At the moment it is 0515 and the train is sat in Toledo station, Ohio. It is still pitch black and looks as though it might be for at least another hour as we leave Eastern time and move to Central time. Despite the comfortable seats, sleep didn't come easily so we are up and around and waiting for the tea bar to open! Snacks were welcome and tea even more so at 0630. By now the sun is up and we can see the Ohio landscapes which are flat and vast with mainly corn and grain and the odd farmhouse dotted here and there.
As we approached Chicago we lost the farmland and urbanisation became part of the scene. Half an hour out of Chicago and we came once again to the dilapidated scenes of industry right along the rail track, showing the changes in culture and economy. We arrived into Chicago early and to a pleasant 80 degrees F. While we were in the station we organised ourselves for the next train trip and our last, to St Paul/Minneapolis.
It was an eight block walk to the hotel but the simplicity of city layouts in blocks makes it easy to find places. We dropped our luggage in our room, lucky to have a room ready at that time of day, and went to find food. Went for a little walk along The Magnificent Mile and then we both felt we needed to sleep.
Later we walked all the way along The Magnificent Mile found a restaurant we had frequented on a previous visit. We thought that Chicago was much more crowded than the last visit two years ago. Like New York, the last time we did all the touristy bits such as the Sears Building, Hancock Tower, the shiny bean sculpture etc. This time we are here to enjoy the city and take in the culture.
My kinda town Chicago is!
No comments:
Post a Comment