12,240
Super cool.

491
00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:16,400
Raditzana.

492
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:18,840
Raditzana. One of my favourite soups.

493
00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:20,800
It is totally delicious.

494
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:22,640
For those of you who are not Romanian

495
00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:24,920
and haven't encountered it,

496
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,720
lots of garlic and chicken,
tomatoes, onions.

497
00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,200
- So one of those?
- Yeah, sure.

498
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:34,920
This is just the sort of place that I hope
to find when I'm driving all day.

499
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:38,080
A pit stop for lunch.
It's cool, it's shabby chic.

500
00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:40,880
There's even a natural
fountain coming out of the rock,

501
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:43,200
that spring that's running down.

502
00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:46,040
You can hear the trickle of the water
in the background.

503
00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:49,760
That was fast.

504
00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:51,080
- Hello!
- That was so fast!

505
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:53,280
Enjoy!

506
00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:54,640
Thank you very much.

507
00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:00,080
Really good one. Very tangy. Gorgeous.

508
00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:07,840
So, after lunch, we're going
to get back on the road

509
00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:09,760
and head to Timișoara.

510
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:12,040
I hope we'll get there without rain.

511
00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,200
I've been very lucky this morning,

512
00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,960
driven through the clouds,
through the mist, stopped for coffee.

513
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:20,720
There was a deluge,
but I've avoided all the storms,

514
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:22,360
so we'll see if our luck holds.

515
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:36,760
After lunch, it was onwards
through forested hills and small towns.

516
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:53,400
Until we descend into Reșița,
capital of Caraș Severin,

517
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:58,760
and once among the most important
industrial cities in Eastern Europe.

518
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:02,520
With an abundance
of local coal and mineral wealth,

519
00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:05,840
Reșița is home
to Romania's oldest steel mill.

520
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:12,320
And is a long established
metalworking centre,

521
00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:16,800
producing, among other things,
diesel engines for railway locomotives.

522
00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:26,560
Closer to Timișoara,
we reach the flat plains

523
00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:29,080
that define
the western borders of Romania.

524
00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:48,480
This is a landscape devoted
to arable farming

525
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,800
and increasingly
viticulture and wine tourism.

526
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:05,960
Finally, after another marathon ride,
we reach Timișoara,

527
00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:14,560
Known as Little Vienna,
or the City of Flowers,

528
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:21,160
famed for its 36 parks
and stunning historic architecture.

529
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,800
In 2023, it was made
European City of Culture,

530
00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:31,920
thanks in part
to its many restoration projects

531
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:34,720
and much celebrated ethnic diversity.

532
00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:40,120
A city of contradictions,
it is at the same time liberal,

533
00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:42,280
conservative and forward thinking,

534
00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:47,800
having reached back into its past
to redefine a roadmap for the future.

535
00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:53,600
With the light fading
and the saddle chafing,

536
00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:56,000
I went in search of a bed for the night,

537
00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:59,600
settling rather comfortably on Hotel Atlas

538
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:01,240
at the edge of the Old Town.

539
00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:08,160
Any question as to how it got that name

540
00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:11,120
becomes redundant on entering the lobby.

541
00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:23,760
Timișoara is situated on the River Bega,

542
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:26,720
which at one time
was used as a transportation link

543
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:29,320
between the city and the river Danube.

544
00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:37,640
Today, it serves
a more recreational purpose.

545
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:44,280
One of the advantages that Timișoara has
as a city is its waterfront,

546
00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:49,840
where people can come and
take a promenade, cycle, skateboard,

547
00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:56,280
kayak, scull or take a boat trip
and explore the city by water.

548
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:04,360
This was the first city in Europe

549
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,000
and the second in the world after New York

550
00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:09,720
to use electricity
to illuminate its streets.

551
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:15,240
But the contemporary urban
landscape of the mid 18 hundreds

552
00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:18,200
now constitutes its historic Old Town,

553
00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:20,960
which contains four elegant squares,

554
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:24,240
Restored, re-pedestrianized

555
00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:29,160
and presided over by regal houses
dating back to the Habsburg era.

556
00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:34,720
Perhaps the most beautiful of these
is Unirii Square,

557
00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:36,520
with its baroque expression

558
00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:40,160
dominated by the Catholic
and Serbian Orthodox cathedrals

559
00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:43,800
facing off across the central lawn
and fountain.

