Living My Dream!

Coming to St Louis had always been about the baseball. This was why I was here, to see my Cardinals play, at home! In the many years that this trip had been in the pipeline, the dream had always been the same. To come here, to Busch Stadium, and take in a game. I first got into baseball around 2000 and had missed out on the McGwire/Sosa home run season in 1998. I hadn't even been aware that this had happened till quite a while into my baseball watching.

The Cardinals had got to me by accident. The first two games I ever saw both involved them. I knew nothing about baseball at all but it had really caught my interest and wanted to find out more. To do that I needed a team, I chose the Cards purely on that basis. The months that followed saw me start learning the rules and what all the abbreviations meant. I listened to games via the Internet from a local station and caught the two games a week shown very late on Channel 5. This was my initiation.

Listening to those games, and later watching them on MLB TV, I always got a sense of what it meant to be Cardinals fan. To be regarded as some of the best fans in baseball, to be a baseball City! I had images in my mind about the stadium and its surrounds, about having a beer in a bar with other Cards fans before a game, listening to them chat about the players and team the same way I do about my football club back home. I wanted to be there, be part of it, experience it all for myself.

I was doing that now, finally. I had purchased tickets to three games prior to leaving home. I'm not a big fan of having such firm dates where I have to be somewhere but there was no way I was coming here and missing out! The first of the three games was against the Cardinals biggest rivals. The Chicago Cubs were in town and not only was I getting to see a Cardinals game. This was a famed Cubs v Cards match.

The game would also give my first chance to see St Louis' most famous current star, Albert Pujols. In a way Pujols' story has been so much fun to watch. Him coming up to the majors around the same time I got into being a Cardinals fan. So as one legend (in Mark McGwire) was finishing his career in St Louis, another star was there to begin his. Pujols is essentially the man who has shaped the sport for me. My worst fear before I left home was that he would be injured when I was in town, or taken out of the team for a rest at the games I was at but nope, he was in the team, ready to belt some more home runs to add to his record breaking tally (he was on course to break the single season home run record at this point).


I arrived early to the game. I wanted time to soak it all up, to take in the stadium, the atmosphere, to look around and to capture it all! I got to see more of the stadium than I had actually planned by walking in through the entrance at the opposite end to where my ticket was. I was able to stop off near the field itself to take a look and some photos of the two teams practising before heading on to find my seat. I travelled up escalator after escalator each time feeling the field get further and further away, wondering just how high up me "good seats" were. When I finally reached the right section I found myself about two thirds of the way up along the first base line. I felt slightly disappointed in these being $40 tickets. For the same price at Wrigley I was in the Field box behind home plate.


I may have been a tad disappointed with how much these seats were but it certainly gave a good overview of the field and the stadium as a whole. I wanted to take in these moments and could feel the atmosphere build as the ground filled to become a sea of red. This was what I had wanted!! I sense of achievement passed through me. This was after all one of those things that had been just a dream a few years back and was now a reality!



My joy was short lived however when whilst fielding at first, after just 1 at bat, Albert Pujols was withdrawn from the game with an injury. I couldn't believe it. I'd travelled all this way, done all this planning and I'd seen him have one at bat. It wasn't a home run or even a hit. The man struck out! For a guy with more homers than strikeouts this was a rarity. That was it for Albert. He wouldn't be back in the other games I was here to see, but I'm probably the only person on the planet who can say he's seen Pujols strikeout every time he's seen him have an at bat! You have to look on the bright side of it all somehow!



My dreams of watching him belt a home run now shattered I would have to accept it and cheer on the rest of the Redbirds. It is, after all, a team game and there's more than one man on this team! Unfortunately they couldn't pull it together for themselves or me and lost the game.

The Cardinals would go on to lose all three of the games I went to see. I'm still yet to see them win a game live in my 4 attempts. I'm guessing if people knew that was my record, they'd be advising me to keep away from Cardinals game for the sake of the team!



That they lost all three was hugely disappointing. That I saw Albert Pujols have just one at bat was far from the perfect scenario. Despite those two key things I still had an incredible time and the memories from the three days at Busch Stadium will always stay with me. Maybe next time Mr Pujols will knock in a grand slam or 2 to make up for it. Well, you can always dream!

