Sometimes, I need a minder.

I'm not certain what I was thinking, scheduling myself an appointment at the spa at Southcenter on the day after Thanksgiving.

However, I did manage to find a parking spot, have my little service done, wade through the crowds out, and stop at Barnes and Noble. Before that, I'd taken Boone for a walk (it was really, really cold out. Brrr.) and after I got home, I did a couple of hours' worth of cleaning. The downstairs has been tidied, the kitchen is clean, my bedroom and office have been picked up, and the upstairs is vacuumed.

I am, therefore, awesome. And now I will settle down to write for a while. Possibly all afternoon and evening.

whoa.

This is so cool.

Nestling in the foothills of the Alps in northern Italy, 30 miles from the ancient city of Turin, lies the valley of Valchiusella. Peppered with medieval villages, the hillside scenery is certainly picturesque.

But it is deep underground, buried into the ancient rock, that the region's greatest wonders are concealed.

Here, 100ft down and hidden from public view, lies an astonishing secret - one that has drawn comparisons with the fabled city of Atlantis and has been dubbed 'the Eighth Wonder of the World' by the Italian government.

For weaving their way underneath the hillside are nine ornate temples, on five levels, whose scale and opulence take the breath away.

Constructed like a three-dimensional book, narrating the history of humanity, they are linked by hundreds of metres of richly decorated tunnels and occupy almost 300,000 cubic feet - Big Ben is 15,000 cubic feet.