560
00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:48,680
I have come here to meet
chef and entrepreneur Dan Grosu,

561
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,800
whose bistro Pepper stands rump and fillet

562
00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:53,760
above most of the other restaurants

563
00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:56,000
that line these brightly painted streets.

564
00:40:57,720 --> 00:40:59,840
Everything's
looking very tidy around here.

565
00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:02,640
It is. How many
restaurants have you got now?

566
00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:04,720
{\an8}Well, we're running four places now.

567
00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:09,040
{\an8}A little function in the food factory,
something like that.

568
00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:10,480
What are you making in the factory?

569
00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:13,200
Like, all ready to eat meat.
Exactly like you have in UK.

570
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:16,160
Like very developed over there.
Now here just started.

571
00:41:16,240 --> 00:41:18,160
There she comes. Here we go.

572
00:41:18,240 --> 00:41:20,680
This is our, like, a little selection.
Of what we have.

573
00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:22,080
Small selection of steaks?

574
00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:25,720
- Yeah, like, oh, my God.
- Cool.

575
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:29,240
- That's impressive.
- Pork house steak, of course.

576
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:34,440
Then we have a prime rib eye,
the fillet, which is fat less and...

577
00:41:34,520 --> 00:41:36,440
Is not so much flavour, to be honest.

578
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:39,200
But this gorgeous
one, this is the Japanese

579
00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:41,240
is an A five plus marbling grade.

580
00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:43,760
So basically A is the quality.

581
00:41:43,840 --> 00:41:46,800
And from one to nine,
this is a marbling grade.

582
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,080
So imagine that this is an A five plus.
An A nine is less as white.

583
00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:51,560
So it's about the best steak you get.

584
00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:54,600
- This is the best steak you get.
- I know how expensive that is.

585
00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:56,080
Just a tiny taste.

586
00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:58,520
We take this and then we make some sushi.

587
00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:00,760
- Also coming with steak.
- Perfect.

588
00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:03,560
And then we get
something like local side dish we do.

589
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:06,240
And like a big fat bread
that we make together.

590
00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:07,120
Sounds amazing.

591
00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:08,240
- Okay, cool.
- Thank you.

592
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:12,920
What do you think
that restaurants and hospitality industry

593
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:15,960
in Romania needs to do better?

594
00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:22,200
What is missing is the professionals
a little bit, and basically the owners.

595
00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:25,760
Some of the owners who don't
allow professionals to do their job.

596
00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:28,280
That's one of the problem that we have.

597
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:31,960
And second,
I think the schools are missing.

598
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:34,600
So basically,
we don't have a good infrastructure.

599
00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:37,040
We don't have a base,

600
00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:40,800
we don't have a base from the bottom
where you have to learn everything.

601
00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:42,440
You have to learn how
to put a cutlery on the table.

602
00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:44,640
You have to learn how to chop a vegetable.

603
00:42:44,720 --> 00:42:46,720
You have to learn
the basic sauce and stuff.

604
00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:49,200
You have to learn how to smile
at the customer as well.

605
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:52,880
- This is missing here.
- Yeah, that was extremely fast.

606
00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:57,040
Then I'll bring sushi and after that
I'll bring the meat, OK?

607
00:42:57,120 --> 00:42:58,120
Okay.

608
00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:00,440
So that's hummus.

609
00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:03,640
Yeah, a little bit of hummus guacamole.

610
00:43:03,720 --> 00:43:06,040
And then yes, authentic zakuska making.

611
00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:09,680
Like every week we make, like,
zakuska rolling on. It's very good sell.

612
00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:10,840
Tell me about the bread.

613
00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:13,800
Well, the bread,
as everybody's asking me what's inside,

614
00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:15,520
and it's only darkness, actually.

615
00:43:17,240 --> 00:43:18,640
It's just a turkey style bread.

616
00:43:18,720 --> 00:43:21,600
So I took it from my roots.
So basically I'm from Constanța.

617
00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:24,840
There's so many Turkish
in there and Tatar and stuff.

618
00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:26,960
So basically it's like
a <i>durum</i> bread or something like that.

619
00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:28,120
Good.

620
00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:29,600
This is like a plate of sushi

621
00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:33,600
that I found it on Tsukjii Market
in Tokyo.

622
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:35,120
I will join you for this one.

623
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:37,920
Gorgeous. Really, really good.

624
00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,520
Here you go, Charlie. This is
our steak that we picked before.