Grubs Up! St Louis Style!

One of the many joys or travelling is being able to sample food form all over the World. I couldn't wait to get my mouth around tasty Thai grub, and sample the steak in Argentina. The States too had a world of food available for me to munch through!

I always remember my first time in New York, I just wanted to take some time to walk around a supermarket. Not to buy anything, but just to see what was available. Take a look at some of the junk you hear so much about. Some of my friends think its a little strange (and I might almost agree with them) but I love just walking around food stores and markets abroad checking out some of the local delights.

Whats better than looking is eating though and I was getting my chance all over the place already. You only have to take one look at the photo of my brunch in Chicago to know what that was like, but pizza in New York and, well, more pizza in Chicago. Two legends in the pizza making business. Now here I was in St Louis, where more food awaited me!

Whilst the aforementioned places are world famous for their slices of pizzas, St Louis is not. However it does have its unique brand. Unlike its Chicago counterpart St Louis pizza is thin and I mean super thin! Packed to the brim with toppings (I'm still yet to understand the New York one topping pizzas that seem to have been adopted by Pizza delivery companies throughout the country) and incredible tasty! Its certainly my preference out of the three cities pizzas.

I'd managed to meet up with a friend of mine who lives out here and talking to her before I left she mentioned two things I MUST try while I'm in town. Toasted Ravioli and Ted Drewes. The night we met up I got to sample both!

Toasted Ravs as the locals seem to call them is a St Louis speciality. Basically Ravioli breaded and deep fried and often (as ours was) served with a maranara style sauce. Its considered an appetiser so when we went into the restaurant and ordered two lots of Toasted ravs we were looked upon with scorn. No that was it, that's all we wanted. It appeared we were taking up valuable table room and with our minimal order. Still, it wasn't going to stop me sampling these delights. They looked like a heart attack waiting to happen and tasted like one but certainly weren't horrible. I'm not sure I'd order them again but sampling these things is a part of the trip for me and one i thoroughly enjoy!

If Toasted Ravioli is a local tradition then Ted Drewes is a local institution. Its Ice Cream, but not just any ice cream. Possibly the best ice cream anywhere in the world!!! A custard based concoction that is sold strictly just in St Louis. You can find a few pots of the stuff in the local grocery stores but the real deal is to be had from one of, what I believe are just 2 Ted Drewes counters. The one we visited was well out Downtown (as I believe the other is) and really only accessible by car (thankfully Emily had hers and was able to drive us around). Its a bizarre location for such a place. Something virtually every St Lousian knows about is so far detached from a town centre. Was it worth it? Hell yeah! If it wasn't ice cream I'd have filled my bag full of the stuff!

Travelling is about so many things to me and its a thrill to be able to sample local goodies wherever I am. Its something that just makes this trip even more of a thrill than it already is. So if anyone ever asks you what there is to do in St Louis apart from watch baseball and see the arch, you can tell them to eat the food! Its well worth it!

Rain!

The weather is a funny little bugger. It seems strange that something so unrelated to you, something so detached from what you are doing can have such a huge impact on how you feel about a place and what you end up doing.

Its summer, really it is. Summer in the Midwest. It should be 90 degrees or more already, yet in St Louis, it rains and just when you think its stopped raining.... It rains some more. Not quite what I had expected here!

I'd managed to get chatting to a lass from Bristol who was also staying at the hostel after I arrived back from the pub the first day and we had decided to head into town together in the morning. Our first port of call had been the library for a bit of free internetting. Unfortunately no one, not even the people on the desk as we spent 10 minutes register ring, told us that we needed to book our session. Somewhat annoyed we headed out of the library. As we were doing so someone called us back "If you wait till quarter past and someone doesn't show up you can get on the machine for 45 minutes". Apparently it happens all the time. We waited it out and sure enough we were on.

Claire and I then headed down towards Busch Stadium. I would get my first glimpses of the Cardinals new home, having moved into their new stadium (built half on the grounds of the old one) just this year. It was certainly impressive just to walk around the outside of it. A feeling of really having arrived sunk into me. I was here, I'd made it. Number 2 on the must see list was here right in front of me. I almost couldn't get enough of it. I couldn't wait to get inside and watch a game, although I knew I'd have to wait it out.




