placing the defending champions portugal in the same group as world champions, france, and germany. the world cup finalists, croatia, have been drawn in a group which includes england. rail passenger groups in the uk have criticised a decision by train companies to increase fares by an average of 2.7% injanuary. it means some commuters face a rise of more than £100 and the cost of their season tickets. railfirm than £100 and the cost of their season tickets. rail firm say the extra money will pay for improvements to the network. christmas is coming and for commuters on south western railway that means almost a month of scenes like these as strikes on the line start on monday. so the news that train fares will rise again next year, above the standard rate of inflation, has not gone down well with these passengers in bristol. i think the rail service probably needs to be improved nationwide before they can think about putting up fares. i've just come over from cambridge and it would have been cheaper

for me to go to paris. today's announcement means many commuters face an increase of more than £100 in the annual cost of getting to work. for example, a season ticket from eastbourne to london goes up £136, tipping it over the £5,000 mark. a season ticket between glasgow and edinburgh will set you back by £4,200 a year, up £116. but the rail industry defends the increases, saying 98 pence from every pound spent on fares goes into running the railway. at the moment we're going through a record splurge on the railway network, more money is being put onto the network now than at any other time since the victorian era. so, we are replacing half of the entire nation's fleet, but we are also putting money elsewhere, by adding extra services where they are really needed. train companies and passengers say

they would like to see a new, more flexible system for tickets put in place. but the future of fares and indeed the railways will be in the hands of whoever wins the election. this week on the travel show... hello. we are face—to—face with beluga whales and their table manners in iceland. the whale burps. listen to that little burp. we meet the women crossing the us on two wheels. and i am in berlin taking in the spooky sightss of an abandoned communist era themepark. so spooky.

we are starting off in iceland this week. it is one of the best places in the world to see whales in their natural habitat. but it's also now providing a home for a pair of these amazing mammals who spent their lives in captivity. they are now looking forward to their retirement in an environment that is closer to their natural home. and cat has been to meet them. here, just off the coast of iceland, we are searching. because, apparently, there is something in the water. notjust one of them, either. there are 23 species of them. every now and then, someone points in a direction and the whole boat rushes over, trying

to see what is happening. and then someone points in another direction so we rushed that way. it is like whack—a—mole, you never know when they will pop up. we are watching boats cast off to sea each day in iceland in the hope of catching a glimpse of these mammals. you have a great spot up here. the best one on the boat. minke whales, two o'clock. minke whales at two o'clock. how do you even try to find a whale in such a vast area? what are the tell—tale signs? the easiest one is the body. when their black body comes up and you see

the triangle—shape dorsal fin. but also the blows. when you see their breath, you know what species you have. really? you can tell the species from the breath? yes. it is incredible. how often do you see whales on these tours? we basically see them almost every trip that we go out. in the end it is the food. we have nutrient—rich waters because it is cold. the colder the water, the more oxygen and with that the more life that you have. elsewhere in the world, travellers‘ contact with whales is often in captivity where they are kept for public entertainment. globally, hundreds of whales are thought to live this way.

but public appetite for holding these intelligent and social animals appears to be shifting. just last year, greenpeace drew attention to dozens of beluga whales and orcas that had been caught and kept in poor conditions in russia, destined for entertainment parks in china. in recent weeks they were released after a public outcry. fortunately, these whales had only been captive for a short time so they could cope with life back out at sea. but what happens when themepark owners agree to release their whales that are unable to defend for themselves in the ocean? so the next morning i travel to the south of the island

and to the westman island, a short ferry ride from the mainland. i had heard that here in iceland a new kind of sanctuary was being created. there are so many beautiful coves around iceland. why this particular place? it is a beautiful surrounding for them. the cliffs protect them from the wind and the icelandic weather and then also having the water temperature more like the arctic and subarctic where they would be found in the wild. two beluga whales called little white and little grey will soon be the first released into the bay. they had until recently been performing at an entertainment park in china but after the operators decided to end the practice they tried to find new homes for the animals where they could live out their lives. what is the plan for tourists, so they are not too overwhelmed? the plan with tourists is to manage boat trips. we have a partner who will be bringing visitors out. they will not get out on these pontoons but they will be able to see them from a distance, like a whale watching trip, and hear about the project and learn why little white and little grey are here. little white and little grey

were carefully flown on the long journey from china to iceland but they could not be released straight into the bay. they have, for the last few months, been acclimatising in the nearby centre and working with handlers to learn how to take the final journey into the bay. oh, my goodness. wow. these are incredible. can i come down? hello. they are so graceful in the water, aren't they? what do you love about them? beluga whales are a friendly animal. they will not hurt you and you can work with them peacefully and so it is great fun to work with them. beautiful gentle giants. yes.

