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Tourism and Hospitality in Asia: Crisis, Resilience and Recovery
by Azizul Hassan Anukrati Sharma James Kennell Priyakrushna MohantyThis book analyses the ways in which crises, including COVID-19, can be managed within the tourism and hospitality industries in Asia, in ways that support the future of these industries and help to make them more resilient. This book supports efforts to develop a new direction for the tourism and hospitality industry by considering their development holistically in the context of sustainable development. Going further, this book highlights actions to make the tourism system more resilient to external shocks and crises. Readers of this book will get insights into the economic, social, technological, and environmental implications of crises on the tourism and hospitality industry in Asia, including issues within the food and beverage industry in the Asian post-COVID-19 period. This book has three major objectives: to explore the crisis context of Asian tourism and hospitality, to present multiple cases from countries in Asia, and finally to envisage the paths to make the Asian tourism system more resilient, through the discussion of new trends and issues emerging following the pandemic. This book examines the economic, social, environmental, and technological implications of crises on the Asian tourism and hospitality industry and discusses the various ways of managing these crises more efficiently, contributing new knowledge to the industry. In its wider context, this book covers tourism management, crisis management, and destination management. At the more micro level, themes explored include tourism economics, marketing management, hospitality management, food and beverage management and tourism technology.
Hospitality Business Development
by Ahmed Hassanien Crispin DaleHospitality Business Development analyses and evaluates the different aspects of business growth routes and development processes in the international hospitality industry. It considers the essential features of the strategic business context, in which any hospitality organisation operates. Since the first edition, the hospitality industry has evolved significantly with the emergence of new entrants, new technologies and evolved global market structures. This new edition has been updated to reflect these developments in the field and includes the following: New contemporary topics such as social enterprises, business models, social capital, value proposition, co-creation and the sharing economy. Examples and case studies on hospitality organisations from across the world to demonstrate the globalisation of the hospitality business. A new up-to-date standard for explaining the hospitality business development concept, scope and process. This book equips students and aspiring hospitality managers with the necessary knowledge, expertise and skills in business development. It is a must-read for anyone studying or working in the hospitality industry.
Hospitality Business Development
by Ahmed Hassanien Crispin DaleHospitality Business Development analyses and evaluates the different aspects of business growth routes and development processes in the international hospitality industry. It considers the essential features of the strategic business context, in which any hospitality organisation operates. Since the first edition, the hospitality industry has evolved significantly with the emergence of new entrants, new technologies and evolved global market structures. This new edition has been updated to reflect these developments in the field and includes the following: New contemporary topics such as social enterprises, business models, social capital, value proposition, co-creation and the sharing economy. Examples and case studies on hospitality organisations from across the world to demonstrate the globalisation of the hospitality business. A new up-to-date standard for explaining the hospitality business development concept, scope and process. This book equips students and aspiring hospitality managers with the necessary knowledge, expertise and skills in business development. It is a must-read for anyone studying or working in the hospitality industry.
Hospitality Business Development
by Ahmed Hassanien Crispin Dale Alan Clarke Michael W. HerriottHospitality Business Development analyzes and evaluates the different aspects of business growth routes and development processes in the international hospitality industry. It considers the essential features of the strategic business context, in which any hospitality organization operates, and: • explores the essential requirements and challenges of hospitality business development, and the implications which these present for hospitality operators. • explains how differentiation and innovation can become key to organizational success and provides you with the all of the skills you need to implement your own business development • examines the shifting nature of demand, evaluating consumers’ behaviour and relating the principles of customer centricity to the business development function • is packed with case studies and industry related examples, which cover a broad range of hospitality sectors including in-flight catering, holiday homes, guest houses, licensed retail, catering, international restaurants and hotels, ensuring you have a thorough understanding of the international hospitality business development . Hospitality Business Development equips students and aspiring hospitality managers with the necessary knowledge, expertise and skills in business development. This book is a must-read for any one studying or working in the hospitality industry.
