now on bbc news, the travel show. this week on the show... pulling down the past. i believe that the monuments would not give a tribute to the regime, but they should preserve the history and the memory. feeling the heat. we're getting major fires every year now, and multiple ones. oh, my god. and up to our knees in an estonian bog. there's a lot, yeah, there's a lot.

for 300 years, on and off, estonia was part of russia... ..ruled first by the tsarist empire, then the soviet union. links between the two are many and deep. in fact, around a third of the people here have russian as theirfirst language. but since the invasion of ukraine, the government has steered a course very firmly away from its powerful neighbour. there have been travel bans for russian tourists and something even more dramatic. historic russian and soviet monuments are being removed from public view, and notjust here.

the other baltic states, latvia and lithuania, are making similar symbolic gestures. this was among the first — a replica tank commemorating soviet soldiers killed during world war ii. it's been moved to estonia's war museum from the town of narva, which sits right on the russian border. the government says it's to avert what it calls "increasing social tension". oh, wow. look at this. you're very welcome. the t—34 was produced from maybe �*aos to �*60s, more than 80,000. so it's an extremely ordinary tank. nothing special. wow.

i mean, you say nothing special, but i mean, there's... that is like a rock. that's why it is tank. she laughs why do you think a museum is a better place for these sorts of objects? that's why the museums are created for, to keep the history. it's a question of symbols. and for our people, that is a symbol of occupation. that's a symbol of soviet rule. and we want to turn a new page. as you can see, we're not destroy it. we keep it. but the links are impossible to sever. so many of the big public spaces around the capital are russian built. they're bold, architecturally distinctive and pretty popular, too_ these days, the peter the great seaplane harbour is a maritime museum, painstakingly restored. the foreboding patarei sea fortress now hosts gigs and club nights.

and noblessner port, imperial russia's vast submarine factory, is fast becoming tallinn�*s new leisure district. as well as cafes, bars and new luxury apartments on the way, there's this, prot0. its owners call it an invention factory. it's sort of an interactive museum. so as we cycle, the little cyclists on the track go around. so it's a race now? yes, it's a competition. yeah. so tell me more about this incredible building. i presume it hasn't always hosted parlour games. exactly. this building, it was the foundry... wow. ..of the shipyard. next to it was the coopersmith. then there was some storages, local power plant. the engine generator, workshop and assembly workshop. so a huge area where the submarines were produced. yes. among all the family attractions, there are still glimpses of the building's former life. this is a control panel

to open the gate. which is here... 0h, here we go. ..this is exactly this giant gate. that is a giant gate. yes. that was used to take the ships out of the foundry. 0h, right. so they'd bring them in and out here. yeah. you'd press the button and they rumble on out. so how do you feel about the russian and soviet monuments being taken down? well, i believe, i believe that the monuments would not kind of like give a tribute to the regime, but they should preserve the history and the memory. in this case, the best place for the monument is in the museum. we have this place. this is a wonderful way of people to learn the history and to remember the history. so it's preserving the history, not celebrating the ideology. absolutely right. these spaces are being lovingly restored. money and hard work have been spent

to make them attractive. some haven't had that treatment, but have become popular nonetheless. this is rummu. it was one of a string of soviet—run prisons that used to stretch across estonia. it's got quite a grim backstory. that's all history now, right? from their arrival in 1940, the soviets used prisoners here to mine and process limestone from the quarry. when estonia regained its independence in 1991, the site was abandoned and reclaimed by rising ground water. today it's become popular with swimmers, divers and snorkellers. so what could you tell me about this building and what it would have been when it was a functioning prison? prisoners were working

on all positions. they were working in this building, they were working in the mine where they were... they were digging out the material. they were also working as the ones who were making the explosions to get the material up. so most probably, they are the reason why this quarry was flooded. the limestone makes the water such a striking colour that some call it the blue lagoon. i think the most precious place is here, is the visibility turret. as you see today, we can see almost like five, six metres, fourfor sure. and every time i go diving here, i see something new. there's a complicated legacy of this place, given its history? i think the persons that were staying in this prison,

