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There’s something about Italythat resonates with me. Rome,Venice, Florence, the lakes —the Italians just seem to doeverything beautifully. Theother day, I went to Tuscany,into the countryside, and it was

stunning. Later in the year, I’m going toAsia for the first time, and it’ll be great,but I just don’t have that yearning, thathankering, in the same way I do for aweekend in Tuscany. Maybe it’s justbeing a middle-aged gay man — sometremendous cliché that I’ve fallen into.I’ve not been back to Jersey since I

filmed my Russian Roulette show there.We went because the gun laws allowed usto do what we wanted to do. We werestaying in a family’s farmhouse, whichwas just lovely. I have these strange,intense memories of my time there. That

was early in my career, one of the firstthings I did that was quite high-profile,and there was loads of press andcontroversy when I got back.Growing up in south London in the

1970s, we didn’t go on holiday thatmuch. Down to Brighton, maybeLittlehampton. And we camped a bit,which was quite a 1970s thing. I don’tknow where. I remember grass and Iremember a brook. You can Google it.Theme parks were a big part of my

childhood. I visited Thorpe Park when itfirst opened. I remember the pirate shipand the wraparound cinema — I’m surethere was a lot more, but that’s what Irecall. Now, of course, it’s huge. I justfind theme parks phenomenally exciting.I’ve done pretty much all the big onesin America and I love them.The first time I got recognised abroad,

I was crossing Brooklyn Bridge, in New

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The illusionist shops for stuffed animals inNew York, adores a theme park and shares

a love of Florence with Hannibal Lecter

Derren Brown

Someone in a bar fist-bumpedme for looking just likeDerren Brown. I told them Iget that all the time

York, and a Polish cab driver said he’dseen me on YouTube. These days, ithappens more often. Recently, I had aconversation with someone in a bar inNewcastle, and at the end, he said, “I’vegot to tell you, you’re the spitting imageof Derren Brown.” Then he fist-bumpedme. I said, “Yeah, I get that all the time.”I’m doing a Broadway show next year.

It will be wonderful to live out in NewYork for a bit, as I haven’t been overthere for a while. The city’s just electricand the food is phenomenal.I like Americans — the friendliness, the

positivity. Are they more suggestible towhat I do? Not necessarily. What makesa difference isn’t nationality so much asyour relationship to someone. Thinkabout how suggestible you are with yourdoctor, versus, say, a politician.I’m into taxidermy. Probably my

favourite spot in New York is a taxidermystore called Evolution, on Broadway.But I don’t have to travel to source itemsnow. I have dealers who just call me,and it’s all very ethical. I was walkingthrough London the other day and I gota call from a guy called Dave, who said,“I’ve just passed you, and I’ve got a kiwiin the back” — which didn’t soundcomfortable. He pulled up in his van andshowed me a kiwi, which I didn’t want.The place I’m most at ease has to be

Florence. Somewhere in the back of mymind is that scene in the film Hannibal —not a great role model, admittedly —where Lecter is sitting out onPiazza della Signoria, having aglass of wine. That’s my imageof retirement. When I picturemyself there, I always mentallywipe the glass with myhandkerchief as I leave, as hedoes, to remove traces of DNA.

Derren Brown, 45,began his televisioncareer in 2000, withhis Mind Controlspecials. Since then,he has becomesynonymous with theart of psychologicalmanipulation thanksto stage and TVshows such as TheGreat Art Robbery,Russian Roulette andSvengali. DerrenBrown’s Ghost Train,an immersivevirtual-reality ride,opened last week atThorpe Park, in Surrey(entry from £27.99;thorpepark. com).Derren lives in Londonwith his partner, Marc

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W H E R E W A S I ?Summer treasure hunt. We mustsolve and photograph clues, “saving”letters for later. The trail startsseemingly in the middle of nowhere,where we are handed a picture of ananti-slavery campaigner, born in1759. We must now drive south to thesmall town (save its second and thirdletters, we are told) where he wasschooled, and photograph its canal,opened in 1818. We must also snapits gardens (save letter three), famedfor their water lilies.Job done, we open the second clue.

