Julia Magnet returns home to New York and finds that, under Mayor Bloomberg, the old diseases of ris

"Are you a taxi service?" I asked. "Yeaarss," said the voice guardedly

As recently as the 1970s, the Continent was a place of disease, oversexed men and dodgy lavatories.

Liquid History: the Thames through time

Stephen Croad Batsford, 208pp, £15.99

ISBN 0713

Somebody wolf-whistled me yesterday, but it was a bit too belated for my liking

Cross the threshold of the casino and you'll find miserable old desperadoes

Stuck on Darlington station again, and still no sign of Pete's mum's scarf

I like Essex because it stands out, and there aren't any posh people at all

"I'm off home!" the little boy called. "Ah," said the women, "bless!"

The people of York are praying for free entry to God's house

Observations on Blackpool: the Spanish view

T S Eliot wept here, while Thomas Mann wrote a novel about a man with a hacking cough. A good place

No wonder the Tuscans are depressed; they are overrun by the British

Jan Morris visits Manhattan for the 50th time, and finds it tinged with pathos and closer in spirit