We had planned to go over to have a look at the Arch afterwards but the skies darkened and we knew immediately what was about to follow. The rains came, and we went and did our laundry. How I love the rain. Still, when you're away for any length of time, washing your clothes becomes a necessary part of your travel.

The following day our plans to head to the arch were scuppered once again by the rain, it came with avengence, this time, no laundry to do we decided to take up a recommendation and visit the City Museum.

Expecting to find all manner of St Lousian artifacts and info we were both somewhat stunned to find it basically a kids playground. Shell shocked but in need of the dry indoors we settled on having a coffee.

The rain went away, we headed on down to the Arch via Wallgreens where I picked up my much needed pair of flip flops and as we headed off from there, yep, the rains came again. Now rather pissed off with the weather, the Arch seeming to tell us it really didn't want our company, we grabbed a cab and went back to the hostel!

Arriving in Baseball City!

From the very first days of planning this trip, there had been two dots firmly on the map. Two places I must go to, must see. Two places that were almost what drove me on the North American part of this trip in the first place! One of those was New York. Since being there in 2003 I had longed to go back and knew whatever else happened that it was going to be the first place on this trip that I visited. The other, was St. Louis. Home of the St Louis Cardinals. Home of the Redbirds, the new Busch Stadium and home of Albert Pujols, Cardinals slugger and St Louis legend.

So as I left Chicago on the Megabus I knew that the next time I got off this it would land me at the home of my beloved baseball team. The feeling of anticipation was as intense as the day I left home. As the City approached I caught my first glimpse of the Gateway Arch, the landmark most synonymous with St Louis. The place where East meets West, you cant help but notice how imposing it is, how dominant of its surroundings it is. Its the symbol that I've arrived, that I've found my way to the City where baseball is king!



The first thing that struck me as I disembarked the bus at Union Station was just how much red could be seen. Now, I know St Louis is a baseball City, it loves its team and it bleeds red but the sheer numbers of people in red or some sort of Cardinals attire was astonishing!!

My attempts at finding the correct bus or any other form of transportation to my hostel failed and getting more frustrated by the minute I succumbed to paying for a cab to get me there.

The hostel here in St Louis deserves a story all to itself. As I pulled up in the cab it looked alright. I mean it was obviously a bit out of town but it looked ok. As I arrived though, everything started to change. No one was in when I got there and the owner was obviously put out by my mere presence there. I was a hassle he didnt want to deal with. After waiting over an hour and a half he finally showed up still mumbling things about me being there at the wrong time, he did eventually let me into my room.

The bed itself was ok, although the place was full of newspapers, more on that later. The bathroom though was dire! A swing gate to let you in and showers where the walls were black and the floor somehow even less pleasant. There was no way I was having a shower without a pair of flip flops on and even then you just didn't want to touch anything.

Unbelievably this place used to be an HI Hostel however it lost its affiliation due to lapses in standards. According o Rebecca, a sort of co -runnner of the place (she was the opposite of the owner - Kind, polite and chatty), the place had actually improved a hell of a lot in the last 6 months or so. When she came to help out the place was a mess, smelly, overrun by cockroaches and needed a complete overhaul. It needed her to do it, the owner just wouldn't do anything about it! I'm just glad she's been around a bit before I got there otherwise God Knows what I would have though of it!!!

Another part of my St Louis initiation was to get "the talk". St Louis is, according to a recent poll, the 4th most dangerous City in the US. That really shouldn't be taken lightly. So, I get my map from our friendly fun filled owner who proceeds to grab a pen, and circle half the places on the map..then put big crosses though it. "don't go here" he said. Wow, I feel so much better now I thought. Unfortunately one of those big circles with a big cross in it was between the hostel and Downtown. Apparently its wise to take the bus, especially at night! Bus it would be then.

An evening in the pub would help settle me! It did!! I found a cool Irish Pub near the hosetl and settled in a for a few drinks and to catch up with some writing. It was as Irish as they get, ell cheesy foreign Irish anyway. A constant stream of pretty dreadful Irish music was eventually replaced by a live band playing, yep, you guessed it, Irish music. Unfortunately there was no one there. The Cardinals were at home, and those that were in there seemed more interested in watching the baseball than the music (rightly so of course). So I was one of about 8 people no listening to this music with more than one eye on the TV screen. Still, it was an excuse to have a couple of Buds, St Louis' other claim to fame!