Hospitality Business Development
by Ahmed Hassanien Crispin Dale Alan Clarke Michael W. HerriottHospitality Business Development analyzes and evaluates the different aspects of business growth routes and development processes in the international hospitality industry. It considers the essential features of the strategic business context, in which any hospitality organization operates, and: • explores the essential requirements and challenges of hospitality business development, and the implications which these present for hospitality operators. • explains how differentiation and innovation can become key to organizational success and provides you with the all of the skills you need to implement your own business development • examines the shifting nature of demand, evaluating consumers’ behaviour and relating the principles of customer centricity to the business development function • is packed with case studies and industry related examples, which cover a broad range of hospitality sectors including in-flight catering, holiday homes, guest houses, licensed retail, catering, international restaurants and hotels, ensuring you have a thorough understanding of the international hospitality business development . Hospitality Business Development equips students and aspiring hospitality managers with the necessary knowledge, expertise and skills in business development. This book is a must-read for any one studying or working in the hospitality industry.
An Island Odyssey
by Hamish Haswell-SmithIn An Island Odyssey Hamish Haswell-Smith casts off in his forty-one-foot sloop Jandara, armed with his sketch pad and a route map of a journey first taken by Martin Martin in 1703. Haswell-Smith sets sail on a voyage that will take him to fifty-two different islands around the Scottish Coast, from Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde to St. Kilda, Fair Isle and Bass Rock. Filled with natural history, local legend and landscapes and accompanied by the author's own distinctive sketches and watercolours An Island Odyssey is a delightful way to discover or rediscover the romance, beauty and inescapable magnetism of the Scottish Islands.
Are We Nearly There Yet?: A Family's 8,000-Mile Car Journey Around Britain
by Ben HatchWhen Ben and Dinah saw the advert looking for a husband and wife team with young kids to write a guidebook about family travel around Britain, they jumped at the chance. They embark on a mad-cap five-month trip, embracing the freedom of the open road with a spirit of discovery and an industrial supply of baby wipes.
Road to Rouen
by Ben HatchFrom the bestselling author of ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET? (Radio 2 Book of the Year & voted Amazon Customers' Fave Kindle Read 2011) comes a new hilarious and touching story of travel chaos.Chosen as one of Amazon's Best Kindle Books of 2013 Ben Hatch is on the road again. Commissioned to write a guidebook about France (despite not speaking any French) he sets off with visions of relaxing chateaux and refined dining. Ten thousand miles later his family's been attacked by a donkey, had a run-in with a death-cult and, after a near drowning and a calamitous wedding experience involving a British spy, his own marriage is in jeopardy. A combination of obsessions about mosquitoes, French gravel and vegetable theme parks mean it's a bumpy ride as Ben takes a stand against tyrannical French pool attendants, finds himself running with the bulls in Pamplona and almost starring in a snuff movie after a near fatal decision to climb into a millionaire's Chevrolet Blazer.Funny and poignant, Road to Rouen asks important questions about life, marriage and whether it's ever acceptable to tape baguette to your children's legs to smuggle lunch into Disneyland Paris.
