Dream of Europe

-"Dream of Europe" is made possible by... -At Regent Seven Seas Cruises, we believe that personal space is essential to the luxury travel experience.

With no more than 732 guests, our ships allow you to explore the world and discover the freedom of having space at sea.

-Custom privately guided travel.

Kensington -- see the world differently.

-I'm Kathy McCabe.

In this series, we'll explore the stunning landscapes, unearth the centuries of history, and discover what makes Europe one of the most captivating continents on Earth.

Join me as we Dream of Europe.

In our last episode, I arrived in London to record the theme for our new series at the iconic Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded most of their more than 200 songs.

While music brought me here to the British capital, I'm staying a bit longer to enjoy the diversity of what London has to offer.

Wow!

Incredible.

Including street art, ethnic food, exotic gardens, and a one-of-a-kind community celebration.

-These are my people!

-But first, I'm meeting with royalty.

-You're very lucky today to see Pearly Kings and Queens on the streets, aren't you?

-The London Pearly Kings and Queens are keepers of a tradition that began in the Victorian era and has been passed down through generations of families.

-Hi!

[ Chuckles ] -They are a symbol of the city's working-class cockney culture and see themselves as custodians of a waning way of life... - I dillied, I dallied -...which they carry on through songs, stories, and most importantly, collecting money for charity.

-London's always a change -- -If I put a pound or so in there, may I have a photo taken?

-Of course.

-Today I have come to Covent Garden to meet the Pearly King of Finsbury, John Walters.

John, I didn't know I would be meeting royalty on this trip.

-Absolutely right.

We are straight royalty.

We are royalty of the people.

We're accessible to everybody.

-So you can come to London and meet royalty, like yourself.

[ Laughs ] -I rest my case.

-Don't tell Charles.

I met the best one.

-You have.

-[ Laughs ] -I feel like we're, like, rock stars now.

[ Laughter ] -I don't mind 'cause you're having a cuddle with me.

When I go around London and people see us dressed as we are -- -Do they know who you are?

-Absolutely.

-You're kind of a celebrity.

-I wouldn't say celebrity.

I'll just say...proper Cockneys.

-[ Laughs ] And what does that mean for -- -Cockney?

-Yeah, what is a Cockney?

-If you're a Cockney, you're born within the city of London.

The docks area, you had what they called dockers down there who unloaded the ships, and they had their own language, which was called Cockney rhyming slang.

-Okay.

-They spoke about in the docks because it confused the docks police.

-Oh, so it's like a secret language.

-It's a secret language.

-Ooh, can you teach me some?

-If I said to you... -Mm-hmm.

-..."I'm going for a bowl of chalk," I'm going for a walk.

-A walk.

Uh-huh.

-"Down to frog and toad."

-The road.

-The road.

"I'm going to buy myself a linen draper."

-Newspaper.

-"I'm going to go into the rub-a-dub-dub."

Pub.

-Pub!

[ Laughs ] -"And I'm going to have a pint of pig's ear."

-Beer.

[ Laughs ] Wonderful.

The Pearly Kings and Queens of London adorn their clothing with mother-of-pearl buttons, which symbolize their commitment to charity and community, each one with a special meaning.

-It's nice to be in the mother-of-pearl buttons because you're recognized on the streets of London wherever you go.

-Is there any meaning to the design?

-Hearts are for charity, anchors for hope, and your crosses for the faith, and the wheel is a circle of life.

-Oh, wonderful.

-Thank you so much.

So all the money that we raise goes to charity.

So thank you.

-We're normally in Covent Garden every third Saturday and Sunday in the month, raising money for the charities.

We support a children's cancer hospice.

We donate money to our veterans.

We donate money to local councils dealing with the elderly people.

-Yeah.

-You know, and that's what it's all about.

-Yeah.

-It's wonderful to give to charity.

-It absolutely is.

-Yay!

Thank you.

-Here you go.

-Thank you for the work that you do.

And I'd love to support the city with a donation.

-That is very great of you.

The money we raise... -Yeah.

-...every penny goes to the charities we support.

-Well, keep up the good work.

