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Steered by his 1913 Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, Michael Portillo travels one of the most stunning rail routes of the world, the historic Trans-Caucasus Railway, through the former Russian empire from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, taking in present-day Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Michael begins in the port of Batumi on the dazzling Caucasian Riviera. He savours the soul of Georgia in its wine and discovers a surprise 19th-century tea plantation in the West Georgian countryside. The seat of power beckons in Kutaisi, home to the wonderful glass dome built for the Parliament of Georgia when it moved here from the capital, Tbilisi, in 2012. At the medieval convent of Gelati Michael sees how magnificent frescoes are being painstakingly restored and finds out about the most powerful king in Georgian history.

The daring rail line, built in the late nineteenth century to haul oil across the Caucasus from Baku to Batumi reveals grand views from viaducts and passes through a 4km-long tunnel blasted through mountain rock. Arriving in Tbilisi Michael is struck by the warm welcome of Georgians and is invited to a wedding, where he experiences the legendary feast, known as a supra. At a private museum dedicated to the life of the most infamous Georgian, Joseph Stalin, Michael asks how Georgians today feel about the former dictator of the Soviet Union.