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In his seventh voyage of discovery Michael Palin reads
his own account of a journey into a new Europe. Michael
Palin: New Europe
starts with a simple idea: that only a couple of hours from
home is a half of Europe that is for him as unknown and unexplored
as the plateau of Tibet or the vastness of the Sahara. Cut
off for most of his life by Cold Wars and Iron Curtains, Europe’s
eastern lands are now open for business - and Michael sets
off to discover them...
Michael
Palin: New Europe may
sound like the ex-Python has gone soft (is he really too old
to travel far from the comforts of home now?) but this adventure
is as much a voyage of discovery as any of Palin's other journeys,
as he finds himself in countries he'd barely heard of, many
of them new names on the map, many unfamiliar and mysterious,
all with tragic histories and much brighter futures.
Starting
in the snows of the Julian Alps, on the borders of Italy and
Slovenia, Palin heads east to discover the half of Europe
he never knew. Visiting twenty countries, more than in his
Himalaya and Sahara journeys combined, he encounters
painful memories and exuberant celebrations. Throwing himself
into local life with his usual reckless curiosity, he samples
pig fat with a brandy chaser, meets Romanian lumberjacks,
drives the 8.58 stopping train from Poznan to Wolsztyn, learns
about mine-clearing in Bosnia, treads the catwalk at a Budapest
fashion show and watches Turkish gents wrestling in olive
oil.
While
in the past I've been a huge fan of Palin's various travel
shows (well, except for the below par Himalaya) I'd
never listened to one of his audio books. And to be perfectly
honest I wasn't sure what to expect. The six CD collection
is simply Palin recounting his adventures. I was expecting
the odd background sounds of the countries he visited, or
the voices of the people he met on his travels, but none of
these were present. Instead Palin carries the whole production
on his broad shoulders like the accomplished speaker and story
teller that he is. Even when he provides the voices of the
people he met you are totally sucked into the adventure.
There
are numerous highlights in this collection. As well as the
examples mentioned above, Palin also meets two people whom
he met on other travels, and maybe familiar to you; gets to
watch a camel wrestling tournament; visit Dracula's castle
in Transylvanian; watches locals firewalking; attends a tank
driving school; and explores the site of the Auschwitz concentration
camp.
This
is Palin at his best.
Darren
Rea
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