for sure, they don't want to come back here. but for the rest of us, it's... ..mainly the place we can spend the summer time or enjoy the water because it's really warm and it's...it�*s really good visibility here and we can see everything inside. i really love being here in the water. sigrid has genuine affection for rummu. she wants to preserve it and stop it falling into the hands of developers. this could be considered as having a very strong association with the soviet period. do you think that these sorts of places should be preserved or taken down? that...it depends on the place, and it depends on the monument, maybe. because most of them have been taken down already. maybe the ones that we can use for the future to have the place to go to, to see some places, some pieces of history,

they should stay where they are. estonia is at a crossroads. many people are happy to see this country distanced from the russian regime. but there's a shared history here, one that's not going to be disappearing any time soon. and if you're thinking of heading to estonia, here are some travel show tips to help with your planning. tallinn is a classic christmas market sort of town and it looks lovely lit up in the town hall square from late november. pay attention to the tree. estonians reckon their capital was home to europe's first christmas tree in 14111. that claim is disputed by latvia. but tallinn still makes a big deal of it nonetheless. a couple of highlights from the old town. 0lde hansa is a super touristy

but fun medieval—themed restaurant just around the corner from the gothic town hall. it claims its food is still made to 17th century recipes. also nearby is niguliste museum in the 12th century st nicholas church. the big showpiece there is bernt notke�*s danse macabre, which invites you to think about the futility of life. and sauna culture is everywhere in estonia. there's a good chance there'll be one wherever you're staying. but look out for smoke saunas, where you'll sweat in the aroma of stripped alder and birch logs. still to come on the travel show... reflections on the summer of intense heat across the northern hemisphere. are they sweet? 0h! and the sweet, sweet taste of estonia's bogs.

they're very sour! so don't go away. this week we're exploring estonia, and just while we're in the capital of tallinn, i wanted to show you this. this is a remote working pod. it's in the middle of a shopping centre right in the cool part of town. places like this have been popping up since the pandemic throughout tallinn. the authorities have been keen to encourage people to come and work in estonia for an extended length of time and as a result have introduced special digital nomad visas. and it's notjust the visas. in tallinn, they've installed wifi across the city, all key services are online, and cool co—working spaces like this are popping up all over. these office huts overlook the baltic. hi. how are you doing?

hi, miguel. nice to meet you. good to meet you. 0h, isn't it toasty warm in here? yeah. you need to experience estonia in winter because it's something completely different. it's...it's dark and it's cold, but it's also very cosy and warm. what is it about tallinn that makes this such a great place for digital nomads? there are very cool co—working spaces all around. there's a very good tech scene, also a very good startup scene, it's very. . . it's very open and friendly. everything invites you to, you know, to relax, to focus on yourjob. and in case you were in any doubt about how they like to finish the working day here, this place has four offices and five saunas! hi, my name is miriam nielsen and i'm working toward my phd at columbia university studying hydro climate extremes. i also make youtube videos about climate change and climate activism.

frankly, the last several years, the northern hemisphere especially, has been seeing these intense, dramatic heatwaves that are predominantly caused by increasing global temperature, by climate change. and we're seeing that in places like the uk and california. you know, what you're seeing in yosemite and the sierra is...more fires. when i first moved up here about 25 years ago, we'd get maybe one major fire every five to ten years. we're getting major fires every year now, and multiple ones. the problems are the melting snow on the glaciers. - so we have a lot more crevasse incidents because the snow- coverage on the glaciers is totally thinned out. i and then many places, i the glaciers are receding. we had to basically stop guiding

| certain trips on certain glaciersl because itjust became too dangerous | for a while because the snow bridges| on the glaciers were too thin. and this has increased the number of accidents with crevasses. - what basically happened is that the jet stream, which is this meandering current of air, got stuck in one place. and so all of this hot air from northern africa ended up piling up, that led to really, really high temperatures, which impacts everyone from sitting at home to snowpack on mountaintops. i mean, i'm not a climate expert, but obviously- there is climate change in place. and if it continues like this, l i think we just need to maybe adapt our scheduling, programming. and all these ice fields are literally gone. - there's absolutely some things you can do. we don't know the cause of the washburn fire, but it was human. you know, there was no lightning that day. so somebody dropped a cigarette, somebody did something. sojust be aware, if you're from areas where maybe it's not as dry, even parking your car off