625
00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:44,840
Okay, I will cook for you now.
Okay. We'll do this steak.

626
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:45,960
Look at it.

627
00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:49,080
So you've just singed the outside already

628
00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:51,600
and then otherwise
it's raw in the middle still.

629
00:43:52,920 --> 00:43:53,960
I know.

630
00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:56,560
Sounds like music to my ears,

631
00:43:57,080 --> 00:43:59,160
but you don't want to leave that on
for too long

632
00:43:59,240 --> 00:44:00,440
because it's such a tender steak.

633
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,880
Just get the little caramelization because
it's that fatness that is coming.

634
00:44:03,960 --> 00:44:06,120
You know, basically, in Korea and Japan,

635
00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:08,240
every single restaurant
has an oven like this one.

636
00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:10,760
So basically, you cook at your table
your own dinner.

637
00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:12,600
So people can cook it
exactly the way they want it.

638
00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:14,120
- Okay.
- Here we go.

639
00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:17,440
Thank you. And the sauce is a reduction.

640
00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:21,000
Fifty hours, two days,
ten liters of sauce, only bone.

641
00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:24,520
- Not even one pinch of salt in it.
- Red wine.

642
00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:27,760
Red wine.
And a bit of cèpes mushrooms in it.

643
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:30,680
Sort of melts in your mouth, doesn't it?

644
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:31,880
It's so tender.

645
00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:34,640
Tell me, how has Timișoara changed?

646
00:44:34,720 --> 00:44:38,960
Because this was an old car park,
wasn't it? Was a disused car park.

647
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:42,600
It was a road around here.
All the shops were, like, damaged.

648
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:45,560
But it got refurbished,
like, eight years ago.

649
00:44:45,640 --> 00:44:49,320
And the other square also got
also refurbished

650
00:44:49,400 --> 00:44:51,960
and get ready for people to come

651
00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:54,480
and see exactly what we want to show.

652
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:57,520
And we're waiting and we're hoping

653
00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:02,440
to get so many airlines to fly here
because we have the airport next door.

654
00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:03,800
So then we need more companies to come

655
00:45:03,880 --> 00:45:07,320
and get people
to visit Romania and see exactly

656
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:10,360
how Romania and
what Timișoara can actually deliver.

657
00:45:10,440 --> 00:45:12,520
Dan, thank you so much
for having me for lunch.

658
00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:14,720
It's very exciting what you're doing here.

659
00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:17,080
Thank you for coming.
It's an honour for me to have you here.

660
00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:22,680
Have this lunch in, like, beautiful square
in the middle of the old city town.

661
00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:26,400
- Meanwhile, let's have lunch.
- Let's enjoy the Wagyu Steak.

662
00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:34,240
A five minute walk
from Unirii across the tram lines,

663
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:37,800
through Liberty Square
and you arrive at Victoria Square,

664
00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:44,800
overlooked
by the city's magnificent Opera House.

665
00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:51,400
Completed in 1875,
it was subsequently ravaged

666
00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:56,560
by two major fires and only
reopened by Royal Decree in 1946.

667
00:46:05,640 --> 00:46:09,600
Behold the twin
faces of comedy and tragedy,

668
00:46:09,680 --> 00:46:12,880
of which this building
has seen more than its fair share.

669
00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:22,200
This is undoubtedly
the only time in my life

670
00:46:22,280 --> 00:46:25,480
I'll get to stand on a stage
as grand as this.

671
00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:29,840
Imagine watching
the opera in such lavish settings.

672
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:32,440
Perhaps <i>The Marriage of Figaro</i>.

673
00:46:33,040 --> 00:46:36,520
<i>Figaro.</i>

674
00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:41,680
Yeah, maybe not time
to give up the day job just yet.

675
00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:46,040
Aside from
its rich and varied performances,

676
00:46:46,120 --> 00:46:48,720
another reason to visit the Opera House

677
00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:51,520
is to witness the place which in 1989

678
00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:56,280
became a national symbol
and genesis for the liberation of Romania.

679
00:46:57,520 --> 00:47:01,120
It was from this balcony
that a group of young protesters

680
00:47:01,200 --> 00:47:03,880
shouted to the streets, "Jos Ceaușescu",

681
00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:06,680
which literally means,
down with Ceaușescu.

682
00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:11,040
It was the first time that anyone had
spoken out against the regime in public

683
00:47:11,120 --> 00:47:15,160
and it provided the spark
which ignited the subsequent revolution.