“Southwest to a second town (saveletter three), possible birthplace, in1068, of a king. Photograph theabbey’s 14th-century window (twowords; save letters three and six).”The window is a joy to behold, butnow we must open clue three.“Find the 215-mile long-distancepath (letter one), passing throughthe town. Then head west to a third

town (letters three and eight), siteof a battle fought in 1645.”We press on. “South-southeast to

find a tangle in this canal (lettersthree and four), itself part of anavigation main line.” Truth to tell,we are uncertain whether we havephotographed the canal or thenavigation; perhaps they are one andthe same. Anyway, who’s to know?So, optimistically onwards to the

penultimate clue. “James Bond’senemy? Power station (letters twoand three), six miles northeast.”We find no villains, only the powerstation, dating from 1974. There weopen our final clue. “If you have 13letters, you should rearrange themto create a gothic stately home (twowords) nearby. Dig a little deeper andyou’ll find Jacobean, too. It dates from1614 and is where your trail ends.”

Chris Fautley

T H E Q U E S T I O N S

T H E P R I Z E

1 What is the name of the first town?2 What is the name of the stately home?

LAST WEEK’S PRIZEThe answers are Gloucester andSharpness Canal and Sir Peter Scott.Janice Bennett of Somerset wins abreak in Provence, with Hôtel CrillonLe Brave and Voyages-sncf.com.

The winner and a guest will stay fortwo nights, B&B, in a suite at FoxhillManor, a beautiful grade II listed Artsand Crafts house that was The SundayTimes Hotel of the Year in 2015.Set on the 400-acre Farncombe

Estate, it has only eight bedrooms,decorated in a luxurious butunderstated style, and looks over theVale of Evesham, straight into thesetting sun. There are no rules: guestscan eat what they want when theywant, and dinner is always precededby a chat with the chef to discuss themenu. Staff are on hand to arrangeactivities on the estate, or to whiskguests to the spa at Foxhill Manor’ssister hotel, Dormy House. For moreinformation, or to book, call 01386852711 or visit foxhillmanor.com.The prize includes one four-course

dinner (excluding drinks) and a60-minute activity on the estate.It must be taken before April 30,

2017, subject to availability andexcluding bank holidays, Valentine’sDay, December 24-January 2 andMarch 14-17.

HOW TO ENTEROnly one entry per person, atthesundaytimes.co.uk/wherewasiby Wednesday. Normal TimesNewspapers rules apply. Nocorrespondence will be entered into.

Win a luxury weekendin the Cotswolds

WITH FOXHILL MANOR

If there’s one taste that definesthe American northeast, it’s maplesyrup, a gift from the trees thatdoesn’t merely sweeten pancakes.

Research is beginning to show thatit may be a superfood, with potentialanti-inflammatory and anti-cancerproperties. Walk into any Americansupermarket and you’ll see rows ofsyrups with folksy labels, but don’tbe fooled. Most are made fromcoloured corn syrup with mapleflavouring, and are to the real thingwhat Dairylea is to camembert.

To find the true object of desire,you need to go to Vermont, where70-odd farms produce about 40%

of all the maple syrup consumed inthe US. Up here, in the same foreststhat attract hordes of leaf-peeperseach autumn, sugar-makers headout in March to tap the sugar maple.Some do it the old-fashioned way,driving a spout through the bark and

allowing the clear sap to dripinto a bucket beneath. Othersuse a complex system ofelevated tubes to feed theharvest from hundreds oftrees into a single vat. At thisstage, the sugar content is a

measly 2%, but when the water isboiled out, it is raised to 66% —typically, 40 gallons of sap make

one gallon of syrup. This is thenfiltered and graded.Once upon a time, thelighter-coloured syrups wereconsidered the best and thedarker ones the worst, butin an enlightened act, theVermont Maple Syrup MakersAssociation decided thatno syrup was better thananother in terms of colour —just different. So they’re nowgraded Golden Colour/Delicate Taste; Amber

Colour/Rich Taste; Dark Colour/Robust Taste; and Very Dark Colour/Strong Taste. Whichever you choose,make sure the label states that thecontents are 100% maple syrup.

Which is the best is a questionthat can start barroom brawls aroundhere, but you might care to tryGoodrich’s Maple Farm, in Cabot ($11a pint; goodrichmaplefarm.com),Bill’s Lakeshore Maples, in Newport($10 a pint; billslakeshoremaples.com) or the retro-packagedSlopeside Syrup, in Richmond($13 a pint; slopesidesyrup.com).

Chris Haslam

OBJECTS OF DESIREWHAT TO BRING BACK FROM YOUR TRAVELS

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