Chicago

The greyhound journey wasn't too bad in the end. Lots of leg room, and only one stop at a dodgy truck place in the middle of nowhere.

I then spent a happy 36 hrs with Steve and Aida doing my usual chores and regaling them with tales of Mexico. Thanks again Aida and don't get too stressed about not getting stressed!

I left Berkley for Chicago on Tuesday morning. Note to self: don't ask BART personnel the quickest was to San Jose airport, go with what you researched yourself. I made it 20mins before the flight. Time enough for me to make it but not so sure about my bag. Luckily the flight was delayed, so we both made it in one piece and wee reunited in Chicago.

The hostel here is quite grim, but in a great, safe, location by the lake. In the past 3 days I've been on 5 Architectural tours. Having barely seen a building in months of any note, I've overdosed! The boat tour was interesting, as was the historical walking tour. I really enjoyed the Modern skyscraper tour though. My finest hour was when the tour guide refused to let me answer any of the questions that he posed, as I knew all the answers! Then today I did a bus ride out to the IIT campus, so more Mies, a splash of Koolhaas to add to my Gehry, Sullivan et al. This afternoon was spent seeing about a dozen Frank Lloyd Wright houses and churches. Quite enough for now, as I have NYC still to go!

I like Chicago more than I thought I would, like NYC but less attitude, in a good way. Definitely a thumbs up. To quote a genius (and see if you read this) 'its all tall and everything'.