684
00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:24,120
You can spend days exploring all the many
facets of this multicultural city.

685
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:28,600
From its German State Theatre next door,

686
00:47:29,800 --> 00:47:31,560
to its grand Jewish synagogue,

687
00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:34,280
or its art galleries,

688
00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:40,000
its Village Museum and designer malls.

689
00:47:43,120 --> 00:47:45,360
There is also an impressive bastion,

690
00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:50,000
part of a three tiered fortress that once
encompassed much of the old town.

691
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:56,200
For those who want to stay longer,

692
00:47:56,280 --> 00:48:00,480
Timișoara is a good seat from
which to explore the north of Banat.

693
00:48:04,040 --> 00:48:07,960
Or pay a visit to one of
Timiș County's many wineries,

694
00:48:09,520 --> 00:48:12,480
like Recaș,
which offers events and tastings.

695
00:48:18,160 --> 00:48:22,440
Before heading for wilder parts.
I've detoured to the village of Dumbrava,

696
00:48:27,320 --> 00:48:29,120
where an enterprising restaurant

697
00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:33,160
is reproducing Romania's
very own variation of the pizza,

698
00:48:36,160 --> 00:48:39,720
which evolved totally separately
from the Italian version,

699
00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:48,120
being more of a pizza aficionado
than Donatello or Leonardo.

700
00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:51,040
This was, for me, a mandatory pit stop.

701
00:48:55,680 --> 00:48:57,480
- Ion.
- Hello, Charlie.

702
00:48:57,560 --> 00:48:58,880
{\an8}- Hey.
- Welcome.

703
00:48:58,960 --> 00:49:01,200
{\an8}- This is great.
- Thank you.

704
00:49:01,280 --> 00:49:02,760
How long have you been open?

705
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:05,760
We are now in our third season.

706
00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:07,440
Is that a pottery workshop there?

707
00:49:07,520 --> 00:49:09,040
Yeah, we started with the pottery,

708
00:49:09,120 --> 00:49:13,520
and after that we arrived
to this restaurant story.

709
00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:15,400
- So the pottery came first?
- Yeah.

710
00:49:15,480 --> 00:49:19,400
OK. And now it's something for people
to do if they want, when they come.

711
00:49:19,480 --> 00:49:21,080
Yeah. Especially children.

712
00:49:21,160 --> 00:49:24,000
They like to paint on our objects.

713
00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:25,800
That makes a lot of sense.

714
00:49:25,880 --> 00:49:31,400
So the adults can enjoy a quiet lunch
while the children are put to work.

715
00:49:31,480 --> 00:49:32,640
Yeah.

716
00:49:32,720 --> 00:49:38,120
But also they are playing, they are
running, they are enjoying the nature.

717
00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:41,080
Yeah. That's a nice way
to spend your Sunday, isn't it?

718
00:49:41,160 --> 00:49:43,320
- Yes.
- So we're ready to cook something.

719
00:49:43,400 --> 00:49:46,280
We have a traditional recipe.

720
00:49:46,360 --> 00:49:48,240
We name it Vătrar

721
00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:53,040
from <i>vatră.</i> In Romania,
it's the bottom of the oven.

722
00:49:53,120 --> 00:49:55,720
So I imagine this is quite an old recipe.

723
00:49:55,800 --> 00:50:00,040
Yeah, it's old.
I don't know how old, at least 100 years.

724
00:50:00,120 --> 00:50:02,880
But it's not
derivative from the Italian pizza.

725
00:50:02,960 --> 00:50:05,280
It's totally evolved independently.

726
00:50:05,360 --> 00:50:09,000
- Independently in this area.
- The base looks similar, though, right?

727
00:50:09,080 --> 00:50:12,560
So you've got a dough
base that's risen a bit with yeast.

728
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:19,080
Yeah, the dough, it's more similar
with bread dough than the pizza dough.

729
00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:22,840
And the main difference is
we put sour cream

730
00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:26,560
on the base, not tomato paste.

731
00:50:26,640 --> 00:50:30,240
And the ingredients
are totally different from the pizza.

732
00:50:30,320 --> 00:50:31,560
I imagine there's more yeast.

733
00:50:31,640 --> 00:50:34,280
- So that's going to rise up in the oven.
- Yeah.

734
00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:36,240
- Like a deep crust.
- Yes.

