Hamish & Andy: July 12

This week on Hamish and Andy’s Euro Gap Year the boys are off to Spain, France, the Arctic Circle and back to Russia.

The boys start their adventures in Spain where they learn about the tricky tradition of building a human tower, known as a castell. Andy does his part in assisting to form the base of a castell, while another Catalonian festival featuring the delicacy of snails, side-tracks Hamish.

With over 300 kilometres of tunnels beneath one of Europe’s largest cities, Hamish & Andy head underground to explore the catacombs of Paris before embarking on an ambitious cycling journey.

Inspired by the Tour de France, Hamish and Andy plan a trip to cross Gibraltar, straight from Europe to Africa. However, before they depart the guys head to Cambridge University for a series of tests to find out the likely chance of a successful voyage.

In an effort to visit the village where Santa lives, Hamish and Andy travel to the Arctic Circle. Considering that Santa receives close to one million letters per year from children from 184 countries around the world, Hamish seeks an explanation for an unanswered childhood letter sent many years ago.

Returning to Russia, Hamish and Andy are introduced to the world of the Strong Men who perform amazing acts of strength, from tearing phone books in half to bending steel poles on their heads. The Strong Men are a much respected group of people in Russia.

8pm Thursday on Nine.