Chicago All Day Long

Morning awake to the alarm and haven't even rolled out of bed when the maid knocks and I have to send her on her way. Get ready and am downstairs in a flash, backpack filled to the rim with supplies for the day. First stop is the poster shop where a kind old man shows us all the vintage posters he has from the 1920's to 1980's which are over 8 feet tall (cause I told him I was looking for something to hang on the staircase). I feel bad because I know instantly I will not purchase anything from him (prices start at 1000$) but I want to have a look at what he has anyhow. He doesn't catch on for another 20 minutes, after which we salute him and are on our way.

We stop for a bagel and a coffee. There's a language barrier here because I ask for an all-dressed bagel and am asked what kind of bagel another 4 times before I ask her what kinds they have. She tells me the list of 30 different kinds of bagels, I point to the one I want (and have wanted since the beginning and she says 'oh! An 'everything' bagel'. Languages huh?

We walk and walk. We walk along the river and stop at a fountain. We walk towards a construction site and then away from it (later I am to find out that it's for the newest of the modern Chicago skyscrapers planned, now on hold due to the recession - aka 'crisis' in Europe), we walk along Navy Pier and I don't want to ride the ferris wheel (mostly because it's sponsored by MacDonalds, but I don't admit this at the time). Then we walk to the beach.

I stand 20 minutes up to my knees in icy cool water, palms of my feet on the smooth, possibly imported form someplace else sand and watch the goings on of the city in the near distance. Lake Michigan huh? Alright by me. I decide that the next city I live in MUST be on a lake. I decide I like Chicago. It's alright. I watch the lifeguard switch posts in his rowboat with another lifeguard, but miss the crutial moment when I can watch how he got out of the boat and the other guy got on. This new lifeguard paddles much further from shore than the last one. I sit on the sand for a while.

We walk back into the concrete mass of the city and find ourselves in the shopping district right in front of 'American Girl central'. American Girl is a doll I never owned but wanted to as a kid so I begged Fabri to let me go inside. It was all pink and full of 18 inch child-dolls and children dressed as dolls and mothers dressed as children and frankly, I have to admit, the whole thing was a little creepy. Fabri got some grerat photos with his camera on the repetition of the whole thing. The mom has the daughter the daughter has the doll, the doll has her doll and so on and so forth. Again, I admit there's somethign entirely unholy and muder while you're sleeping aboutt he whole thing, but on the other hand, it didn't prevent me from possibly, one day, wanting an American Girl for myself. Incidentally, the brand no longer produces paper-dolls.

We stop into Brooks Brothers as we head towards the pizzeria we've chosen for lunch but decide we already own too many shirts.

At Bella Bacino's we order the Chicago style small pizza and a salad only to find we have no time to eat it and change the order to a thin crust instead. In the morning we'd purchased tickets for an architectual cruise along the chigaco river and it's north and south arms and that was to be at 3:30pm. We enjoy the food. I make a sketch. We rush the 100 feet to the dock where the boat waits.

The tour was extremely educational and pleasant. The woman describing all the building was super knowledgeable and held my attention for 90 minutes, which is hard for anyone but especially someone talking about architecture, a subject for which I have barely any passion at all. I liked to be on the river, sitting after the long walk and having the time to look up at the building I otherwise wouldn't have.

Afetr the cruise, exhausted, we headed back to the hotel stopping again at the poster shop (this time purchasing a modern poster for a very modest price, but not for the staircase) and Starbucks. Fabri got a book on reportage photography and I bought a Barrak Obama paper doll (holidays are for buying paper dolls it seems). In Starbucks there was a hallabaloo with a guy who had to leave cause his girlfriend called and was bleeding and waiting for the ambulance. I don't have more information than that.

We relax briefly, choose a restaurant and get dressed.

Walked to a place called Avec for dinner. It was a nice walk followed by a 45min wait for the counter. The place was adorable, all done up in wood panneling and the kitchen in site of the few tables in the place. We had Italian wine thought the irony wasn't lost on us. The girl sitting next to me told us we HAD TO have the dates so we ordered that and a plate of brushcetta and hummus. The food was good and service friendly though I'm sure that one of the servers has seriopus pscosiopathic tendancies.

After dinner we caught a cab back into town to the Signature Lounge at the top of one of the tallest buildings in Chicago. Brilliant place. Even though we didn't have a seat with a view at first we got one eventually and anyhow, the view from the ladies' bathroom is the best in the place. Staring out into the lights from above I got to thinking about how beautiful and unbelievable we really are as a species. I also felt a little sad about it. And also a little confused. How was I on the 95th floor of anything??? I decided the meaning of life is the same as the meaning of sambuca... or that joke with the difference between a duck, right?

On the menu read:
Snacks 11$ Mini Cheeseburgers – Ketchup, Mustard, Pickle