735
00:50:36,800 --> 00:50:38,040
- <i>Slănină</i>.
- Yeah.

736
00:50:38,120 --> 00:50:44,040
This is the traditional recipe
with onion, <i>slănină</i>, tomatoes.

737
00:50:44,120 --> 00:50:48,360
<i>Slănina</i> being lard, so you get
a decent amount of pork fat,

738
00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:50,160
which gives it flavour.

739
00:50:50,960 --> 00:50:54,280
Mingles with the cream.
This is a very low calorie dish, isn't it?

740
00:50:56,720 --> 00:51:00,440
And the fat from
the <i>slănină</i> goes into the dough.

741
00:51:00,520 --> 00:51:05,520
I'm salivating now,
so yeah, no more description.

742
00:51:06,840 --> 00:51:08,000
To wait. That's it.

743
00:51:08,080 --> 00:51:09,920
- This is it really, isn't it?
- Yeah.

744
00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:13,720
This is a traditional recipe
and she will make another recipe

745
00:51:13,800 --> 00:51:17,960
which is derived from the original.

746
00:51:18,040 --> 00:51:22,680
This is with bacon and <i>șuncă</i>.

747
00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:25,840
We called it ham, smoked ham.

748
00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:29,120
I guess this is
in the same way that pizza was

749
00:51:29,200 --> 00:51:31,840
originally for the leftovers that you had.

750
00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:33,720
It's whatever you had in the larder.

751
00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:37,960
It's a kind of a thing that you adapt.
You can use it...

752
00:51:38,040 --> 00:51:39,240
The local people...

753
00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:43,720
This is the product
which you make when you make the bread.

754
00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:45,760
That's a serious
pair of gloves you've got.

755
00:51:45,840 --> 00:51:46,880
Yeah.

756
00:51:46,960 --> 00:51:49,200
There's absolutely no danger
of burning yourself with those gloves?

757
00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:50,400
With these gloves, no.

758
00:51:53,200 --> 00:51:55,360
So how long are
we going to leave the <i>vatra</i>?

759
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:57,200
Because they cook
quite quickly, don't they?

760
00:51:57,280 --> 00:51:59,920
Yeah, about 15 minutes.

761
00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:03,880
It depends a little bit
on the temperature in the oven.

762
00:52:03,960 --> 00:52:08,800
If we have a high temperature,
like 300 degrees Celsius...

763
00:52:08,880 --> 00:52:11,680
And you have a temperature gauge,
so you can no...

764
00:52:11,760 --> 00:52:15,240
- I have in my eye.
- You have years of experience.

765
00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:16,440
Okay. Right.

766
00:52:16,520 --> 00:52:19,960
You must get a lot of people
coming here from Timișoara for the day.

767
00:52:20,040 --> 00:52:25,000
Timișoara, Lugoj, Arad,
the main cities around us.

768
00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:29,720
So you're drawing people
from all around the area to come to.

769
00:52:29,800 --> 00:52:31,960
A ray of 100 kilometres.

770
00:52:32,040 --> 00:52:36,160
They are coming
to enjoy a meal, to enjoy nature.

771
00:52:36,240 --> 00:52:39,120
That must be really good
for the community here as well,

772
00:52:39,200 --> 00:52:41,080
because presumably
they're wandering around

773
00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:43,720
and seeing the church and going
to the local shops and stuff like that.

774
00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:44,720
Yes.

775
00:52:44,800 --> 00:52:49,920
And we try to get
a lot of local ingredients.

776
00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:52,640
We try to implicate our community.

777
00:52:52,720 --> 00:52:57,520
The people who are
working with us, they are from here,

778
00:52:58,040 --> 00:52:59,800
so we give some jobs to...

779
00:52:59,880 --> 00:53:02,400
So, I guess everyone
must be pretty happy with you.

780
00:53:03,520 --> 00:53:04,640
I hope so.

781
00:53:04,720 --> 00:53:10,680
We try to not to make a simple restaurant
to give people food and that's it.

782
00:53:10,760 --> 00:53:12,960
We try to offer experience.

783
00:53:16,680 --> 00:53:20,040
Yeah, that really does look very good.

784
00:53:21,040 --> 00:53:23,320
- Let's have a taste.
- You can feel the smell.

785
00:53:26,160 --> 00:53:28,440
That's utterly delicious.

786
00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:30,520
- Yeah.
- And different, as you say.