The Essential Guide to Rockpooling (Wild Nature Press)
by Julie Hatcher Steve TrewhellaThe marine environment is a remarkable place – otherworldly and a source of endless fascination. The rocky shore where land meets sea, its array of life ever-changing with the tides, offers us a chance to explore this hidden world.This book reveals the astonishing diversity of wildlife on rocky shores and in the rockpools around the coast of Britain and gives readers a greater under-standing of the myriad creatures that can be found using a bit of simple detective work.Rockpooling is an activity enjoyed by children and adults alike. This guide will make your exploration even more rewarding, whether you are enjoying a day out at the seaside or seeking to expand your knowledge of a unique habitat. Detailed descriptions of around 400 common and rare rocky shore species Clear colour photographs of all the species describedTips and techniques describing how to find the more cryptic animalsIdeas for rockpool-related family activitiesInformation on threats to the intertidal environmentMeasures we can all take to safeguard the future of our rocky shore wildlife
Trans-Europe Express: Tours of a Lost Continent
by Owen Hatherley'A scathing, lively and timely look at the "European city", from one of our most provocative voices on culture and architecture today' Owen JonesA searching, timely account of the condition of contemporary Europe, told through the landscapes of its citiesOver the past twenty years European cities have become the envy of the world: a Kraftwerk Utopia of historic centres, supermodernist concert halls, imaginative public spaces and futuristic egalitarian housing estates which, interconnected by high-speed trains traversing open borders, have a combination of order and pleasure which is exceptionally unusual elsewhere.In Trans-Europe Express, Owen Hatherley sets out to explore the European city across the entire continent, to see what exactly makes it so different to the Anglo-Saxon norm - the unplanned, car-centred, developer-oriented spaces common to the US, Ireland, UK and Australia. Attempting to define the European city, Hatherley finds a continent divided both within the EU and outside it. 'The latest heir to Ruskin.' - Boyd Tonkin, Independent 'Hatherley is the most informed, opinionated and acerbic guide you could wish for.' - Hugh Pearman, Sunday Times 'Can one talk yet of vintage Hatherley? Yes, one can. Here are all the properties that have made him one of the most distinctive writers in England - not just 'architectural writers', but writers full stop: acuity, contrariness, observational rigour, frankness and beautifully wrought prose.' - Jonathan Meades
Off The Rails: 10,000 km by Bicycle across Russia, Siberia and Mongolia to China
by Chris Hatherly Tim CopeThis is the true story of two twenty-year old Australians who travelled for fourteen months on recumbent bicycles from Russia, across Siberia and Mongolia, to Beijing. It is as much a story of perseverance, passion, and belief as it is about the people and remarkable landscapes of Siberia and Mongolia. Tim and Chris are not just fearless adventurers but philosophers on wheels, willing and able to open themselves up to everything from the voice of the Steppes to the Russian villagers and the nomads of the Gobi desert. From this they draw an often funny, moving and inspirational tale of living out a dream. Mixed into this journey is the story of their tumultuous relationship as two opposing wills battle it out in the midst of heat, snow and hunger.
In Search Of England
by Roy HattersleyPassionate, affectionate and indefatigably curious, In Search of England joins a tradition of writing, from William Cobbett to JB Priestley, that makes a journey around the English countryside and character. England is the most various of countries; within its borders, life changes mile on mile. Roy Hattersley celebrates crumbling churches and serene Victorian architecture, magnificent hills and wind-whipped coast, our music, theatre and local customs, and, above all, the quirky good humour and resilience of England's denizens. In Search of England is an unapologetic love story, a paean of praise for all the fascinating variety and flavour of England's places and people.
Queen of the Sea: A History of Lisbon
by Barry HattonLisbon's charm is legendary, but its vibrant 2,000-year history is not widely known, from its Roman legacy to its centuries under Moorish rule. Its journey from port town to Portugal's capital was not always smooth sailing--in 1755 the city was devastated by the largest earthquake ever to strike modern Europe, followed by a catastrophic tsunami and a six-day inferno that turned sand to glass. Barry Hatton unearths these forgotten memories in a vivid account of Lisbon's colourful past and present, bringing to life the 1147 siege during the Iberian reconquista, the assassination of the king, the founding of a republic and the darkness of a modern dictatorship. He reveals the rich, international heritage of Portugal's metropolis--the gateway to the Atlantic and the unrivalled Queen of the Sea.
Queen of the Sea: A History of Lisbon
by Barry HattonLisbon's charm is legendary, but its vibrant 2,000-year history is not widely known, from its Roman legacy to its centuries under Moorish rule. Its journey from port town to Portugal's capital was not always smooth sailing--in 1755 the city was devastated by the largest earthquake ever to strike modern Europe, followed by a catastrophic tsunami and a six-day inferno that turned sand to glass. Barry Hatton unearths these forgotten memories in a vivid account of Lisbon's colourful past and present, bringing to life the 1147 siege during the Iberian reconquista, the assassination of the king, the founding of a republic and the darkness of a modern dictatorship. He reveals the rich, international heritage of Portugal's metropolis--the gateway to the Atlantic and the unrivalled Queen of the Sea.
