The Windy City
My teacher just kept saying this wasn't good enough, that it had too much personal information blah blah, woof woof...! I went to Chicago in February 2000. There are some references to my opinions of American Airport security here, as they have always stood. This was written before September 11th 2001, it is not meant to be offensive or lecturing, it was just my honest opinion at the time and I felt it would be wrong to omit anything now. I hope that's okay.
On a crisp and frosty February morning I was awoken by my alarm clock blaring in my ear, I fumbled to stop it beeping before unwillingly pulling myself out of my warm and cosy bed. Peering through the curtains I could see the sun just peeking over the trees in our back garden. There was rustling coming from the somewhere in the house, probably my mum, so I straightened the bedcovers and ventured out into the darkened hallway.
Yawning, I went shivering down to the bathroom where mum was indeed already brushing her teeth. The taxi was coming at 7 O’clock to take us to Gatwick Airport, so I had about an hour and a half in which to make my self presentable to the world.
Once I had woken up I began to get excited about the next few days ahead. We were off on a quick mid-term break, something we’d never really done before, and we weren’t just going anywhere - we were going to Chicago. I’d never really though about visiting this particular part of America before, as New York is the city everyone seems to go to, but after doing a bit of background reading Chicago seemed to be every bit as interesting.
Just as I was double checking that I’d brought everything I wanted in my little on-flight bag, the doorbell rang. Looking through the lounge window I could see it was the taxi driver, so I yelled out to the rest of my family who brought their own bags down to the landing as well as our big suitcase. It was our usual friendly driver who was taking us, and him and my dad chatted about various matters on the way to Gatwick, whilst I listened to the radio.
The airport was its typical busy self; families with little children scuttling about looking tired, French students standing about with bemused looks on their faces and over-excited teenagers waiting to go on an 18 to 30s holiday to Ibiza. We sat in a little café and had some breakfast before going to wait in the departing lounge. My parents got out their books and my brother fiddled with his Game-Boy, but I was already starting to feel slightly sick - I’m not too keen on planes as I always get kind of ill, and we were going to be up in the air for a good nine hours before we reached Chicago.
By around 11 O’clock we were in the sky I was watching Disney’s Tarzan, just to pass the time. As the hours gradually snailed by I half watched some of the other films on offer, listened to my Discman and read. Unfortunately, the cabin pressure was making my head swim and the airline’s food was sickening at this altitude, so all I could think about was getting out into some fresh air. Staring at the same grey walls wasn’t helping either, even listening to the Backstreet Boys wasn’t helping to sooth my fraying nerves, so I curled up underneath my complimentary blanket and fell asleep.
I often find a decent nap can help you survive long plane journeys, it passes the hours nicely. By the time I woke up we were almost ready to land at O’Hare airport, so I lent around my mum (who had “borrowed” my Discman) to see if I could get a glimpse of Chicago through the window. All I could see though was white, which wasn’t surprising really as the city had been in the middle of a blizzard for the last week. Still, I kept watching intently, convinced I would be able to see something soon. Suddenly the plane touched down on the tarmac and the windows cleared, revealing the buzzing airport around us. I was quite disappointed that I hadn’t been able to see the city as we landed, but I was sure I’d get a good look at it later on.
Meanwhile, we knew there was going to be no rushing once we left the plane, so we didn’t bother to hurry. If you ever visit America you must always brace yourself for a spectacular lack of organisation or any kind of sense to their airports. The thing that amuses me most is that you get to collect your luggage; only to put it back on a conveyor belt and then wait another twenty minutes for it. You also tend to find yourself walking up and down between different floors, constantly having to get new baggage-trolleys as they wont go up the stairs or fit in the lifts.
It didn’t take as long as I thought it might to make our way through the airport, and soon we were standing outside, queuing for a taxi (or cab as they call it here). Waiting out in the wind I was quite relieved to find that it was currently a lot warmer than it had been previously. At home, when we’d looked up Chicago’s weather on the Teletext, it was down to around minus 15 C at night, but now it was just about freezing.
It only took us five minutes before we got a cab, and the driver was quite pleasant. Him and my parents talked a bit while I half-listened to the radio before pulling out my own music and looking out the window. There was quite a lot to take in from the freeway we were now crawling along. There was greying snow piled up three feet high against the road edge; beyond that was pure white snow, stretching out for as far as the eye could see and glinting in the afternoon sun. As we drew closer to the inner-city I could see railway lines snaking around the roads and workmen digging up the sidewalks, their breath puffing out like smoke. There were also America’s trademark ten-foot high billboards, advertising everything from sportswear to Christian music stations.
The thing that made this city so different to a place like London was the layout. To me, London seems like it was thrown together over hundreds of years, with people building wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted - there’s no real structure to the place, only twists, turns and traffic jams. Where as here, the driver announced we had turned into Michigan Avenue, and it literally went straight on for miles! This grid system I think is quite typical for American towns and cities, but I’d never actually seen it for real. We continued driving until we went round a final corner, then pulled up outside one of the hotels. Dad paid the cab driver and the rest of us gathered our bags together and got out of the car and into the falling snow.