so which is the naughty one? this one? go. you are so soft. i like you. 0h. come for a little exfoliation? i am open all day. do they like this? this country's relationship with whales is complex, being one ofjust a few places in the world that still legally allows some hunting of the animals. but projects like this

and the various whale watching experiences on offer are to encourage understanding and protection. for little white and little grey, a new life awaits in the bay next year, but it cannot yet be total freedom. some critics say that the whales are just going from one sort of captivity to another form of captivity. what do you say to that? i would say that this is an opportunity for them to have a more natural environment. they are not being asked to perform nor asked to do shows. it is effectively retirement for them, and opportunity for them to still be fed and cared for because they've never had to do that for themselves, but they can have a more natural lifestyle. we feel that is a good first step for animals like little white and little grey. would you like some more fish? yum!! iwillgive you... the whale burps. 0h, was that a burp?

she keeps wanting more. oh, if you insist. if you insist. there we go. the whale burps. oh, there is another little burp. still to come on the travel show, why i am in an abandoned themepark. plus we get creative with frankfurters in berlin and meet the women whose incredible journey took them on a gruelling bike race across america. so don't go away. i am in friedrichshain in east berlin. for decades, this city has been a hub for artists and creatives and i am on my way to meet one who has an unusual taste for interior design. wow. look at this place.

what is this all about? cushions shaped like groceries. why?! i don't know. meat is such a strong thing and this is something i cannot understand, because i do not like it. i am observing it and it is kind of my question, what is it about meat? silvia has been selling her textile meat for ten years. have you ever had anybody come in here mistaking this for a real butcher? of course! and i think this is hilarious. so this is the sausage meat? yes. so i need to stuff all that in this little thing? you will be impressed by how much fibre. do it first. let me see. my fingers just won't do what i am telling them to do. why are you laughing?

it is... lumpy? look at this. tie it up. ladies and gentlemen, you have the travel show sausages. my one looks rather inadequate compared to your sausage. up next, we meet two women who are part of the unique team that took on an incredible journey across america. so, race across america is 3070 miles from the west coast of america to the east coast of america.

it was different kind of cycling to anything i'd ever done before. so from california to maryland, and had to be completed in nine days. it was an idea that i'd had in the back of my mind, that i wanted to put a team together. i had seen two teams of wounded warriors do it, and seeing that there had been no females in that team, i wondered why not. there was eight riders, all who had different health challenges, be that physical or psychological or both. half the team were civilian and half them were military. i met sally through some invictus training camps.

the one main concern i had was the fact that i am visually impaired. i had a brain injury when i was injured in the army, quite some time ago now, 1996. so for me to be cycling on the other side of the road, when i am completely blind to the left, was always going to be something i had never done, and quite frankly didn't really know how that was going to go. we all went over the start line together. what then had to happen was as a non—stop race, the team of eight riders broke down into two parts, so there were four people in each pod and the support crew. the first team carried on cycling for a nine—hour period, so within that nine hours, every 20 minutes we would change riders. the other pod in that time had moved forward and they were having to get their rest in, which is quite difficult when you have just had the adrenaline at the start and then suddenly go, right,

you need to go to sleep. i can remember seeing a lot of road. when you're cycling you're concentrating on covering as much as you can. looking up is not something you necessarily do. i looked up, and i'm so glad i did. we were the pod that was very, very fortunate to cycle through monument valley. a lot of colour, a lot of red rock formations thatjust stand in this vast array of countryside. it's almost indescribable. i'd never done any proper actual cycling at night, so i was very apprehensive, given that i could not see to the left. and it was something i had always avoided doing, because i didn't think i could do it, and probably because i was quite frightened. well done, mate!

given that you couldn't see anything else, you could see if there was a hazard coming towards you, because you would see lights. so it was really peaceful, because there weren't many people around, and actually quite easy. yeah, it was good. didn't realise you had a camera in my face. well done, good stuff. they had been a lot of doubts on everybody‘s mind. there is often times when you wonder if you can carry on because things are hurting, and for me, i look back and reflect on the time when my depression was at its worst, when i didn't think there was any reason to live. i look back on that time and think, this isn't as difficult as that, so try to overcome.

the race finished in annapolis, maryland. eight of us cycled down the road. and everybody was cheering. i'm incredibly proud to have been able to have had an opportunity to take part in such an extreme event. it has forced me to sort of go out of my comfort zone, i suppose. we were able to achieve something quite incredible, and hopefully others will be able to look back on what we have achieved and inspired them to go and take on their own race across america. this past month has marked 30 years since the fall of the berlin wall, an event which brought down a government, reunited families, and marked a change in fortunes for one very strange amusement park.

so, i have come over to spreepark, in the south—east of berlin. it's about 30 minutes drive from the city centre and my first impression is they absolutely don't want you to get in. it's totally fenced off. the park shut its gates to the public in 2001. and since then, nature has slowly reclaimed the rides and attractions. it's just feels like something horrible has happened. i feel like i'm the last person left in a nuclear wasteland. everything is falling apart in this place. and every now and again,

you just get these mad sounds in the distance. so spooky. the rides have not run for almost 20 years. but people continue to be drawn here. 0n windy days, you have the ferris wheel behind us there, the wind actually turns the ferris wheel and makes this kind of whistling noise. it's like something from a david lynch film. man, look at this! yes, that is another kind of bizarre attraction here. i can see your eyes lighting up looking at it. does it remind you of the first time when you came here? yeah, i mean, the first time was 2009, and it was just like a wonderland, really. when something is abandoned, something didn't work out.