How Cities Become Brands: Developing City Brands Purposefully and Thoughtfully
by Eric Häusler Jürgen HäuslerThis book explores how the fragile and lengthy process of developing a city brand can be carefully managed. Necessary background information is explained, numerous experiences are reported, and targeted city branding is inspired in a variety of ways.The dream of every brand maker: to develop a city into a strong city brand - perhaps even a myth. The creation of myths remains a curiosity. Is it targeted, are there relevant recipes for success, and can those responsible be identified? Above all: Can the process be replicated? How do brand makers deal with the complexity of the phenomena of cities and city brands? How do they give the arduous process of creating a city brand a reasonable chance of success? How do brand makers deal with the often biting criticism from outside and the nagging self-doubt?Successful cityscapes arise from the trials and tribulations of complex and sometimes random processes. In the course of global city competition, this evolutionaryprocess is enriched with the achievements of the craft of branding. This is not a guarantee of success. Success depends on numerous prerequisites, which are discussed in detail. Finally, craft rules for good and at the same time sensitive city branding are mentioned.The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules foreffective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emergefrom complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.nal criticism and self-doubts?City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussed conditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.City images emerge from complex and random processes. In global urban competition, this process is enriched with brand making achievements. Success isn't guaranteed, depending on discussedconditions. Lastly, rules for effective city branding are outlined.City images emerge from
Wie Städte zu Marken werden: Stadtmarken zielgerichtet und umsichtig entwickeln
by Eric Häusler Jürgen HäuslerDieses Buch beschreibt, wie der fragile und langwierige Prozess der Entwicklung einer Stadtmarke umsichtig gestaltet werden kann. Notwendige Hintergründe werden erläutert, von zahlreichen Erfahrungen wird berichtet, zielführendes Stadtmarkenmachen wird vielfältig inspiriert.Der Traum jeder Markenmacher*in: eine Stadt zu einer starken Stadtmarke – vielleicht sogar zu einem Mythos – zu entwickeln. Dabei bleibt die Mythenbildung ein Kuriosum. Erfolgt sie zielgerichtet, existieren einschlägige Erfolgsrezepte, können die Verantwortlichen identifiziert werden? Vor allem: Lässt sich der Prozess nachbilden? Wie gehen Markenmacher*innen mit der Komplexität der Phänomene Stadt und Stadtmarke handwerklich um? Wie verleihen sie dem mühevollen Prozess der Entstehung einer Stadtmarke vernünftige Erfolgsaussichten? Wie begegnen Markenmacher*innen der häufig beißenden Kritik von außen und den nagenden Selbstzweifeln? Erfolgreiche Stadtbilder entspringen den Irrungen und Wirrungen komplexer und mitunter zufälliger Prozesse. Im Zuge des globalen Städtewettbewerbs wird dieser evolutionäre Prozess mit den Errungenschaften des Handwerks des Markenmachens angereichert. Dies ist noch keine Erfolgsgarantie. Der Erfolg hängt von zahlreichen Voraussetzungen ab, die ausführlich thematisiert werden. Abschließend werden Handwerksregeln für gutes und zugleich sensibles Stadtmarkenmachen genannt.
Cultural Due Diligence in Hospitality Ventures: A Methodological Approach for Joint Ventures of Local Communities and Companies (Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management)
by Nicole HäuslerThis book introduces readers to a powerful method for cross-cultural due diligence in mergers and organizational collaborations. It employs the context of joint ventures between local communities and companies in the domain of hospitality in emerging tourism destinations. The book first analyzes the impact of cultural diversity in mergers between local communities and the private sector, revealing the characteristics and functions of culture and paying specific attention to the roles of organizational and community cultures in hospitality. In two subsequent methodological chapters the book presents a theoretical framework for cultural due diligence and identifies the principal actors, technical aspects and core principles. On the basis of a separate case study from northern Thailand, the book provides an example of cultural context analysis and presents the findings and results. In a concluding chapter the book presents an outlook on further research and development in this field.