Hitting a wall of warmth we walked into the hotel, the bright lights hurting my eyes as they’d grown used to the twilight outside. Dad walked confidently up to the checking-in desk, pulling our suitcase behind him. I craned my head to get a good look at the beautiful chandelier before following mum and my brother into the lounge. Milling around were a great number of Americans, all dressed in the same brightly coloured sports jerseys. After being asked a number of times by various people if we were here for the convention, we were able to work out they were all Chicago Bears fans, (the state’s Football team) and I have to say they were very nice, not at all like our football hooligans.
Once we had our key, we made our way up to the 21st floor and found our rooms. We had our very own fridge and television, but what stuck me was the view. It was amazing, we could see over snow-drenched sports fields broken up with railway lines out onto Lake Michigan, there was the beginning of the city on the left, with Navy Peer jutting out in the distance. On the right the Shedd Aquarium and Planetarium could be seen, along with Wrigley Fields - home to the Chicago Cubbies - the Baseball team. I stood at the window for a long time just looking out at the edge of the city, until we decided to go down and find something to eat. Instead of venturing out into night-time Chicago we went to one of the hotel’s restaurants, a little Irish tavern tucked away in the corner called Kitty O’Shea’s.
At around ten O’clock the next morning we went down to the lobby and the doorman signalled us a cab from the line waiting out side. We were off on our first day into the heart of the city armed with gloves, scarves and credit cards to take part in some serious shopping. Standing in the middle of the city-centre I started to feel very insignificant. The roads were packed with streams of angry traffic and the sidewalks spilled over with tourists and businessmen. But the most intimidating part were the buildings. They put the ones in London to shame; it’s in a place like this you can understand the true meaning of the word skyscraper, as the towers stood almost swaying above us, half blocking out the sun.
We began our day in Marshal Fields - the 11 story department store. I was able to find in here what I’d been unable to locate anywhere in England: my May Ball dress. There was actually a whole ½ floor devoted to prom dresses, it was like looking out onto a field of dazzling elegance; so many dresses in all different sizes.
Not really knowing where to begin I started wondering through the rows. I had picked up a couple of possible choices before looking through the reduced rack, and it was here, squashed between so many others, I found exactly what I was looking for. It was a beautiful shinning purple, glinting under the artificial lighting, tight fitting and outlined with black straps. However, I wasn’t willing to buy a dress just because of it’s gorgeous colour and cut, so I took my find to the changing rooms.
Talking loudly (as most Americans seem to do) in the cubical next to mine, were a group of girls buying outfits for Junior Prom. Just as I stepped out to show my family how I looked they were announcing how they ‘simply couldn’t wait until their Wedding day,’ and twirling in front of large mirrors in their identical pastel efforts. I felt quite proud as they threw disapproving looks at me in my shimmering dress, and decided this was defiantly the one for me.
Now it was on to FOA Schwartz, the toy shop - much to my brother’s delight. There were simply row upon row of every toy you could imagine, from Lego Technique to teddy bears and dolls - what I would imagine a child’s idea of Heaven might be. My brother spent most of his money in here before we were allowed to leave and make our way to another department store for mum to buy some clothes, and then to the Virgin Megastore where I was able to spent even more of my hard earned cash.
By around 2 O’clock we were all starting to get tired, so (feeling like locals) we stuck out an arm into the oncoming traffic and yelled “taxi!”, and amazingly one appeared out of nowhere. Back at the hotel we milled around, fiddling with our new bits and bobs, before getting ready for a posh evening out as it was dad’s birthday.
We’d chosen to go to the ‘Italian Village’ for just a bit of pasta, but on arriving I could tell by the new-age arty decor and extreme use of lighting the food was going to be lavishly presented, expensive and barely edible; which it was. The waiter was very nice though, and didn’t mind when my brother fell asleep before his dinner arrived. We left the rather cramped little restaurant earlier than planned and went back to the hotel. I crawled into my bed, still suffering from jetlag and mum and dad watched TV in their adjacent room.
On Sunday, after our usual breakfast in bed, we planned to make an early start for Disney Quest, but that was before I lost my earring (or so I thought - I found it when we got back to England lurking in my sock) so I wasted time looking for that before mum said she’d by me another one. Going through the lobby we spotted a little jewellery shop near the checking in desk, so I became the proud owner of a triangular pair of glass earrings right there and then. Looking out of the shop, it seemed as if the whole hotel was clearing as the Chicago Bears convention was coming to an end. After considering the time we changed our plans and went swimming instead of going to the amusement park, as it would be crowded with screaming children by now. The pool was on the 8th floor, it was interesting splashing up and down gazing out onto the busy streets around us. We had lunch again at Kitty O’Shea’s and were amused to find “Traditional Irish Curry Sauce” on the menu. That afternoon we decided to visit one of Chicago’s most famous monuments - Sears Tower
Now there are many tall buildings in Chicago, but none as tall as Sears Tower. With 99 floors and an extra pylon on the roof it’s the tallest building in the world, and a huge tourist attraction as well. Queuing to ride the express elevator all the way up to the top is rather like waiting in line for Space Mountain - they even take your photo to prove you’ve been there. Once at the top though the view was spectacular, it almost felt like flying. Oddly enough, my fear of heights wasn’t affecting me as much as I thought it would.