something happened. and i guess for me, i'm very interested in knowing what happened, exactly what went wrong. the park opened 50 years ago in 1969 in the communist part of berlin. back then it was the veb kulturpark planterwald, and up to 1.5 million east germans came here each year. but then the wall fell and travel restrictions were lifted. the park was bought, renamed, and had some new rides installed. but it struggled to keep up with its bigger, flashier competitors in the west. with spreepark there is this crazy story with the family involved, the witte family, they had to close it down. the family, the man, norbert witte, took some attractions and moved to peru and tried to open a theme park there. the story takes a turn when he tried to smuggle cocaine back in one

of the rides. wow! the flying carpet was the name of this ride. from the moment i came in here first, to everything that happened after that, everything became more and more bizarre, the more you look into it. and this story isn't over. what we have got here, one of the rides was called the monte carlo drive, where people could sit inside and were pulled on string over tracks. we have many of these ones. this warehouse holds some of the surviving rides. it's unusual, when you see it in this context, it actually feels quite creepy. the city bought back the site in 2014 and has asked tim's company

to restore it. we want to keep the park as it is, to a certain extent, and we want to put a new layer on top of it, something that involves arts and culture and the natural habitat that has developed the essence of the place was abandoned. a modern take on what the spreepark used to be? yes, kinda. so it is not going to be an amusement park anymore, you cannot go on all the rides anymore, but we will find new uses for the rides. a rollercoaster could be something like a treetop walk. the spreepark is very dear to people here in berlin and in germany, and it holds a lot of memories. so you've got a big responsibility. it feels kind of heavy, to be honest! as you say, it is really in the mindset, especially of people from the gdr, this is a very, very important place. that is why we want to keep the cultural and social heritage that we have found. and if you want a last look

at the spreepark before its bigger restoration, guided tours and open days are listed on the grun berlin website. sadly, that's it from us this week. join us next week, when carmen is in the world's capital of plastic surgery, seoul, to explore the booming south korean beauty market, where she goes for a no holds barred consultation. the cheeks can be lifted, it is facelift. my gosh, i need a facelift? a little lift. for now, from me, ade adepitan, and all the travel show team here in spreepark, it's goodbye.

hello there. good morning. signs of change towards the end of the coming week. but new month, same old cold air across the uk. we're dominated by this cold area of high pressure. the last of the mild air that was towards the south—west and the channel islands, together with that weather front which brought some pockets of light rain, that's moving away now, getting blown away by the breeze. head further north, though, there are still some patches of fog through the midlands, east wales, maybe the vale of york, around the solway firth, and into the central belt of scotland. a few showers around the coasts of northern ireland and the far north of scotland, but generally the northern half of the uk starting cold and frosty widely. there's more patchy frost further south where we've got that breeze. and that will tend to lift the mist and fog through the midlands and wales much more quickly. further north, a few patches may

linger until the middle part of the day, at least. but generally it becomes dry and sunny. got a few showers on that keener breeze across the north of scotland, down those north sea coasts, and particularly later into kent. these are the temperatures for the first day of december. similar to what we had on saturday. not quite as chilly as it was, though, perhaps, through the midlands with more sunshine here as there will be in the south—west of england where it's going to be dry. high pressure, cold air continues overnight as we head into monday. but signs of change into the north—west. 0ur air beginning to come in from the atlantic. so while there'll be a patchy frost for scotland and northern ireland on monday morning it won't be as cold, with the frost more widely for england and wales. after a starry night we're going to have plenty of sunshine on monday and lighter winds. south—westerly breezes will blow a bit more cloud into northern ireland and particularly into scotland, where we'll see some pockets of rain, especially in the north of the country, where temperatures may actually get into double figures.

for many, temperatures are going to be at sixes and sevens. we've got high pressure dominating then at the moment. gradually, as we head into tuesday and wednesday, it slips away into continental europe, getting eroded by these milder atlantic winds. with higher pressure close to southern parts of england where the winds are lighter, skies clear, we've got to maybe worry about some mist, fog, and low cloud in the morning. that could linger, actually, until around about lunchtime before tending to lift and breakup. it should be a dry day on tuesday, even across the north of scotland. some sunshine for northern ireland. and those temperatures typically at sixes and sevens once again. another chilly sort of day, i think, on wednesday. gradually, later on in the week, it turns milder, it turns windier, and we'll see some patchy rain, mainly in the north and west.

welcome to bbc news — i'm james reynolds. one of the two people killed in the london bridge attack was a cambridge university graduate who had been working to help rehabilitate offenders. jack merritt was killed by usman khan at a seminar he'd help to organise for students and former criminals. daniel sandford reports. 25 years old and with the sense of adventure, jack merritt had a masters from cambridge university. his father said today he was a beautiful spirit who always took the side of the underdog. yesterday, he was stabbed to death in a frenzied