Megz in America, England and Russia 2003

Chicago, Illinois and north-eastern Wisconsin

I arrived in Chicago in the late afternoon about two weeks ago. I managed to figure out Chicago's transit system and caught the famous "EL" (short for elevated ?) train into town where the hostel was. Just down the street from the hostel was a blues club, so what better way to spend my first (and only) night in Chicago, than by enjoying live Chicago blues music. The band were really great and I stayed out till midnight (it was only 10pm on the west coast!). Even at midnight it was still warm outside.

The next day I met up with John and he showed me the sights of Chicago: Lake Michigan, Navy Pier, the Wrigley Building, the Water Pump and Tower (survivors of the great Chicago fire), and of course Sears Tower. Now anybody who knows me knows that I don't like heights. I don't even like going up the Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, so why would I want to go a hundred stories up into the air? But you know, when you're surrounded by really tall buildings it doesn't actually look that high. So I took a deep breath and got in the elevator, and pretended I was only going up to the 3rd floor.

And once we were up there it wasn't all that scary after all. The view was amazing. Imagine looking down on clouds (and not from an airplane). You could see for miles on all sides. But it still didn't seem that high up - you could still make out the details of the cars on the ground. But we spent a bit too long admiring the view, and then got to experience rush-hour Chicago style. Actually it wasn't too bad, but it did make it a long trip back to Appleton, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is actually a very nice place. Reminds me a lot more of NZ than Washington state does. Flat, wide open areas, farmland, and older suburbs with wooden houses on large(ish) sections surrounding the downtown shopping area. There isn't much to see in the way of sights. Drove past Lambeau field, the home of the Green Bay Packers. Visited a couple of railway yards (just out of curiousity, I'm not a foamer yet!), and although the scale is much bigger, a railyard is a railyard wherever you go.

So after a day sightseeing in Wisconsin it was back to the big city of Chicago and to the airport for my flight to London. Chicago is a great city. The city centre is flat and clean, and laid out in a grid so it's easy to find your way around. And despite the fact that 2 million people (I think) work there every day, it doesn't seem that crowded. I highly recommend a visit.

posted by Megz @ 6:40 pm