pavement, you know, on dry grass, that has sparked fires up here that people have lost homes over. campfires are banned at most elevations during the summer, but still don't even try it. we have had fires that have started and again, people have lost home, by illegal campfires. so i think it'sjust, be aware of the environment around you during the summer in california, even in a non—drought year. it's dry. we don't have rain for months. it is ready to spark at the slightest human error. so be aware of all your actions when you're visiting the park. so the thing that i try to cling to is that with all these disasters from heatwaves to flooding, is that none of them are really new. humans have experienced all these events for a very, very long time and we've built structures and communities to cope with them. and we can keep doing that and we can respond to how the world is changing around us.

well, obviously travelling can be a huge source of emissions. spending time outside is one of the least emitting things you can do. and if you go looking for it, you can find these beautiful natural spaces basically anywhere. i've left the capital tallinn now and am making for estonia's countryside. this looks almost like savannah. itjust goes on forever. and for a landscape whose reputation has done something of an about—face in recent years. around 7% of estonia is made up of this bog land. and it's fair to say in the past, not everyone was a huge fan. in fact, people would regard a landscape like this with horror, because folklore said that this is exactly the kind of place where you might be waylaid by evil spirits.

times have changed, though, and it's now becoming apparentjust how useful these bogs are. the world's peatlands store twice as much carbon as forest, according to the un, and that makes them enormously valuable in the fight against climate change. it's odd to see a digger at work in a forest and to know that it's doing good. margus! hello. i'm christa. good to meet you. nice to meet you. as a result, estonia is making efforts to restore and re—bog some of the land that was drained decades ago. what is this big... i mean, it looks like mud, but is this peat? yeah, that is peat. actually, it's...if you look, it's...er, almost decayed, but not totally decomposed plant material. ah, you can still see the fibres.

and here it was, maybe depth of peat layer is two metres, which means that approximately, the lowest layers are 2,000 years old. we're trying to restore the forest habitats because in 1960s, back then, this type of landscape was considered as total wasteland. why is it important to restore these peatlands? it is important for carbon emissions. we want to stop carbon emissions here. we want that this peatland would store carbon, not emitting it. but people here are also finding out what a stunning playground this environment is. glad to meet you. good to meet you, too. i've got my gumboots ready. very good! ready to hit the bogs. let's go. aivar is a guide who lives, works and plays here in soomaa national park.

he floats through the bogs in his canoe, skates and sledges on them in the winter, and stomps through them in these. any tips? it's...it's not that difficult, actually. you just. . .walk. and one important thing, when you want to turn back, you always come with a u—turn. you don't step like this because of this. but u—turn, it works well. 0k, these are one—way... one—way bog shoes. yes, only forward! 0k! whoop! bog shoes are a bit like snow shoes, and our crew soon discovers the importance of wearing them. don't fall over! yeah, that one is ok too. there's a lot, yeah? there's a lot. jordan has just emptied about a litre of water out of his boot.

and that is why you wear bog shoes. so, yeah, what's all this made up of? because it feels like we're walking on a big sponge. yeah, it's mostly made of moss. more specifically, sphagnum moss. so this is the plant here. ah, 0k. and if you take some of it, like, so you see... oh, it's really like a sponge, isn't it? so it is... so it's like a... ..growing up, so it is rotting down there or becoming peat. but in the bit, it's growing. it's...it's a... ..green, like a... yes! well, as you can see, it's living. it's sort of a... yeah. and it is full of water. it doesn't look like water. but if you squeeze it, you see? oh, wow, look at that. it may look like a barren landscape, but there's plenty here to forage.

it looks like someone�*s just spilled some berries on the ground. do you want to taste? i do. i've had cranberryjuice before, but i've never had a cranberry. yeah, they are... are they sweet? sour. 0h... they're very sour! mm, not that sour. and there's just one final chilly treat that aivar�*s keen to show me. all right. are you sure about this? is it a good idea? 0ooh! oh, god! i can already feel how cold it is. actually quite cold. they laugh this water makes you feel like skin is soft and makes you, like, a little bit younger. i mean, it'd want to cos it's really cold! oh, gosh... 0oh! 0hhh, it's really cold! oh, it's really, really cold.