Now, I don't know if I'm allowed, but can I hug a king?

-Of course you can.

-Oh, John.

Thank you.

- Well, you can't trust a special Like the old-time coppers When you can't find your way home -[ Laughs ] -After spending my morning with a Pearly King, I'm now excited to meet American royalty of sort -- Julie Montagu, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke.

Julie met her aristocratic husband, Luke, when she moved to London.

The British upper crust love their gardens, and Julie is taking me to a Royal Botanic Garden, Kew Gardens, home to the largest and most diverse collection of plants in the world.

On this chilly London day, we are exploring one of Kew's greenhouses, Temperate House.

Thanks for meeting me on this rainy day.

-Always raining.

-But we've sort of sought refuge in this beautiful greenhouse at Kew Gardens.

-Yeah, it is spectacular, and it's the largest Victorian greenhouse in the entire world.

-It's a great place to refresh when you're running around London.

-It is, and, you know, like many places around the U.K., but in particular in London, there are so many royal connections.

And these gardens were gifted to Princess Augusta.

She was the mother of King George III, who was the king during, what Americans would say, the Revolutionary War, but as I learned living over here for so long, the War of Independence.

-[ Laughs ] How did you end up in London?

-I came over here for work, and then I ended up meeting my husband.

His name is Luke Montagu.

And lo and behold, his father is the current Earl of Sandwich.

The sandwich that we eat today actually is from my husband's ancestor, as well, so... -What a claim to fame.

-Yeah.

Yeah, I know.

-Would you consider yourself royal or aristocratic?

And what's the difference?

-We are part of the aristocracy.

Definitely not royalty, but they do sort of merge together, because it was always about the monarchy sort of giving out these titles to people who helped the Crown.

And as an American, I think many of us are fascinated by this rich history and the kings and the queens and the royalty.

-I hear many of the royals have come and have been patrons to Kew Gardens.

-Yeah, they have.

So the Queen Mother has planted a tree here -- Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II -- and even King Charles III.

-Kew Gardens is doing an important job in preserving all of these plants.

-Right.

Kew is very much at the forefront of making sure that biodiversity throughout the world is being looked at properly.

There's one in particular that is older than -- predates the dinosaurs, like 300 million years old, and it's the Wood Cycad.

It was the last one in the wild.

A sliver of it was sort of cut off, brought here and planted.

And the one in the wild did end up dying, so there's none left in the wild.

Kew Gardens is really just this incredible haven for flora, fauna, plant species from literally around the world.

So you can really experience as if you're going from sort of Central America to then Asia to Australia.

-Yeah.

It's like taking a mini vacation.

I feel like we took a little trip somewhere else.

-Yes.

-It's a great place for people who come to get away from the hustle and bustle.

All this touring has made me hungry, and given the British Empire once ruled over India and Pakistan, London is the best place outside of South Asia to enjoy the unique flavors of these places.

I head to London's Southall neighborhood where Dipna Anand is the chef at The Brilliant.

The food at The Brilliant is so legendary that even King Charles and Queen Camilla have eaten here.

I'm so excited to be here today because Indian -- Indian is one of those foods, you know, I just crave.

I think many people are like me when they come to London.

It's tops on their list to have some.

-You're at the right place.

[ Laughter ] So, the food that we specialize in serving at The Brilliant is North Indian Punjabi food with a Kenyan slant.

My grandfather started the first Brilliant restaurant in Kenya, Nairobi, in the 1950s.

Then there was a whole political issue in Kenya.

A lot of the family migrated to the UK, and from their garage in the house, they started to do small events and cook.

But as the word kind of spread, they started getting more and more orders and then eventually bought this place in 1975 as a 36-seat restaurant, and the restaurant popularity just grew and grew.

-How many does The Brilliant serve today?

-So, today The Brilliant has over 250 seats.

So we have the restaurant.

I run a cookery school from here.

We have two food trucks, and we take them to different venues, football stadiums and rugby venues.

We've started to do Wimbledon recently.

-I love it.

And when I went to Wimbledon probably 20 years ago, it was strawberries and cream.

-Oh!

-Now you have the world.