787
00:53:30,600 --> 00:53:33,440
Different... A lot of people are telling us

788
00:53:33,520 --> 00:53:37,840
this is better
than any pizza they tasted ever.

789
00:53:37,920 --> 00:53:41,280
It's light. The dough is quite
light because there's more yeast,

790
00:53:41,360 --> 00:53:44,480
so you've got a lighter texture to it.

791
00:53:46,200 --> 00:53:47,920
It's not stodgy.

792
00:53:48,840 --> 00:53:53,320
Sometimes when you get this
deep crusted dough is very stodgy and wet,

793
00:53:53,400 --> 00:53:56,280
but it's nice
because of the heat from the oven.

794
00:53:56,800 --> 00:54:01,520
We tried in electric one.
It's not the same.

795
00:54:02,200 --> 00:54:06,000
So I know that you guys behind the camera,

796
00:54:06,080 --> 00:54:09,280
that is, are as keen to eat this as I am.

797
00:54:09,360 --> 00:54:13,800
So I think we're going to cut
straight to the table and tuck in.

798
00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:15,280
Thank you so much, Ion.

799
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:17,680
- You're welcome.
- That was really quite enlightening.

800
00:54:17,760 --> 00:54:21,680
And I'm going to try and work out
the quantities when I get home,

801
00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:25,520
see if I can replicate this
in the privacy of my kitchen.

802
00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:29,920
Honey been waiting.

803
00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:31,840
- Enjoy!
- Thank you.

804
00:54:35,320 --> 00:54:39,200
This would actually be nice.
Cold the next day as well.

805
00:54:39,280 --> 00:54:42,760
Anything. And it's Romanian.

806
00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:46,320
Well, Hungarian, Romanian half.

807
00:54:46,400 --> 00:54:49,880
But... let's not get into politics.

808
00:54:51,080 --> 00:54:53,560
We should find out more
about that instrument.

809
00:54:57,680 --> 00:54:59,000
Don't give up the day job.

810
00:55:02,480 --> 00:55:06,800
That was like the most
obvious link I've ever heard in my life.

811
00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:12,400
Oh, which instrument? Oh, look,
someone's playing a zither. Gosh.

812
00:55:12,480 --> 00:55:14,320
Well linked. Nicely done.

813
00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:17,960
Shall I go and ask.

814
00:55:24,240 --> 00:55:26,200
Yeah. Flavours of Romania season three

815
00:55:26,280 --> 00:55:28,640
brought to you by
Charlie Ottley and Oana Mihai.

816
00:55:31,280 --> 00:55:35,520
Okay, I'm now going to go
and ask her about the zither.

817
00:55:35,600 --> 00:55:39,280
Okay. Shall I go now?
Okay, I'll see you later.

818
00:55:50,840 --> 00:55:54,080
Such a beautiful sound.
How long have you been playing?

819
00:55:54,760 --> 00:55:58,840
{\an8}- I played <i>țitera</i> for seven years.
- Seven years?

820
00:55:59,560 --> 00:56:03,880
And it's a traditional folk
instrument from Hungary?

821
00:56:04,640 --> 00:56:07,680
In Hungary it's very
common and everybody knows about it.

822
00:56:07,760 --> 00:56:10,960
At our school we play
a lot of kids play at <i>țiteră</i>.

823
00:56:11,040 --> 00:56:13,520
How easy is it to play?

824
00:56:13,600 --> 00:56:17,200
Well, Samsung can be very easy,
but Samsung can be very difficult.

825
00:56:17,280 --> 00:56:20,960
And so you'll show me,
how do you play it exactly?

826
00:56:21,040 --> 00:56:23,600
This is the basics.

827
00:56:23,680 --> 00:56:28,040
This is what we use and this
is for more special effects.

828
00:56:28,800 --> 00:56:30,560
- This can be...
- For example? Like what?

829
00:56:30,640 --> 00:56:34,400
When you take two notes together,

830
00:56:35,560 --> 00:56:39,000
It makes the songs more beautiful.

831
00:56:39,560 --> 00:56:42,120
Yeah, and it echoes.
It's very lovely, isn't it?

832
00:56:42,200 --> 00:56:44,280
What inspired you to start playing this?

833
00:56:44,360 --> 00:56:45,960
For me, it was my teacher.

834
00:56:46,040 --> 00:56:47,640
He plays a lot of instruments.

835
00:56:47,720 --> 00:56:52,080
And it fascinated me
how he could play at this.