Doing the Tourist Thing

I awoke feeling like Chicago was now my friend. Fired up and ready to get out and see the John Hancock I was, without doubt, in the best mood I'd been in over the last week.

I'd be going alone, I knew that. Its not the greatest way to see the building but when you travel alone, you have to do these things and I have no problem with it. On days like this it can be pretty nice as well, just taking the day at your own pace, doing what you want to do and not having to answer to anyone. Ahh, this was the life!

I was utilising the information I'd been given in the pub a few days before and decided to try it out, head up to the 96th floor and the bar instead of the 94th observatory. As you approach the Tower itself it imposes itself on you, dominating you and everything surrounding it. You don't realise just how impressive it is (and its twin tv antenna brother - The Sears Tower) until you get withing a few feet of it. Soaring up into the sky it seems to go on forever!

Upon entering I asked rather tentatively about getting up to the bar. I was pointed to the elevator, avoiding the people paying to get up to the top and on my way. It was all a bit strange, I had the feeling that I wasn't meant to be here, that I was in the wrong place but I found my way to the bar and sat down to enjoy a beer and the views!

So sure, the beer was $8 but that's still cheaper than paying, you're two floors higher and the views, oh my God! Those views! It sums up the diversity of this City so well - The heavily built up Downtown, the low level area out west and the lake front area with its great looking beaches. The views make it without doubt worth the effort to come here!




Beer drunk and enough photos to fill an album taken, I was done and headed out to another popular tourist site, Navy Pier. My sense of direction being simply stunning, I ended up at a pier but not THE pier. It seems i was a little North of where I wanted to be, still there were some cool views of the City and a little, I mean, really little beach. realising my mistake I moved onwards and eventually stumbled upon my initial target.

I can certainly see why Navy Pier is such a draw. There's plenty to keep you entertained here, lake trips galore, however the place is really aimed at kids. It was fun to have a walk around but I wasn't really for me. I can really see the attraction for families though. With the skies looking rather threatening now, I decided it was time to get myself back to the hostel, doing so with just seconds to spare before the skies let loose!

I met up with Nikki again back at the hostel. We had planned to grab some food together but plans had been scuppered by her forgetful mind and 3 German guys who she was now cooking with. Later on the Germans asked us if we wanted to go out with them, I'd have liked to but for catching my bus to St Louis early tomorrow morning and with the time already gone 11pm I knew it was going to be a late one. Nikki agreed to go and then changed her mind. SO instead the two of us hung around in our usual manner outside the front of the hostel.

A few people came and went and we were soon joined by a New Yorker who managed somehow to change our fun conversations about Home and Away and Neighbours onto politics and ethics. It was more tahn either of us could really stomach and when his response to one our questions was "look it up on Wikipedia" We both wanted rid! Fortunately a severe lack of cigs meant we had to head out on a ciggy hunt. Our good luck turned to bad when we everywhere we tried was closed, even the 24 hour shop! Eventually, after some 40 minutes or so we were pointed to a gloriously open shop right by Loyola Metro Station. By the time we had returned, the strange New Yorker had gone inside and was playing chess leaving us in peace. Our luck was out though as he returned to join us - Oh what joy!

By 2am we'd both had enough of both him and staying awake. I retired to my bed here in Chicago for the final time. My plans for sleep ruined by one of the loudest snorers currently on this planet. If he continues to snore in dorms like this he wont be on this planet for too much longer!!!

The Record Breaking Day

Have you ever been in that situation where you're talking to a complete stranger, totally out of context and all they have to say is a few words before you know almost exactly where they're from? I'm not talking about oh, you're from England/Oz etc, I mean, you can tell down to about a 5 mile radius where they're from! Well, it happened to me in good old Chicago.

I'd returned from my day out with Jen and wound up sitting outside with a few beers bought round the corner store, and now being consumed in manner not dissimilar to a bunch of 16 year olds having a sneaky White Lightning hoping the wont get caught. The strict no drinking on the premises rule was being broken left right and centre generally speaking because people had just had enough and needed to do what travellers do...sit and chat crap over a beer or 5. It was the first time that being at the hostel (a subject of continuous groans throughout the evening) had actually sparked into something resembling life.