-Definitely.

And I think our love affair internationally for Indian food is just growing.

-I love the fact that you... you and your father are so close.

What role does he play, and how does he inspire you?

-So, my father is definitely the forefront of the business.

I call him a machine because he never stops.

He never switches off.

My father unfortunately suffered a heart attack, and it was solely to due with the kind of food he was eating.

So I chose to do low-fat Indian cooking.

The secret is to balance your spices and use the right spices.

So just small key tips like that.

-I know that you have a motto that you live and work by.

Tell me what it is.

-My motto is to teach the world how to cook proper Punjabi Indian cuisine and pass on my skills.

-Will you teach me something?

-Of course!

Let's teach you right now how to make samosa chaat.

-[ Gasps ] That sounds delicious.

-This dish is all about not only flavors and tastes, but also textures.

-Textures.

-So, first of all, to make this samosa chaat, you need to make a chickpea curry, and that's what we're doing.

Adding some cumin seeds into the oil.

Once your cumin is talking to you like that, you hear the sizzle... -Yes, it is saying, "Eat me."

-Yeah.

Then you go in with your finely chopped onion.

And this is a secret in our cooking is you want to caramelize your onions.

-Okay.

-So I don't want them see-through.

I don't even want them brown.

I want them really nice and caramelized.

This is a key step.

-It's worth it?

-100%.

-Okay.

-This is green chili paste.

-Mmm!

-These are bird's eye green chilies.

Really spicy, so you're not going to add too many of these.

-Okay.

-And then ginger and garlic.

-Okay.

-So this is just blended tomato.

Now for color, we add some turmeric, which is -- -So healthy for you, too.

-Yeah, it is.

And then I'm also going to add some cumin powder to this.

-Okay.

-And then all this goes in.

[ Sizzling ] We're going to add our chickpeas.

-Okay.

-They're going to go in.

This is the king of spice, Dad's favorite, favorite spice, garam masala.

My grandfather's recipe dates back to over 75 years.

-[ Gasps ] -Here are our samosas.

Lavish the chickpea curry over the chaat.

-I love it.

-Finishing touches -- red onions, yogurt, tamarind chutney, crispy vermicelli snacks made with gram flour.

-Mamma mia!

I know we're not in Italy.

We're -- We're almost in India.

-In Indian, you say balle balle.

That means "wow."

-Balle balle.

Dad, she's trained you well.

Or you trained her well, I don't know.

-She's got that passion of cooking.

-But now are you ever back in the kitchen?

-Always.

-And there you are.

That is your samosa chaat.

-That is balle balle.

-Mmm.

Balle balle.

I'm going to be saying that every day here in London.

And even when I go to Italy, I'm going to be saying balle balle instead of mamma mia.

-[ Chuckles ] -Incredible.

Our city tour takes a colorful turn as I visit the funky neighborhood of Shoreditch in London's East End.

With all of the vibrant street art here, it feels like walking through the pages of a graphic novel.

Local resident Momtaz Begum-Hossain is here to show me around.

-Welcome to Shoreditch.

This is the heart of street art in the whole of the capital.

It's one big outdoor gallery.

This is where the creatives of London hang out.

-You look a little more prepared than I am.

-[ Laughs ] You know, when you spend time in this area -- -It inspires you.

It comes off the walls and onto you.

-Exactly.

-I'm always amazed wherever I go in the world when I see pops of color.

And I've been reading a little bit about you, and that's your interest as well.

-Absolutely.

I'm a color expert, and I'm all for showing people how to just embrace more color.

And one way to see more color is on your travels.

I'm going to show you some murals.

There's sculptures.

There's paste-ups.

There are just streets where anyone can have a go, anyone can get involved.

-Even me?

-Even you.

[ Chuckles ] -Hmm!

-But first, let me show you around some of the most beautiful murals of Shoreditch.

This building is an example of what we call paste-ups, completely covered in posters, stickers, artwork and once a year, there's an International Paste-up Festival where 200 artists from around the world, they send in their artwork.

-I didn't even know it was a thing.

-It's incredible, right?

-Paste-up.

Wow.