836
00:56:52,160 --> 00:56:54,680
- Just on a table instead of...
- Yes, and it was unique.

837
00:56:54,760 --> 00:56:56,200
I never saw it in Romania.

838
00:56:56,280 --> 00:56:59,040
Well, that was a mesmerizing sound.

839
00:56:59,120 --> 00:57:04,680
I hope you never given up.
Keep playing. And encore, please.

840
00:57:12,360 --> 00:57:16,760
If you're a biker, there is a must see
stretch of semi-vertical road

841
00:57:16,840 --> 00:57:20,160
that affords some of the steepest bends
in the country,

842
00:57:22,160 --> 00:57:26,560
Namely the Transluncani,
near the village of Luncanii De Jos.

843
00:57:28,640 --> 00:57:33,080
On the way, it's worth investigating
several stunning wooden churches

844
00:57:33,160 --> 00:57:35,400
and eye catching monasteries.

845
00:57:36,240 --> 00:57:39,200
Like Izvorul Miron Monastery.

846
00:57:40,520 --> 00:57:45,560
At this time of year, snacks are
also available on the side of the road,

847
00:57:46,480 --> 00:57:49,400
Providing you don't mind
a bit of foraging.

848
00:57:52,360 --> 00:57:55,360
One of the things the Communists
did do for Romania

849
00:57:55,440 --> 00:57:58,400
is plant fruit and nut trees
along the sides of the road

850
00:57:58,480 --> 00:58:02,000
across the country from Dobrogea to Banat.

851
00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:06,000
And this time of year,
people go out with their plastic bags

852
00:58:06,080 --> 00:58:09,160
and gather up the walnuts
that are falling off the trees,

853
00:58:09,240 --> 00:58:10,680
bursting out of their shells.

854
00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:15,480
So in true tradition and style,
and because

855
00:58:16,360 --> 00:58:18,720
I know someone who's very keen on nuts,

856
00:58:19,520 --> 00:58:21,040
let's see if we can get a few.

857
00:58:32,840 --> 00:58:36,440
There are a number of ways
to get the nuts out of the trees.

858
00:58:36,520 --> 00:58:38,560
You can either wait for a thunderstorm,

859
00:58:38,640 --> 00:58:41,840
but then everybody descends
the next morning with plastic bags.

860
00:58:41,920 --> 00:58:45,520
You can carry
a long stick or you can do this.

861
00:58:48,840 --> 00:58:52,280
I hope I don't get arrested
for stealing nuts from the state,

862
00:58:52,360 --> 00:58:55,440
but I have seen
loads and loads of people doing this,

863
00:58:55,520 --> 00:58:58,280
so I'm assuming it's allowed.

864
00:59:02,240 --> 00:59:06,120
Important thing is not to damage the tree,
just get the nuts down.

865
00:59:06,200 --> 00:59:09,520
So if they don't want to come down,
don't push your luck.

866
00:59:09,600 --> 00:59:11,200
Think we've got a bag full.

867
00:59:12,000 --> 00:59:15,000
I just have to go down and locate them.

868
00:59:15,080 --> 00:59:17,600
Hopefully not the quick way.

869
00:59:22,640 --> 00:59:27,440
The ones that are ripe,
slightly split and the casing opens,

870
00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:29,960
they're ready and they'll fall off.

871
00:59:30,040 --> 00:59:31,600
The ones that aren't ripe,

872
00:59:33,120 --> 00:59:37,400
they're quite bitter and
they're hard to get out of the flesh.

873
00:59:37,920 --> 00:59:40,280
Besides which, if they're ripe, take them.

874
00:59:40,360 --> 00:59:42,400
If they're not ripe,
leave them for somebody else.

875
00:59:42,480 --> 00:59:46,200
So these ones
are almost... well, they're ready.

876
00:59:46,280 --> 00:59:49,800
That's why the casing has cracked and...

877
00:59:50,840 --> 00:59:53,520
the iodine on the outside is kind of
a bit mouldy,

878
00:59:53,600 --> 00:59:55,080
but that's why it fell off, they're ready.

879
00:59:55,160 --> 00:59:57,720
This used to be
a luxury at Christmas time in England.

880
00:59:57,800 --> 01:00:02,680
Here, you can have them.
They've just ripened.

881
01:00:03,680 --> 01:00:08,240
I try to roll them on my feet so
you're not smashing the flesh inside.

