I have fond memories of chatting with a German engineer on his way to a trade show.
It was back in 1988 and we were on a Eurail train.
I remember that he spoke about how the German stands would have been designed for months, prefabricated and delivered in flat packs with every screw accounted for.
They would turn up a week before with exactly the right number of workers to erect them and have a nice, clean, functional display that showed off all their manufacturing skills.
Then, he said, the Italians would turn up at the last moment, throw something up, decorate it with colours and bling.
Then they would fill it with beautiful and stylish products, women and men and take the show by storm.