It seemed we’d picked the perfect day to go, the sky had cleared and looking around from this altitude it seemed the city went on till the edge of forever. Mum took pictures on her trusty little camera and dad did some videoing, complete with running commentary.
The snow had started up again by the time we got back to the hotel. Having never experienced weather like this we decided to go for a walk, which inevitably ended up with a grand slam snowball fight. Back in the hotel room dad cancelled our dinner reservation due to the relentless jetlag and we curled up in bed watching TV, I somehow got roped in to watching the Pokèmon movie with my brother - it was actually quite an education.
Monday was Navy Pier day. This is one of Chicago’s main tourist attractions; the pier juts out into Lake Michigan and offers a number of things to do, both inside and out in the wind. The day started with me being unwillingly pulled onto a rather high ferris wheel despite my relentless fear of heights. As we slowly creped round to the top, I was persuaded to open my eyes, and it was defiantly worth it as the view across the water was breath taking.
We then hired some ice skates and had a go round the outdoor ice rink, or rather Dad showed off and I was seemed to be permanently falling on the ice. With a cold and wet jeans we then found our way into the “Discovery Centre” and I sat in the warm with my mum. This was meant to be an ‘educational’ type museum intended for children, but really it was just a good excuse for kids to get very messy. In fact, by the time my brother was through he was wetter than I had got on the ice.
We caught a cab around midday and found ourselves having lunch at another very nice, and very fattening restaurant. Thinking a walk around town would help our sore stomachs, we wondered in and out of the streets before finding a different (and smaller) Marshall Fields to get some dry clothes for my brother as he was now literally freezing.
Tuesday was the only day when we actually got going early - no breakfast in bed today!. It was quite a shock looking out of the window first thing. There was the regular line of trains queuing at the station and early morning traffic, but the snow had completely melted over night.
We had organised to go on “The Untouchables Tour,” which was a fun trip in an nifty black bus round Chicago illustrating the city’s history of gangsters. The guides were even dressed up in proper 20s clothes and had the accent to match. They were very amusing, even if they did keep picking on me! This tour was more useful than I thought it would be, as I’m currently studying American History as part of my A level and prohibition’s a big part of this. I’m trying to convince my teacher to sort out a trip to the city as part of the course, but I think he knows I only want to do more shopping!
In the afternoon we went to the Chicago Museum of Science for some more history, this time though it was the Titanic Expedition. I really enjoyed looking at all the various exhibits, a lot of time and effort had obviously been put into it. Unfortunately this is a travelling Expedition, so it won’t be here if you ever choose to visit. The rest of the museum was quite good though.
After catching a cab back to the hotel (we were getting quite good at this!) we flicked on the telly to find that oddly enough the Titanic movie was showing on W.B. As the ship had only just hit the iceberg I thought the film was much more enjoyable compared to the last time I watched it where I had to sit through the whole lot. I even cried at the end this time. We ordered room service for dinner and went to bed quite late; I had a feeling our body clocks would no doubt sort themselves out tomorrow just as we flew off home.
We started our last day by packing all our clothes and bits into our bags. I was quite relived that it all fitted - I was beginning to wonder if we needed another suitcase! We walked out of the lobby to get ourselves a cab to the famous Shedd Aquarium, and were actually blinded momentarily by the incredible sunshine blaring through the clouds. Listening to Windy FM in the cab the weather report said it was 16 C outside - that’s warmer than England in spring some days!
We had a good time at the Aquarium, even though we had to endure the hyper school kids running around as if they were charged up on caffeine. We watched the dolphin show and visited the whales before making our way through the seahorses and tropical fish. I spent the last of my money in the gift shop on a tiny, fluffy king penguin for my room, and then we left the Aquarium (with all those delightful children) choosing to walk back to the hotel in the sunshine before picking up our bags and starting the journey the O’Hare airport.
Sitting in the waiting lounge we were informed that our plane wound be a few hours late. I had to agree with those that groaned at this news - I now had two whole hours to get myself feeling really queasy about the flight. Listening to my new music made me feel a little better, I also had new books to read.
Once the plane finally arrived, the crew got us loaded remarkable quickly, for which we were all grateful. The aircraft took off and circled slowly, giving me the opportunity to have one last look at this fabulous city. I had really been looking forward to this little holiday of ours, but I didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much as I did. The charm you experience in this particular part of America is hard to find, and I doubt I’ll ever have the chance to visit a place quite like it again.