Outside then, one of the girls had said barely 3 words when a smile cracked over my mug. Clearly English, I knew, almost instantly where she was from...I spoke a few words back and a smile cracked on her face...we exchanged the usuals...She was from Edgware, a place a couple of miles up the road from my old abode in London. Apparently I was the first north Londoner she'd met on her trip (and she'd been in the US for 11 months studying and traveling!).

The night finally ended for me at around 2.30am after what had been a great finale to an awesome day. Maybe I was finally starting to get Chicago.

The morning brought breakfast with Nikki (the lovely London girl from last night) and we shot off around the corner, near the El station to get a bite to eat. The sun was already beating down on us and I could see my plans for the day being somewhat effected by the intense heat. Although we'd agreed to meet up today we both had very different things planned for the day, however when it was suggested that it might be a good day to go to the beach by one of the waiters we took one look at each other and knew exactly what we'd be doing that day!

Just 5 blocks away from our current location lay the lovely sandy beach we'd been looking for. Strange to think that if it hadn't been so hot I could have been here and not even known how close I was to this! Fortunately the record breaking 93 degree sun took care of that!

Today life slowed right down, a welcome break just at the right time. We at in the shade, soaking up the atmosphere, chatting away, stories about our trips, our homes and just general rubbish that makes the day drift along. She was off to see her boyfriend and meet the parents in Boston, feelings of dread welling up inside of her, knowing that they just wouldn't see eye to eye. He a middle class rebel related to John Quincy Adams and her, the rebellious Londoner were to meet the completely non rebellious, blissfully unaware upper class parents. Its one of those stories you really want to know how it ends.

Amidst the chatting and general laziness I managed to fulfil a little dream - To play footy on the beach! OK, so its not on the beach in Brazil but it'll do. We saw a kid, Mexican looking, kicking a ball about a bit by himself and Nikki suggested I go and ask him if he wanted a kick about. Sure enough I got up off my ass and went and asked him, next thing you know we're having a kick about! A perfect little moment!

We also managed to glimpse what we called "God on a bike", as we saw a man cycle past us. We didnt have our cameras at teh ready, fortunately I was well prepared as he came back past us!



Al sunned out for the day we decided to hit up a bar and grab some food. We'd found the place we wanted to eat at and when we came in were asked if we'd like to sit on the terrace. Sounded absolutely lovely, so without further ado we agreed and were taken outside. That's when we saw it. A shambles of an outside area that didn't look like it had been used in months! A few plastic seats dotted amidst the various bugs scattering the floor. Being Brits though we braved it and despite the conditions enjoyed a pretty good meal!

By the time we were due to meet up later, Nikki had caught a good dose of sun stroke and we decided to stay in (or just outside as it happened) rather than go out to a bar. Once again, we got chatting and the hostel seemed a much better place to be than it had just 48 hours ago!

Get in My Belly!!!

One of those preconceived ideas that you have about the US is that they eat a lot of food...big portions are always served and its all about the big eat. Today, I uncovered the truth! Well, actually I didn't but I did get a glimpse of how it gets its reputation.

I'd met up with Jen as planned around midday, although her choice of location, in Addison, was probably not the wisest decision. Home of The Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field, scene of yesterdays madness, we had chosen to meet just before game time, meaning I was clamouring to hold tight to a spot on the pavement hoping to be noticed amongst teh thousands of Cub fans now swamping me. I passed the guy selling the "Cardinals fans take it up the Pujols" T-shirts and a mixed smirk come growl could be seen across my mutt. Fortunately for me, as A Cardinals fan, I stood out handsomely above the blue dullness of Chicago's North Side and was located by Jen.


So we set about the main purpose of meeting at this hour...brunch. An American thing that has turned popular the world over it would seem, I was ready to tuck into a heart dish of fatty goodness. The cafe/bar/restaurant that didn't really know what it actually wanted to be was located right by the El, allowing you top soak up the sound of trains every few minutes as they rattled past. It was, in essence, a true slice of America!