Incredible.

Look at those faces.

-We call this "the Shoreditch mural" because all of the different characters represent the different people who've lived here in the past, or who are living here now.

Everyone is pretty much represented here.

The different communities.

-Music.

-We've got music.

-Peace signs.

-This is like a '60s girl from the music scene.

We have a very long heritage of a Jewish community living here.

We've actually got a Jewish lady in the bottom corner there.

This gentleman here actually represents the Windrush generation.

That's when Afro-Caribbeans came to this country.

-Yeah/ -We've got the Bangladeshi shopkeeper.

The Bangladeshi people are actually the biggest community group in this area, so it's really bringing them all together, combining them with the street art and celebrating them.

-It's just so full of life, really.

-And this building here, I think, is one of the most special buildings in Shoreditch.

16 artists worked on this... -Oh, my gosh!

-...as a collaborative piece, and the artwork wraps around the entire building.

But as we look around, you'll just see how all the different artworks, they're just so stunning, but all come together under this connectivity umbrella.

-This one is beautiful.

-It has such a distinct technique.

The artist is actually Australian, and he takes inspiration from the Aboriginal style of doing the dot painting.

-Wow, she looks so alive in the eyes, the lips, the teeth.

They're so lifelike.

-Most street art... -Right.

-...might last a day, a few weeks.

14 years... -[ Gasps ] -...this has been on the wall.

-And is it almost an unspoken rule?

You don't touch this one.

-An absolute musical icon.

Who do you think it is?

-That would be Diana Ross.

-Absolutely.

Now, these artists aren't being paid.

They do not get paid a penny to do this.

They are just doing this for their love.

-Do they become famous?

-Exactly, and that's why having a signature on your work is so important.

-Oh, yes.

-This one's Jimmy Vision, and this is actually called the Jimmy Alleyway 'cause we've actually got three different pieces by Jimmy.

-Beautiful.

Good job, Jimmy Vision.

-There is so much street art, and it changes every day.

-It's one thing to see some street art.

It's another thing to make it for yourself.

Wow!

Tunnel of color.

-This is the heart of where anyone can come along and have a go at doing some street art themselves.

You've come all this way to London.

-Yes?

-You can't leave East London without having a go at spray painting yourself.

-Okay.

-So I have got some paints here, and I've got a very special design.

-Oh, my God!

It's the logo!

-It is the "Dream of Europe" logo.

-Wow!

And it's going to, like, live here!

-So I thought you could leave your mark in London.

-Incredible.

-What better way to do that than having a go at spray painting?

-Shake, shake, shake?

-Shake.

Give it a good shake.

-And we're going to start here?

-Yeah.

Okay.

[ Paint can hissing ] Beautiful.

Whoa!

Look at that.

"Dream of Europe."

It's beautiful.

-Aah!

I can't believe it!

I love pink.

-Beautiful.

Ta-da!

[ Laughs ] -Aah!

-Your first bit of street art.

-I never dreamed of making street art until I came to London and met you.

-It's fantastic.

You've now left your mark on London.

-I have.

We have.

I could get addicted to this.

It's kind of very satisfying.

-It's just such a fantastic thing.

You should feel very proud.

-Thank you for a very unique London experience.

South of Shoreditch is the historic Old Spitalfields Market, a covered space filled with bustling stalls selling fashion and arts and crafts.

I'm here to meet artist Sue Kreitzman, an 87-year-young native New Yorker who has lived in London for 35 years.

-I'm not quite American, and I'm not quite British.

I was sort of half and [British accent] half.

-Half and [British accent] half.

-[ American accent] A little of this, a little of that.

-[ American accent ] Sue never really thought she was artistic and had careers as a teacher and a prolific cookbook author.

Until one day... -I had a very strange epiphany.

-Tell me.

I love epiphanies.

-So, I was sitting up in my study correcting the proofs of my 27th cookbook.

-Okay.

-I loved color and art all my life, and my hand picked up a marker and my hand drew a mermaid on a scrap of paper.

She was looking at me.

I was looking at her.

But where did this come from?

I've never done anything like that in my life.

She was in charge, not me.

