The first little bit of bad weather. The clouds where low
and grey, the wind was wet and the world seemed a little less enjoyable on this
particular part of the ride. I was miff. We are heading from Lisle to Chicago
and straight to the Eagle Rider to drop off our Harley. 4000 miles and over 100
hours in the saddle meant she was my third most successful relationship ever. It
goes: Wife, High school girlfriend, Harley.
Goodbye Argie
As i mentioned in the first part of Day 23, we dropped Argie off and hopped onto the nearby train to head
into Chicago city. It is a strange feeling being so sad about the Harley and so excited about the rest of the journey. Weird conflicting happi-sad-ness. Like going to a strip club as a eunuch.
Trains and White Sox.
Barbara has two very obvious gifts that somehow never work
in unison. She can navigate, with the blink of an eye, a underground train
system and work the lines like a local but – somehow – she can’t walk into a
shopping mall (one she has been in one hundred times before) and find her way
around effectively.
Anyways, we arrived in Chicago, right on the river there and
headed into our hotel. The Hyatt Regency. We didn’t have much time to settle in as we had
our very first ball game to get to. The White Sox versus the Toronto Blue Jays. Here is my
run down of Baseball:
Top Tip no. 9: Yes, the food and drinks at the stadium are overpriced but they form a bond with the sport that
makes eating there unavoidable. Take an extra 30 dollars more than you expect and just do it properly. Get that mustard on your shirt, splash a beer on your leg and do it properly.
The food and drink is where the 'negatives" stop. Everything
else is actually great – yes – even the sport. The vibe is great, the people
are friendly and overall amenities in the stadium are fantastic. I could quite
easily go there and watch the game on a TV in one of the bars. The sport itself
is quite entertaining although slow and non-perennial. As a fan you have to
have an understanding not only of the sport but each of the players as well. A
large chunk of the entertaining factor comes from the actually players
profiles. Who they are, where did they go to college and the dynamics that that
particular player brings to the field.
The White Sox won and we headed back to our
Hotel with plenty daylight to spare.
Gotham City on the River
We walked around the area which, much like Kansas City, has
a great way of blending in the old with the new. Well, apart from the colossal
sore thumb that is the Trump Towers. You know the Burj al Khalifa right? It just
a smaller version of that but instead of being surrounded by other high-tech
establishments and miles of sand, this is surrounded by beautiful old buildings
and flowing water. Doesn’t really suit its surroundings.
Some of the architecture here reminded me of the walks we
had through Valencia. Seriously beautiful buildings that look like Batman
perches off there on a regular basis.
Deeply in Love with Deep Dish
Headed into a huge sweet store (I mean Willy Wonker huge),
smashed in a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (I still cry because I miss it so much)
and headed back to our hotel room for the night.
Tomorrow is more miles and miles of walking.
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