If names are anything to go by I was feeling a mistake had been made. I'd looked at what was included in the meal, but not its name, realising afterwards that anything called "The Hog" is probably a substantial eating experience. I wasn't to be disappointed. What was delivered to me prompted "now that deserves a photo!", a comment only used on those special occasions where mere words cant do it justice! Let me attempt the description...3 eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, a decent chunk of ham, 2 sausages, 2 big pieces of french toast, 3 pancakes all on top of a mound of cheesy potato. Now, I like my food but this was one of those rare occasions when the food beat me. I failed in my attempt to devour the lot and my body, I believe has thanked me ever since!

To try and alleviate the strain now being put on my belt we took a walk out and around Lincoln Park and the free zoo. As zoos go its not the greatest but its free and a decent hours entertainment.



We put the fun on hold for a while as I was enlisted to help install a newly purchased air con unit in Jen's new apartment. Whilst she was purchasing the air con units I was trying to find some pain relief for my shoulder which had been killing me all day, unfortunately it seems you cant buy any decent medical cream here...the nearest thing to an ibuprofen cream was some hot and cold cream whose strongest ingredient was menthol!

I'm not exactly known for my DIY skills but between us we manged to get two of these units fixed up nicely and followed it up the best way, by going for a beer! I was lucky enough to be driven all over and a nice trip up Lake Shore Drive was certainly worth it. I'm glad I got to do this, I'm not entirely sure why, its just something that had me quietly pleased.




Keeping the food tradition of the day up, the early evening brought me a cake batter ice cream in close contact with each other. Something I never thought I'd eat, in fact never even knew existed but hey, when in Rome and all that...It was actually pretty darn good!

A Day At Wrigley!

Speak to any baseball fan and they'll tell you that one of the great places to catch a game is at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs (the enemy as far as a Cardinals fan is concerned). Its a place with a history and Wrigley attracts a certain kind of fan, those who just want a good day out and hence the atmosphere there is legendary! The place is talked about with a gleam in the eye or a desire to one day get the chance to do what I was now doing...enter the gates and go catch a Cubs home game.

The day certainly hadn't gone to plan, at least to begin with. I'd planned to go to the game with Cindy and she'd decided to take far longer than was actualy needed at the Internet cafe, meaning we were much later than I'd wanted to be turning up. It was Memorial Day Weekend so it was always going to be busy what we hadn't expected was to be told that there were only restricted view tickets left. As we pondered our misfortune we were called back to the girl at the box office who told us that 2 tickets behind home plate had just come available and did we want them. They were $40 a pop and that was quite a lot more than I had planned to spend but these opportunities come up so rarely and I was here to catch some baseball so, I stumped up may cash and was in.

The tickets were even better than expected! How we had come to get these seats will always be a mystery but here I was sat behind home plate, just a few rows back from the pitch, right in the heart of the action! The guy next to us had brought his kid up from Indiana to catch the game. Its strange how we think that travelling 5 or 6 hours to a game (an away game at that) at home is a great distance whereas some of these guys travel that far just to watch their home side!



Cindy had turned from friendly girl at the hostel to Miss irritating. Constantly leaning over me, grabbing my arm, and jolting me every few seconds was becoming unbearable. It was nice to have the company but I honestly wished I'd come on my own! Fortunately I had to leave a little early and didnt get to see the last inning. As I left the Cubs were on top and looking likely to pick up the win.

I've never liked leaving before the end of any game let alone a one off such as this but I was due to meet Francesca, another Boots girl down in Little Italy for a few drinks and was already a little late. Getting a tad lost as I exited the subway didn't help either. I had a voicemail with all the directions I could ever need, unfortunately I couldn't access it! In the end luck struck and I found the place.

After spending 30 seconds looking nervously around me I was waved over to a rather large group of people. As it turned out, she had brought along her Sister, Sister's friends and brother along, and we were joined shortly afterwards by her parents. They were another great bunch and Francesca was as friendly as any Bootie I'd met so far. We had a few drinks at the bar (I got chucked a free Stella seemingly for being English) at the end of the evening. The Cubs meanwhile had managed to lose the game in the 9th!

