brief highlight

saw a 6-year-old Sicilian boy riding a pony in rush hour through Porta Nuova, Palermo's busy arched entrance to the old city (Toronto traffic equivalent to the Gardiner Expressway). He was with his elementery school buddies and he was crying his head off. Can't say I blamed him.... his tiny steed couldn't have been more than 2.5 ft tall. (something about horsepower?)

I also saw a 2500 year-old Greek temple in Segesta. That was cool too. But it had no live animals.

Tomorrow - Florence!

Palermo

Even cooler than Naples! Good times so far, and my touring legs are holding up despite having slept 4 hours in the past 72.

Highlight: catacombs filled with thousands of mummied corpses of long-dead Palermitans. Freaky deaky, genuine horror-movie nightmare stuff, for 1.50 euro. Obsessed with the death these Sicilians.

Palm trees by the thousand, narrow cobblestone alleys, choking scooter pollution, beautiful women leaning over the stoop talking to ancient nonnas screaming at the grandkids, no space to walk on the sidewalks, and every trip into traffic a near-death adventure. Lots of buildings look like they haven't been rebuilt since WWII bombings. But nobody seems to care. A most un-Toronto city. But the transit system even seems good despite the chaos.

I walked in on three separate weddings! Folks here know how to clean up nice.

I just walked by the Teatro Massimo, where famous Godfather 'climax on the steps' scene was shot. My closest brush with the Mafia. Despite the chaos and my lonesome status I feel quite safe. My hotel room, smack in the middle of it all, is a find. Hotel Ariston I highly recommend.

Ok I gotta find some dinner. Byeee

Punkinpalooza 2005!

The Chateau's online bureaucracy is burgeoning! Check out http://punkinpalooza.blogspot.com for planning details and suggestions for autumn's most hotly anticipated squash-throttling event, Punkinapalooza 2005. This year we hope to have musical guests (Gourd Downie? um not quite). The pumpkins! The excitement!

Pics of Europe to come

I'm blogging from the road until Oct 10. Wish me well on my journey to find the perfect cappuccino, and also I'm heading to Portugal where I hope to finally discover what 'churrasqueira' means. Ok byee and please water my plants at least once! :-) ~Flav

BRUNCH THIS SATURDAY

That's it, I'm calling for a brekkie. 10 am (and onward) this Saturday Sept 17.

Question is - at the Chateau, or in public?

The East Coast Dawg and Punshine Petey want there to be waffles a la Bonhomme. I say we can do waffles and then some. Vote now for your choice of venue (chateau or public) by leaving a comment. And spread the word.

Hungry little lactard

See the kitchen.
See the pantry filled with goodies.
See the crackers on the top shelf. How lovely those crackers would be with sliced apple and Beaufort.
The grown-ups have gone out to their grown-up soiree. Lactard is home all alone. And hungry.
See how high those crackers are.
Too high. Can't reach. No dinner for me.

Free Karma (for a special low price)

Ok, so we all have our causes. On Sunday, September 25th I'll be walking my dog to help raise money for the Toronto Humane Society. They're nice people who do nice things for animals who've had it rough. If you'd like to sponsor me (no donation is too small), just follow this link and type in my first name to search for my donation page. Not convinced? I'll give you 3 more reasons to give:

1) Instant Karma

2) Less ads that make you instantly burst out crying

3) Free cupcakes. Yes.