Apennine Crossings: Travellers on the Edge of Tuscany
by Nick Havely'The Apennines are Italy' exclaimed The Examiner two centuries ago, yet this unique region and its striking literary and cultural connections are underappreciated in the English-speaking world. Apennine Crossings: Travellers on the Edge of Tuscany links a twenty-first century journey in the mountains of Northern Italy to past writers, routes, and travellers. It follows the modern long-distance walking trail of the 'Great Apennine Excursion', whilst moving back and forth in time: from the Middle Ages to World War Two and from the journeys of pilgrims, merchants, and tourists to those of soldiers, partisans, and poets. Stories of past travellers in the region continually intersect with a contemporary account of a walk across the ridge of the Northern Apennines. Alongside Nick Havely's present-day narrator and traveller, the cast of characters includes major writers and poets, such as Dante, Montaigne, Goethe, Shelley, and Stendhal, together with a multitude of less well-known figures whose journeys, experiences, and responses cast new light on a landscape that is close to yet remote from the sites typically visited by modern travellers to Italy. Havely draws these earlier travellers' stories from a wide range of published and unpublished sources such as letters, journals, memoirs, poems, and interviews. Together, they illustrate several significant themes: the histories of mountain passes, remote lakes, and ancient sanctuaries; perceptions of the mountains; the social and religious culture of the Northern Apennines; the preoccupations of literary tourism; the impact of campaigns and conflict during World War Two; and the effects of depopulation and deforestation. The Apennine region features in its full literary, historical, and cultural richness. Included are twenty-six illustrations, with maps for the whole route and for the sections covered by each of the book's seven chapters.
The Siberia Job
by Josh HavenFrom critically acclaimed new author Josh Haven, a thrilling adventure inspired by true events in 1990s Russia.GETTING RICH IS THE EASY PART1990s Russia. Following the demise of the Soviet Union, the newly established Russian government is privatising its industries. The people have the chance to become shareholders in a capitalist future.The state has issued vouchers that can be exchanged for shares. For the many citizens living in abject poverty, these are little more than scrap paper. But for one American businessman and his Czech companion, they suggest a lucrative opportunity. The pair travel the icy length of Russia, roving from town to town with suitcases full of cash to buy as many as they can.But their plan is not as simple as it seems. The system of trading vouchers for shares is set up to deter profit-hungry outsiders. And when the Russian mafia and newly powerful oligarchs hear of their successes, the stakes suddenly become deadly...The Siberia Job charts a course through one of the most dramatic periods in recent Russian history. Perfect for fans of Martin Cruz Smith, Joseph Kanon and Kathleen Kent. Reviews for The Siberia Job'An astonishing story, excitingly told, and all too close to the reality of Russia in the murderous 1990s.' Charles Cumming'A terrific post-Soviet thriller.' Martin Cruz Smith'One of the most original, well-written, and best-plotted post-Cold War stories I've read in years.' Nelson DeMille'Storytelling intrigue at its very finest.' Bill Browder'A breathless, globetrotting thriller... Vivid, ingenious, and suspenseful to the last page.' Joseph FinderReviews for Josh Haven 'Superb... Smart, fast, twisty and dangerous. Highly recommended.' Lee Child 'A fresh new voice.' Kirkus'A pleasing romp through James Bond territory.' Library Journal
The Practical Guide to Wedding Planning
by Marie HaverlyThis concise yet comprehensive guide offers highly practical insights and advice to those wanting to plan weddings as a career choice. Chapters take the reader through all the essential steps to creating the perfect wedding, including the clients, budgeting, the venue, the ceremony, food and beverages, stationery and so on. The many business aspects of starting a career in wedding planning are also covered, including marketing and pricing strategy. Written in an engaging and highly accessible style, this guide assumes no prior knowledge of the industry and is ideal for those just starting their careers. Packed full of case studies, activities, example forms, timetables, calendars and helpful checklists, this is a guide that readers will undoubtedly come back to again and again as they gain more experience in the world of wedding planning. Written by a highly experienced ex-wedding planner, this will be invaluable reading for those looking to enter or progress in the world of wedding planning, those already working in the industry, studying an events management programme, or perhaps looking for a career change.
