Our Fortieth Anniversary in Chicago

The couple behind us in the Signature Room Restaurant of the Hancock Tower was celebrating their fortieth anniversary. The couple on our left their engagement. He had proposed to her at the bar right here on the 96th Floor. On our right, a party from Switzerland was having a dinner with a friend running today`s Chicago Marathon. We know that because our very articulate waiter was serving all of us and it seemed that here, everyone was celebrating something.

When Giulietta, our Mexican guest who was training for a hostess position in the newly opened II Forks Steakhouse in our park, complained about how much the chef would require her to remember of the guests visiting the restaurant, I did not quite grasp the idea but after tonight`s treatment, I got it. Everything was served to our first anniversary and even though way over the top, it was the best way to celebrate it.

After a fantastic meal (how do they make these steaks?) I had a Windy City Martini and Clerg took some pictures at the bar.

Walking back along the Magnificent Mile I could not help but get friendly with Cathy and Cally, a gorgeous brown mare, who, like me, was wearing a specially cute hair decoration today. They usually take tourists around the city for a half an hour but for our big day, they agreed to take us home in their most romantic white carriage with red velvet seats.

We said we would celebrate our fortieth anniversary in Chicago again.

PS. Special greetings to Tups and Lemps.

Twenty Five Degrees Made an Extraordinary October Day in Chicago

Apparently, Clerg sneaks out of bed early in the morning to take photos like this. Some hours later we went out to enjoy the day, which, unlike our air conditioned unit, turned out to be about thirty degrees in the sun.

We rented bikes and headed to South. Because on a Saturday like this we were not the only ones who had this idea, the trip was less stress-free than it looks. However, the city did show itself from its best sides and here is a tiny selection for you.

Our bikes on a break while Clerg is taking photos.

He had taken along both of his cameras.

In Tallinn, boats have names like Linda or Helena. Here, the owners are more post-modern about their rides.

Returning to the city three hours later the trees along the Lakeshore Drive had turned completely yellow.

We saw five bridal parties in Grant Park taking photos, posing, smiling, best men drinking beer. Greetings to Andrea, Ämmi and Sabine.

The couple below was sitting on a bench holding hands and it was all very romantic. Tomorrow is our first anniversary and it made a perfect scenery.

They say October will have never been that warm and the coming winter never that cold.

We`ll see.

Date Night in Chicago. Or: So When do You Wear Your Nice Shoes?

Saturday was date night. I love date nights. Put on something chic, Clerg even wore a shirt and a nice jacket for me. Only my going-out-shoes will have to wait for better times. Here, the distances, like everything else, are so oversized that I cannot imagine taking my heels on a three-mile walk to the restaurant. I have not seen many other women wearing them, either, so I guess this is the way to do it here.

We took this picture for the pink ribbon - I think whoever is the marketing chief of the breast cancer campaign is a genius. The whole city is pink.

So we went for the American classic - movie & dinner. I have this little Lonely Planet guide book and even if it is a bit nerdy, it`s my true friend and companion in the city. The cinemas are just like in Tallinn (only bigger, that is) and just like everywhere else, I was massively disturbed by people eating next to and behind us. This lady on my right was literally chewing herself through the first half of the movie, and not quietly, no, but chips out of a very cracking bag. Ironically, she was not even fat. I promised myself to congratulate her on her digestion at the end of the movie, but the Moneyball was so good that instead, I was weeping like a baby and clearly softened by Brad Pitt`s great appearance.

It is said (and not only in the guide book) that Chicago is famous for its deep-dish pizza. So we went to check out two of the most talked about pizzerias. While at the Giordano`s, you would wait behind the door until your number gets yelled out, we chose to stand in a proper line at the Gino`s East. We were clearly overdressed, and did have our doubts about all this but it was not cold, and the fellow-waiters who all seemed Americans (thank you, Lonely Planet) made an interesting entertainment. Right behind us, for example, there was a young mother trying to tame her husband and two little kids, who, clearly, did not grasp the idea of having to poshly wait to get a slice of pizza. I tried to figure out if flirting with the doorman would get us in any sooner. No such luck. Then again, I guess I was not that persuasive with Clerg on my side. After about forty minutes we made it inside to wait on a bench, and then to our table, and another hour later, we had this in front of us:

I think all this waiting has to be to work up one`s appetite. We managed to eat two slices each and the rest was neatly packed in a box to take home. When we left, the queue had disappeared.

PS. When we got home from our date night, the trees in front of the entrance were lit pink. I told you, a genius.

