NPR's David Green found that his reporting assignment in Moscow grew on him the longer he stayed.

That's the story of Russia in some ways. You know, you get there and it feels so foreboding and unwelcoming and by the end often you're just in love with the place and passionate about it.

Coming up he shares what riding the Transciberian Railway showed him.

We'll also hear what Europeans are debating about

immigration. There's this fear that things will change when actually it's a fear

that's being fomented by a far-right radical fringe. And some of the most treasured souvenirs in Europe are the

colorful ceramic tiles of Portugal that have been a Portuguese signature for centuries.

You can have everything under the sun because Portugal has done tile work for over 500 years.

If I do a decoration at my place, I have to put some tiles.

If I'm renewing my kitchen is with tiles.

It's all in the hour ahead on Travel with Rick Steve's.

Before NPR's David Green left his post as Bureau Chief in Moscow to join the team hosting morning edition,

he booked a trip to the end of the line on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

He hoped the people he'd meet on the 6,000-mile winter rail journey would teach him a lot about the working-class backbone of Russia.

David joins us a little later in the hour ahead to tell us what he learned about the Putin years in Russia from the lives

of its ordinary citizens.

We'll also explore how immigration issues are being debated in Europe as boatloads of refugees

continue to cross the Mediterranean to escape war and uncertainty.

But let's open today's travel with Rick Steeves on a lighter note as we look into the important

role ceramic tiles play in decorating the streets and buildings of Portugal.

From religious figures and battle scenes painted on tiles in the 16th century to art nouveau illustrations in the 20th.

These tiles are a highlight of Portuguese architecture. in the and Robert Wright, who also specializes in tourism in Portugal.

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