i can see how, you know, after a bit of a... working up a sweat, bog—shoeing, must be a nice sort of shock to the system. so how far does this go down? a few metres. so if you... there is no bottom, yeah? so i think the verdict for the bog swimming is absolutely freezing cold when you don't come in the summer. wow. but, i mean, what a setting. well, i definitely needed to warm up after that! whoo—ah! but that's all we have for this week's programme. don't forget, you can catch up on our recent adventures by going to bbc iplayer, and there's plenty of other great travel content from around the bbc. just follow the handles on the screen now. and till next time, stay warm and bye—bye.

hello there. we're intojuly now. a new month, and very different type of weather — particularly when we compare it to the month just gone. in fact, june 2023 was exceptionally warm and dry — infact, record—breakingly so for many of us. it was all because we were dominated by high pressure. a very different feel to the weather, though, to startjuly. scenes more like this, with plenty of rainbows up and down the country, will be actually quite a common feature for the upcoming week. all because we replace high pressure with low pressure, which will be sitting to the north of the uk and bringing fairly cool, fresh north north—westerly winds down across our shores. you can see the lighter yellow

colours, even the blue and green hue there, pushing in from the north west. so ut will feel a lot fresher again for part two of the weekend. plenty of sunshine around across central and southern areas, but blustery showers across the northern half of the country, and prolonged rain, some of it heavy at times, across the far north of scotland in towards the northern isles. temperatures here around the mid to high teens. but, given some sunshine or better sunshine, i should say, we could just make around 21 or 22 celsius across the south—east. that's almost where we should be for the time of year. as we move through sunday night, it will be quite fresh again, blustery, further showers in the north. quite a chilly night to come across the northern half of the country — temperatures for most in single digits. little change as we start the working week. on monday, low pressure sitting across scandinavia, bringing us more north—westerly winds, plenty of showers across northern areas, but we'll also a feature running in to ireland across the irish sea, enhancing showers across wales and western england initially, those will push towards the east on monday. pretty much anywhere could catch a shower on monday. again, blustery, fairly strong winds, taking the edge

off the temperatures, which will be around orjust below par for the time of year, generally the mid to high teens in the north and high teens, low 20s in the south. into tuesday, this feature will bring cloudier, wet weather to england and wales. it looked like it could be pretty unsettled across—the—board on tuesday with further showers for scotland and northern ireland and this area of showers and or even more persistent rain across england and wales. there could be some thundery bursts mixed in to that as well. temperatures at best about 20 celsius and the low to mid—teens in the north, feeling quite cool. wednesday, a chance of this small area of low pressure bringing heavy, possibly thundery rain towards parts of england and wales. the current thinking is more towards the south—east corner, then pushing on into the north sea. an unsettled day to come for england and wales. maybe a little quieter, apart from a few showers, for scotland and northern ireland, but it will warm up a little bit. the reason it will warm up from wednesday onwards, towards the end of the week,

is that low pressure will be sitting to the west of us, higher pressure towards the near continent, dragging up some warmer air from france and iberia. towards the end of the week, with low pressure sitting towards the west, higher pressure to the east, we will start to draw these southerly winds and the deeper orange colours move northwards across the uk. we will be warming up, but the run—up to end of the week will be unsettled, with showers or longer spells of rain, and maybe some thunderstorms mixed in as well. temperatures will be below par at the start of the week, but towards the end of the week, as we import that warm air from the south, things could be warming up with increasing sunshine across southern areas.

live from london, this is bbc news. condemnation in france of an attempt to set fire to the home of a mayor, after a fifth night of rioting across the country. two dead and 28 injured, following a mass shooting in baltimore. a search for the shooter is under way. we will find you. until then, i hope, with every single breath that you take, that you think about the lives that you took and you think about the lives that you impacted here tonight. seven new nhs gambling clinics to open in england — almost double the current number. you're watering bbc news.

hello, i'm gareth barlow.