And I never wrote another book.

I became an artist.

It doesn't come from the head.

It doesn't come from the heart.

It comes from the gut.

I have exhibited all over the world, and my work is in museums and in galleries.

It was a gift from the universe.

I'm living a bucket life I didn't even know I had.

I never dreamt that I would end up as an artist, a colorful artist.

So sometimes you have a dream that you didn't even know you have.

And I tell people, younger people, don't give yourself a 5-year plan, a 10-year plan.

Don't lock yourself in, because a little window might open just out of sight and you don't want to miss that little breeze and that little bit of light.

You might want to follow that.

And that's what happened to me.

You never know what's around the corner.

You have to be open to it.

-Oh.

It's profound advice.

Sue comes here for the art and the color.

-Every Thursday, there's a flea market.

-Yeah.

-It's extremely eclectic.

A lot of artists would come and spread their wares out.

-Something for everyone.

-You never know from one day to the other what you're going to find, but there are dealers who deal in so-called tribal art.

-This is a pelvis of a sheep, and then that is some sort of leather work.

-A pelvis of a sheep?

-Yes, and then they put a bit of leather on the back.

-That could be your handbag.

-[ Laughs ] -No one's going to come near me wearing this.

-There are dealers who deal in vintage jewelry.

-Yeah.

This is a dream.

I love pearls.

I'm a pearl girl.

-There are several �1 stalls.

So... -Look at that.

Just �1.

-One of the vendors, her mother makes these clay sculptural brooches.

-It's clay work embellished with vintage jewelry, so each piece is going to be completely unique... -Oh, wow.

-...and they all have their own little personalities, really.

-They really do.

-These are the people who need us to survive, and they have the things we want.

-Now, once a month, you host something called a Color Walk.

-The Color Walk has become huge.

It began 20 years ago.

It was very unorganized.

And my wonderful friend Florent said, "Look, why don't we make this official?

Let's make it the third Thursday of every month is a Color Walk."

And it got bigger, and it got bigger, and now it's a mob.

It's just been the most satisfying and wonderful thing.

-Now, did you make all this yourself?

-Actually, for once, I did.

-You did?

You did?

-Yeah, it's about inspiration, you know, sharing it, you know, giving it, receiving it.

Just want to be free.

I feel welcome.

-A lot of these people are designers, they're artists, they just love color.

They don't like conventional dressing.

-Right.

-They want to make their own style.

And we bring our own little bubble of happiness.

Not for ourselves, but for passers by as well.

-Yeah.

-People smile.

They love it.

-It's contagious.

-It is contagious.

-I found the Color Walk through Instagram, and as soon as I came, it was like-minded people.

It was wonderful.

-And do you wear something different every time?

-Every time I wear something different.

-Wearing this today, no matter what the weather, you feel happier.

-You really do.

And you make people around you feel happy too.

We pride ourselves on being very, very welcoming and very diverse.

-These are my people.

-Ahh.

-You come and it's full of friendly people that want to talk to you, and I love that.

-Look at all the outfits.

Whoa!

How did you come up with this?

-I wasn't allowed to get it as a child.

And what the Color Walk is about -- like, realizing your childhood fantasy.

-So we found some heads.

There's some decapitation going... -Yeah, it's slightly macabre, but it's still joyful.

-I like a little macabre here and there.

So incredible.

Seems like everyone feels such a sense of community.

-It's a safe space.

Um, everybody's welcome.

The common ground is sharing the love of color.

-My time in London has been, quite simply, a feast for the senses and full of surprises.

-Ta-da!

[ Chuckles ] -Oh!

No wonder London is one of the greatest cities on Earth.

-Color Walk!

-Color Walk!

-"Dream of Europe" is made possible by... -At Regent Seven Seas Cruises, we believe that personal space is essential to the luxury travel experience.

With no more than 732 guests, our ships allow you to explore the world and discover the freedom of having space at sea.

-Custom privately guided travel.

Kensington -- see the world differently.

-For more about visiting Europe, additional videos, and a companion travel guide, visit DreamofEurope.com/tv.

Follow "Dream of Europe" on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.