COPYRIGHT SCOTT ALEXANDER YOUNG, PRAGUE 2000

A synopsis of a seven to eight episode series of one-hour long television travel programmes, following  travel writer Scott Alexander Young checking out tourism and every day life behind the iron curtain, from behind the wheel of an E Type Jaguar.

Right now, on the anniversary of the demolition of the Berlin wall, there have been a number of British and American documentary series concerning FSU (Former Soviet Union) countries, ten years on. All of them seem worthy, concerning the devastation wrought by both communism and quick fix capitalism, all of them heavily political. Well, politics is something that is never very far away in Eastern Europe, but it's not the whole story. There is yet to be a TV series that looks, cheerfully, at tourism in Eastern Europe, and successfully captures the unique flavours of the region, from mountain villages in Transylvania, to big bad Moscow.

An E Type Jaguar through Eastern Europe's host Scott Alexander Young will provide a witty commentary on the people and places quintessential to the Eastern European travel experience, from surly border guards to mountain guides, struggling artists to Ukraine girls seeking American passports. It is high time this region was visited by such a refreshingly hedonistic approach; a style epitomised by the decision to travel from Moscow to Vienna in an E-Type Jaguar.

Episode One: Bullet-proof limousines and Winter Palaces
Moscow/St Petersburg
As Chicago in the 20's, so Moscow has been in the 1990's, but what's life like for expatriates and regular visitors to the Russian capital? Then onto St Petersberg, where some of the world's greatest art treasures reside.

Episode Two: Spring in the Baltic States
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
The Middle Ages seem like yesterday in these countries, until you go dancing in Riga, the 'Bangkok of Eastern Europe', or check out the Estonian economic success story, for example.

Episode Three: Poles Apart
(Poland) Gdansk, Warsaw and Krakow.
All Polish cities yet each with a distinct character. Gdansk, 'Danzig' to the Germans, birthplace of Solidarity, seat of Malbrok Castle; Warsaw, bustling business town (third highest commercial real estate values in the world), expat capital; Kraków, Ancient Royal City, city of Schindler and Pope John Paul II.

Episode Four: Don't Mention Dracula!
Moldavia/Romania: Transylvania & Bucharest.
Close-up a nation rebuilding itself from the rubble of history, Bucharest former 'Paris of the Balkans' - then to Transylvania a sideways look at the tourist fascination with the embodiment of evil.

Episode Five: Goulash, Tokaj & Heavenly Spas
Hungary: Budapest and Lake Balaton
In the exciting capital of this fascinatingly individualistic country where last names come first and hello means goodbye, it can sometime seem as if communism never happened... and then...

Episode Six: Too beautiful for its own good?
Czech Republic: Prague and the Bohemian castles and countryside
The Charles Bridge has become almost as much a tourist cliche as Notre Dame in Paris or well, the Lido in Venice. But don't let that mask the mystery of this complex, fatally charming city, or the beauty surrounding it.

Episode Seven: Chocolates, Coffee and Espionage
Slovakia: Bratislava, ski resorts - Austria: Vienna & back to the west!
Slovakia, a backwater? We ask the famously hospitable locals, take a look at Slovakian ski slopes, then head for Vienna for a coffee shop Think Tank with historians, commentators and participants in the reshaping of this regions dynasty. It's not all talk, we have related features which we insert along the way to enliven the already sparkling badinage. 

Episode Eight: 'special optional/additional episode'
Cossacks, White Russians, Border Crossing Blues
The Ukraine: Kiev, Lvov, Odessa. Belarus: Minsk

We open in Bratislava, Slovakia. Scott walks around the edges of the tiny medieval town and says 'This is the capital of Slovakia - the republic created when Czechslovakia split up'. He comes to the highway that carves through the center of the medieval town and says 'I'd say the Czechs have got the better deal'. We fast cut to a montage of city scenes showing Prague's incredibly scenic man-made beauty. Europe's biggest castle on a hill, looking over a river, spanned by perhaps the most beautiful bridge in the world. 'But there's more to Prague than all this history. There's also CHEAP BEER'. Another montage, this of Prague's colorful street life and nightlife, including scenes from later in the program.
After the same guy falls from Prague Castle wall three times in different period costume, our presenter tells us how three times in Prague's history important people have been thrown from that very castle window. A couple of other quick interesting facts about the city and we're into the meat, but you get the style. Fun. Irreverent. Yet informative.
So now, how to get there. Planes, trains, automobiles.

Where To Stay
Upscale - The Radisson: Art Deco beauty and star of the Jazz Age  resurrected,
Middle-of-the-Road -The Europa: Fading Glory - its dining room the model for the Titanic's dining room,
The Traveller's Hostel: Grungy Launch-pad for backpacking party animals.

Where To Go Out
Seven Angels, a restaurant since the 13^th century
Rejayvik, exciting Icelandic cuisine
U Pinkausm, authentic Czech Pub
Busgys, cocktail bar and none-too-subtle mafia hangout
Radost FX, 'Time Out' magazine considers this one of the best ten  clubs in the world.

What To Do
Funicular ride to the top of the hills overlooking the city
A Night at the Opera where Mozart debuted Don Giovanni
Antique shopping in Golden Lane, picturesque street of doll's house type cottages.

What To See
Prague Castle, St Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, Astronomical Clock, Wencelas Square.

And that's the meat in the sandwich. Time for Scott to wrap up, but not before receiving his tickets and despatch papers from HQ, and our next destination: to Vienna for chocolate, coffee and espionage in Episode Seven of Small World's Eastern Europe.