From the pub we headed to Francesca's Sister's friend, Jen's house for a few more beers with Francesca leaving shortly afterwards and me remaining with the other girls. We didn't actually stay that much longer ourselves and I was driven back to Roosevelt Station by Angela, a girl who seemed down on her luck but with ah heart of gold. Its a shame I wont get to see any of them again - Accept Jen who agreed to meet me for brunch the following day.



Back at the hostel, who should I bump into but the 2 guys from the train journey from Boston to here. They had been upto Niagara and now buy chance were at the same hostel! Funny how it goes sometimes!

LSD and the Bar Guy

Me and Chicago hadn't really seen eye to eye at first. The location of the hostel, the lack of people I'd met and the general ambiance of the place had done nothing to help its cause. Maybe I was never meant to dislike Chicago because over the next few days things really started to change, led as it was by a guy in a bar downtown.

I'd got chatting the previous evening to a Taiwanese lass in the hostel and we'd agreed to meet up the next day to go see a few things. We ended up grabbing some lunch and exploring the area on and around Lake Shore Drive taking the sun and rain in equal doses as they exchanged blows throughout the afternoon. Sat on the edge of Lake Michigan, Chicago was suddenly starting to have a pull over me. Despite the mixed bag of weather, this was actually pretty nice. I guess we didn't really have a plan to see anything as such, just took in what was around us and I liked what I saw.



We eventually decided to head off to a bar for a couple of drinks, unfortunately the bar we'd wanted to go in didn't have any seats, just as we were about to leave we were told two seats had just opened up by the bar. The guy sat next to us began chatting and on realising we were out of towners offered to buy us both a drink "s a welcome to Chicago" he told us. How could we refuse such an offer!


We had a good chat about my trip and where I was headed to and so on and gave me a few great pieces of advice, he was also the first person I'd meet who would tell me to eat the steak in Buenos Aires! I jotted things down, drew maps, told us that we should go see the John Hancock instead of the Sears Tower as you could go to the bar there for free and have a couple of drinks for the same price as it costs to get to the observation deck of either tower. That and you wouldn't have to brave the queues and video gumf at Sears! A handy man to have met! As he left he added another drink to his tab for us both and disappeared off. The famous words of Red Dwarf spring to mind..."What A guy...".

Art and about in Chicago

Travelling on your own can be a strange experience. It has its good and bad points. Its highs and its lows. I knew when I took this on that there were going to be times when I wished i had company but I also knew that I could do this on my own and I had a wonderful time travelling Europe the same way. I wouldn't have left to do a year trip by myself if I didn't think I was capable.

Still, there will be lonely times. My first full day in Chicago was certainly the first time I'd experienced that on this trip. I put it down to a number of things. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, the hostel was so quiet. No life there at all and being so far out of town just compounds that. I haven't met anyone there at all and not through want of trying. It makes you realise how important a good hostel is to your enjoyment. How a sociable home can help make or break a place. The other real trigger for the loneliness thing was that I was back doing an art gallery. Sounds strange I'm sure, but the last time I had done a similar thing was to the Met in New York where i was accompanied by Pilvi. Having had such a blast with her while taking in the art, somehow it just didn't feel the same now and I longed to have a voice just chirping in my ear, sharing my thoughts on things.

Upto this point I'd found Chicago to be somewhat annoying, irritating and lonely. I didn't feel comfortable and there are without doubt more dropouts here than in New York and Boston combined! Lets take that irritating point. Now I had fun with the El yesterday and now here I was again going through the same motions. I dropped $1.75 onto my card, what I believed to be the correct amount only to be told it was $2. Now, nowhere in the entire station does it actually tell you how much a journey costs! It seems like they are actively seeking to make you as annoyed as possible.

So, the Art Institute. Despite the loneliness feeling I ventured through the museum made famous (in my eyes) by Ferris Bueller. I couldn't find the painting that Cameron ends up sinking into though. Still there were enough quality pieces to give your eyes a feast. I think I'm actually getting to grips with what a Monet, a Van Gogh and a Picasso look like. That's a real improvement for me believe it or not!

I managed to get off around a bit more of town as well, locating the Chicago Theatre amongst other things and generally just perusing the sights and sounds of the City as I wondered around on foot before eventually deciding to have a couple of afternoon pints in a bar Downtown. Watching the Cubs game and having a beer brought me back around a little and I was hopeful that the coming few days would improve.