The Practical Guide to Wedding Planning
by Marie HaverlyThis concise yet comprehensive guide offers highly practical insights and advice to those wanting to plan weddings as a career choice. Chapters take the reader through all the essential steps to creating the perfect wedding, including the clients, budgeting, the venue, the ceremony, food and beverages, stationery and so on. The many business aspects of starting a career in wedding planning are also covered, including marketing and pricing strategy. Written in an engaging and highly accessible style, this guide assumes no prior knowledge of the industry and is ideal for those just starting their careers. Packed full of case studies, activities, example forms, timetables, calendars and helpful checklists, this is a guide that readers will undoubtedly come back to again and again as they gain more experience in the world of wedding planning. Written by a highly experienced ex-wedding planner, this will be invaluable reading for those looking to enter or progress in the world of wedding planning, those already working in the industry, studying an events management programme, or perhaps looking for a career change.
Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers The Italian Riviera, Where Every Month Is Enchanted
by Annie HawesA small stone house deep among the olive groves of Liguria, going for the price of a dodgy second-hand car. Annie Hawes and her sister, on the spot by chance, have no plans whatsoever to move to the Italian Riviera but find naturally that it's an offer they can't refuse. The laugh is on the Foreign Females who discover that here amongst the hardcore olive farming folk their incompetence is positively alarming. Not to worry: the thrifty villagers of Diano San Pietro are on the case, and soon plying the Pallid Sisters with advice, ridicule, tall tales and copious hillside refreshments ...
A Handful of Honey: Away to the Palm Groves of Morocco and Algeria
by Annie HawesAiming to track down a small oasis town deep in the Sahara, some of whose generous inhabitants came to her rescue on a black day in her adolescence, Annie Hawes leaves her home in the olive groves of Italy and sets off along the south coast of the Mediterranean. Travelling through Morocco and Algeria she eats pigeon pie with a family of cannabis farmers, and learns about the habits of djinns; she encounters citizens whose protest against the tyrannical King Hassan takes the form of attaching colanders to their television aerials - a practice he soon outlaws - and comes across a stone-age method of making olive-oil, still going strong. She allows a ten-year-old to lead her into the fundamentalist strongholds of the suburbs of Algiers - where she makes a good friend. Plunging southwards, regardless, into the desert, she at last shares a lunch of salt-cured Saharan haggis with her old friends, in a green and pleasant palm grove perfumed by flowering henna: once, it seems, the favourite scent of the Prophet Mohammed. She discovers at journey's end that life in a date-farming oasis, haunting though its songs may be, is not so simple and uncomplicated as she has imagined. Annie Hawes has legions of fans. Her writing has the well-built flow of fiction and the self-effacing honesty of a journal.
Journey to the South: A Calabrian Homecoming
by Annie HawesEver since Annie got together with Ciccio, his Calabrian family have spoken of their homeland as an earthly paradise, of wild nights dancing the tarantella, of almond milk sold fresh from roadside stalls, of honey cakes and amaro made from wild liquorice roots... Now, at last, Annie and Ciccio are travelling down to see the ancestral home and extended family for themselves, along with a bunch of vocal and lively de Gilios who don't want to miss out on the fun.Will everything Annie has learnt in her years among the Ligurians stand her in good stead among the Calabresi? Or is she in for another steep learning curve in the intricacies of Italian rural life?
Ripe for the Picking (Windsor Selection Ser.)
by Annie HawesDuring the course of Annie Hawes' new book, local culinary superstar, Ciccio, gradually takes over as Annie's constant companion. How irresistible is a man who first demonstrates his affection and esteem by inviting her into his vineyard to help himmix up cow manure, which she spends the afternoon slapping onto an old pizza oven to improve its insulation, before driving her at terrifying speed to a Herbie Hancock concert? But even with Ciccio's help, the everyday life of Ligurian folk never seems to lose its surreal edge for Annie. How long does she have to stay at Diano San Pietro before it all becomes normal run-of-the-mill stuff and ceases to amaze her? Will she ever manage to go native?