PPS. Yesterday, when I walked in the streets at the time people went home from work, I finally figured out how the ladies of the city do it with their heels. They have all changed their nice shoes to sneakers (or, in some cases, flip-flops) on the street to their pant suits or skirts!

A Walk in the Park. Sunday in Wicker Park.

Let`s Go Hawks!

Friday evening was hockey night. We met up with others in the city and took the express ice hockey bus to the United Center.

It all starts hours before - with beer, merchandising and people-watching. As one Lonelyplanet-forum Chicagoan put it - if you want to see the real America, go anywhere, it`s all real. There they were - the solarium-tanned girls, some of them already one beer too many in them, the hockey-moms, dressed head to toe in red and the families who spend a fortune on their night out paying way too much for nachos and cheese on the stadium.

But the best were two middle-aged men sitting behind us commenting the game. It was a true fringe benefit to the tickets. Here is a small extract of how it went:

You make me sick to my stomach! Let`s slice this up!! You make me puke! Come to papa... Hallelujah!!! Let`s dance, let`s go people... Quit kissing!!! Siddown!!!!!! Sonofabich lets role! Ripit, rip it, RIP IT! Great shot asshole. (After the third goal of the Penguins) Oh boy, I thought that was it. Dance, c`mon!!!! Beat my ass up! Nineteen, baby, nineteen (to Jonathan Toews, one of the hotties in the team trying to goal. Not successful). Now we are screwed.

But last and not least - they have Ice Girls! - cute as a button from far above but, as everything in here, a bit too much if you look closer, they clean the ice with shovels and help overcome the disappointment when the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Chicago Blackhawks 4-2.

Greetings to Alice, Andrea, Pädi, Tav and Curt.

Melting Pot Chicago

I like it that here, you are hardly ever extraordinary. The word foreigner does not exist as Ausländer does in Switzerland, we are not turistid like in Estonia, but visitors - the more the merrier and everyone is most welcome. I think here one meets more people from around the world than, well, anywhere around the world. Baiba, my trainer, is from Latvia - came here eleven years ago for a four month school exchange and stayed. The Shoreham bus driver Christoph is from Bulgaria, and Florence, the lady who sold me my winter jacket, said she would never want to live in Romania again. The jacket, by the way, recommended by Riin, is our new family member and should keep my kidneys warm through the Chicago winter.

Every day, we try to discover a little bit more of our new home. The weather cleared up in the afternoon yesterday, so before starting to cook spaghetti for what seems to turn out to be a weekly pasta dinner at our place, we took a stroll in the Millennium Park right in front of our house.

While being able to shoot wonderful pictures of the center and the Loop...

...Clerg is constantly asked by the fellow visitors to take their picture for them.

For me, the sculpture below looks like a big egg, for Clerg it`s a bean. Turns out, it`s called the Cloud.

At home we were greeted by a wonderful rainbow in our kitchen window.

Soon we were all set for the guests to arrive. It was the Swiss crowd from last week mixed with some South Americans.

We had a very nice evening and the guys said they would come again next Thursday. Then we will add some Japanese, I think.

We are very much looking forward to our visitors Riin, O`Neal, Nänni and Parentis in October and November. As the American Apparel sales assistant said to me today - welcome in our city!

Our Days in Chicago: A Photography Reportage

When Clerg is home, four days a week it is, our mornings start late. First thing one sees is usually a plane carrying an aerial banner (googled that one).

We have noticed that weather forecasts are as wild as the weather itself. Therefore, the weekend of full rain turned out to be of golden sun.

I dared myself on public transportation. The Loop, Chicago`s over a hundred year old railroad, loops, as the name suggests, squeaking and rattling above the city`s business centre.

Coming from Switzerland, the stations are extremely shaky and leave a fragile impression, but have all the more charm and character.

After a half a round on the Loop, we walked through the city towards North. Clerg is in love with all the tall handsome buildings and knows each of them by their names. Below is the Chicago Board of Trade.

And here - the John Hancock Tower.

Clerg`s joy was endless as we discovered some of his favorite ones made of Lego.

We did go into some shops but some of them clearly push on too many senses. Half hearing impaired we came out of this one again.

After a long day of walking and looking at all those wonderful towers and things we took the number-one-hundred-and-fifty-one-bus back to South Water Street and walked home. We are trying out new routes to get to our Shoreham Park where we live. Not all of them work.

PS. Clerg says I should write its windy. It really always is.