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With his Bradshaw鈥檚 1913 Continental Railway Guide in hand, Michael Portillo ventures east to a land which a century ago was part of the Russian Empire and today is the independent state of Ukraine. His rail journey will take him from the grasslands of the Steppe to the shores of the Black Sea. In this borderland where Europe meets Asia he crosses swords with Cossacks, learns the secrets of Ukrainian cuisine and gets down and dirty in a mud spa.

Beginning in the capital, Kiev, Michael explores the city described in his century-old Bradshaw as the 鈥淛erusalem of Russia鈥�. At Kiev鈥檚 beautiful St Sophia Cathedral he seeks to understand the history behind Ukraine鈥檚 current conflict with its vast neighbour and discovers how Ukraine adopted Orthodox Christianity. He encounters mummified monks in a medieval monastery and works out alongside two of the strongest women in the world. Outside the city he rides with Cossack warriors and gains an insight into Ukrainians鈥� national identity.

Boarding the fast train to Lviv, Michael reads in his Bradshaw that the city was formerly known as Lemberg and at the time of his guidebook it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Among its cobbled streets and classical buildings Michael discovers the seeds of Ukrainian nationalism in poetry and song. Under the guidance of the best cook in the neighbourhood, Michael learns to make Vareniki, the sour cheese-filled pasta, which is so popular in Ukraine.

Michael beds down on the night express to Odessa and enjoys breakfast on board before setting out to explore a vibrant and cosmopolitan city with French, Italian, Russian and Jewish influences. At the city鈥檚 Great Synagogue he hears how the once sizeable Jewish population is beginning to recover after the violent pogroms of the 19th and early 20th centuries and the Holocaust.

An excursion to a nearby bathing resort popular at the time of his guide and during Soviet times leads Michael to a hydropathic establishment where he braves an intimate massage in warm mud鈥�

A performance of Tchaikovsky鈥檚 Sleeping Beauty at Odessa鈥檚 exquisite opera house rounds off his journey.