Getting to visit family is priceless, especially family that I haven’t seen for some time. Long talks over drawn out meals or nights spent laughing next to warm fireplaces together are the foundations of memories for years to come. I have loved being with my family here in Chicago, we have had a lot to catch up on and what better place to do it than this beautiful city.
Yesterday we explored the Pilsen district in the rainy Halloween weather, and ate delicious food (I got chicken and waffles for the first time) while talking for a long time.
Today we went into Downtown Chicago since the sun was out in force and there was so much to see. We got Dim Sum and then meandered around Millennium Park together.
The Chicago skyline is exquisite; the sheer variety of shapes, widths, colors, and materials that compose the rugged ups and downs of this city’s outline are unbelievable. I could stare up at these buildings forever. Cities have a way of making people feel small but in a good way; the fact that people conceptualize and then materialized these structures is humbling and exciting at the same time, a living monument to the capacity of man.
It was such a warm day and after so many cold days in Michigan it was a breath of fresh air. Even the trees still had color! It is amazing to have witnessed an entire month of autumn in Michigan only to come here and start at the beginning again. So many trees here are still green and it is a marvel to me that not everything is dead. Regardless, we wandered around the park and then returned home for a short break.
I then ventured out alone to the Wicker Park area of town which is full of quirky life and graffiti. Both Pilsen and Wicker Park had some great work like these I found.
I went and got some coffee at the Wormhole, which is an offbeat and fun study cafe squeezed between vintage thrift shops and bars flashing with neon lights. I sat and read my book for a little while only to realize that the sun had already disappeared. Darn daylight savings time. Stealing all of the sun.
But I happened upon a bookstore I had been hoping to visit without even trying called Myopic Books; this collection of over 70,000 books is an astoundingly awesome second-hand bookstore. I could get lost in this store for hours. It was a great coincidence that made my nerd heart very happy.
I wandered around the warm city streets taking in the glittery shops and shining street lights amidst the cacophny of car sounds and found myself beginning to readjust to city life. There is a specific brand of beauty in big cities, I have not yet fully discovered the nature of that beauty but maybe it will be more clear to me in the weeks to come as I explore more major cities on the east coast.
For now the night time streets of Chicago are more than enough for me.
