Italy

'No, sorry, we haven't got a Turin guidebook'.

So said the chap at Waterstones Piccadilly.

'What about Stanfords?' (Specialist travel bookshop in Covent Garden, for those unfamiliar).

'Sorry, no, not them either' (said as though he had been asked this question a few times).

So why would Turin be a tourist destination? Answer: it has a lot going for it, and because it is not prime tourist territory air fares (in a normal world) are reasonable, flight time is 1 hour 20 minutes, and hotel prices are competitive. What's not to like?

Smaller than Florence, but beautifully formed. I knew little about it before going.

The off the cuff impression from friends was food capital of Italy. Stanley Tucci on steroids. Nicknamed La Grassa (the fat one - the City, not Stanley, who is reprehensibly thin). Wave arrividerci to any recent healthy eating improvements.

The first-hand thumbnail is an Italian city boasting a lot more than nosh.

I am afflicted by deformation professionnelle (and before I go further I must say that there would be an acute on the first 'e' if I could find some way of doing it with this programme). The condition is not physiological, as might appear from the name. It translates roughly as occupational hazard. It is, for someone who teaches legal writing and drafting, the tendency to want to correct/sub-edit other's text where there is a mistake.