882
01:00:08,320 --> 01:00:09,880
And then you can pop them open.

883
01:00:11,160 --> 01:00:14,200
And you can peel the outer
layer of skin off,

884
01:00:14,280 --> 01:00:16,200
which is a bit bitter some people say,

885
01:00:17,520 --> 01:00:18,520
I don't mind it.

886
01:00:18,600 --> 01:00:21,560
Full of fibre, but look at that.

887
01:00:21,640 --> 01:00:22,720
There we go.

888
01:00:23,360 --> 01:00:25,440
Fresh walnut straight from the tree.

889
01:00:25,520 --> 01:00:27,520
And I don't have to wait till Christmas.

890
01:00:29,960 --> 01:00:34,960
Delicious. Romania really
is a land of plenty. Or it was.

891
01:00:35,040 --> 01:00:37,960
We could only
sustainably manage the resources,

892
01:00:38,040 --> 01:00:40,320
there's so much abundance.

893
01:00:40,400 --> 01:00:45,040
Abundance of food,
abundance of forests, of wood,

894
01:00:45,120 --> 01:00:46,360
sustainably managed,

895
01:00:46,440 --> 01:00:49,200
abundance of mineral resources.

896
01:00:49,280 --> 01:00:52,640
Romania could be one of
the richest countries in Europe.

897
01:00:52,720 --> 01:00:57,000
Instead, it languishes
at the bottom of the pile

898
01:00:58,240 --> 01:01:01,560
because there's no coordinated
effort on the part of the authorities

899
01:01:01,640 --> 01:01:03,640
and it seems to me everyone else

900
01:01:03,720 --> 01:01:08,280
to, I don't know,
to make it prosper like it should.

901
01:01:10,040 --> 01:01:12,200
Gather some nuts. Let's keep going.

902
01:01:22,160 --> 01:01:25,720
Driving into the hills,
we pass more quaint villages

903
01:01:25,800 --> 01:01:28,320
before the tarmac tilts upwards,

904
01:01:34,480 --> 01:01:37,120
and we reach the start
of the Transluncani.

905
01:01:43,360 --> 01:01:47,320
Like a miniature version of
Romania's famous Transfăgărășan,

906
01:01:47,400 --> 01:01:50,800
this scenic drive loops
and meanders into the hills,

907
01:01:55,960 --> 01:01:59,480
that form a border between
Timiș County and Hunedoara,

908
01:02:01,440 --> 01:02:03,320
rising up through the forest,

909
01:02:04,680 --> 01:02:06,800
and allowing snatched glimpses

910
01:02:06,880 --> 01:02:11,560
of a green and burgeoning horizon
that unfolds between the trees.

911
01:02:36,680 --> 01:02:39,160
Well, that was
one of the more extreme roads

912
01:02:39,240 --> 01:02:41,280
that I've encountered so far in Romania.

913
01:02:41,360 --> 01:02:45,280
The hairpin bends were intense
and the drop off was huge,

914
01:02:45,800 --> 01:02:47,680
but I'm glad we did it.

915
01:02:47,760 --> 01:02:52,520
Now we're heading
north up through Arad towards Oradea,

916
01:02:52,600 --> 01:02:55,480
and it's going to get cold.
I'm going to have to layer up.

917
01:02:55,560 --> 01:02:58,720
I think we'll also see
the autumn colours changing a little bit,

918
01:02:58,800 --> 01:03:01,800
but the show must go on.

919
01:03:14,560 --> 01:03:19,600
Join us again as the journey continues
towards the historic region of Crișana,

920
01:03:20,960 --> 01:03:24,760
where I'll be visiting
Romania's very own Statue of Liberty,

921
01:03:25,960 --> 01:03:28,920
delving into
the secret life of the masons.

922
01:03:30,640 --> 01:03:34,360
And staying in a traditional house
with some high tech trimmings.

923
01:03:36,400 --> 01:03:39,320
I'll be exploring
the historic city of Oradea.

924
01:03:41,960 --> 01:03:44,040
And unearthing a unique village

925
01:03:44,120 --> 01:03:46,960
whose streets
are home to a thousand cellars.

926
01:03:49,200 --> 01:03:52,640
We'll also be walking
in the footsteps of the Romans.

927
01:03:53,920 --> 01:03:57,320
And trying out more mouthwatering dishes.

928
01:04:00,320 --> 01:04:02,840
Only in Flavours Of Romania.