Column Chronicles: Fun, odd places in big cities

Fun, odd places in big cities

Frank Cotolo
July 20, 2017

I love big cities and I love finding all of the odd places inside of them. I could write a book about all of the odd places inside of big cities but you would have to buy the book, which you wouldn't do, so I am going to share some of those places in this blog.

London, England - Piccadilly Circus was a great place to hang out on a summer's evening after getting loaded on lager. Some of the heavy drinkers in a pub off the roundabout will pay tourists to get on all fours and run down a mew like a pack of dogs. They pay extra if anyone lay there all night.

Madrid, Spain - There is a man in town who makes classical-style acoustic guitars by hand in a little shop. He doesn't only build the guitar in an hour, he makes the body of the instrument look like the face of the person buying it. He could be rich but he only charges the U.S. equivalent of sixteen dollars.

San Juan, Puerto Rico - I always visit a lovely little restaurant on the south side of the city that specializes in lamb chop dinners and only serves people who can prove their last names begin with the letters W, C, Q or S on Mondays, A, F, M, E on Wednesdays and S, R, T and B on Sundays.

Mexico City, Mexico - If you stay at any hotel with five or more stories, you can legally toss pesos from your window in an attempt to hit pedestrians. The hotel will reimburse you for any money that is not returned to you by pedestrians you hit. The only restriction is that you cannot hit someone and blind him or her.

Cairo, Egypt - One night a year (the night changes annually, so you have to check with the city events schedule) a caravan of wagons goes directly through town and people are invited to take a ride on any one of them as they make their way into the desert and pitch tents, where anyone can be wrapped like an ancient mummy (only with the ability to breathe) and participate in Mummy Races. These contests take place across the lofty dunes outside of the city and include cash prizes for each event (there are various distances to race, including the Great Mummy Sprint, which has a purse of over three hundred thousand U.S. dollars).

Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.A - If you get to the city before sunrise you can find a man who goes by the name of Iron Ken, who works at a small Blacksmith’s barn. Iron Ken makes horseshoes for humans. When you get a pair and walk around all day you become aware at how terrific they feel and before you leave for home you can have Iron Ken make you a dozen pair to bring home with you, since it is highly unlikely there is a man who makes horseshoes for humans where you live.

Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.A. - There is a high stakes card game in the basement of a home owned by an unidentified celebrity that floats from date to date. It has a cash buy-in price of over three thousand dollars and is, as far as anyone has been able to identify, the most expensive game of UNO in captivity.

Frank Cotolo can be found hosting the talk and interview programme Cotolo Chronicles. You can send him an e-mail at this address: frank@148.ca.