First of all, Chi-Town definitely has its act together when it comes to public transportation. From pretty much anywhere in the 'burbs, you have access to some type of public transportation. Whether it be a city bus that leads you to a train, that leads you to the Green, Red, Brown, Purple, any-colored Line, or vice versa, you've got a way into and around the city. West Coast, you are seriously slacking in this department (minus Portland). If you want to get anywhere in Spokane, you better believe you are driving there. I know very few people who are able to take advantage of Spokane's fine bus system.
I was more than excited for my first train ride. And boy, could those locals tell I was from out of town. We had to ask how to actually get to the loading ramp...
"Down the stairs, through the tunnel, a left or a right, up the stairs, and you're there."
Um, excuse me...do you have a map for that? Ally and I managed, and we made it to the loading dock with seven minutes to spare.
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| Ally and I at the train station! |
I was elated when we boarded the train. One more thing I can cross off my bucket list! The excitement wore off after about fifteen minutes, so Ally and I were just chatting for most of the ride. We decided to get off at the Kedzie stop and switch to the Green Line. We were in a questionable neighborhood, where there were half-empty beer bottles dotting the sidewalk and the windows on most of the houses were boarded up, so we hustled to the next train.
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| THE BEAN!!!! |
After boarding the Green Line, we had a short ride into the city. Ally had made a list of all the great things to visit in Chicago, and our first stop was The Bean. The Bean is much more than it sounds; it's basically this giant misshapen mirror plopped in the middle of downtown Chicago. I'm not quite sure who's idea it was to fund this artsy project, but they're a genius. It was about 12:30 on a Wednesday afternoon, and the plaza was crawling with ridiculous looking tourists just like myself. I could have stood out better if I had just worn my Jansport fannypack...why did I ever get rid of that thing???
You can walk underneath The Bean, and inside, it is warped. There are so many folds in this giant mirror that it almost seems to create alternate realities. I immediately felt nauseous upon walking underneath this behemoth, but I held on until I was able to get a reasonable photo. It is all about the picture, especially in this technological driven age.
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| Inside The Bean. Can you find me? I'm just about in the middle of the photo... |
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| Ally and I by the side of The Bean |
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| I got to touch The Bean : ) |
In the same park as The Bean, there is also this really weird fountain. Basically, it's two giant "brick" blocks that have faces on them. These faces in turn spit water at each other. The faces are digitally created, as the "bricks" seem to be a giant television screen. They move, smile, blink, and for some reason, spit. We spent a good fifteen or twenty minutes waiting between spits so we could get a photo.
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| The face - I was wondering how you were chosen to be a face |
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| Can you see the face spitting on our heads? |
Again, I'm not quite sure who thought, 'Hmmm...we should make two giant brick cubes, throw them into Millennium Park, and have them spit at each other'. There must be some weird dudes in Chicago, but they must be successful as ever.
We wandered down Michigan Avenue for quite some time after our spitting adventure. We shopped around a bit (I finally spent a few dollars on some clothes - much needed retail therapy after being in polos for six weeks!), and pretended to fit in at Sachs Fifth Avenue. It should have been obvious that we had no business being in there (we were in yoga pants, t-shirts, tennis shoes, minimal makeup, with backpacks) and we snickered or gasped every time we read a price tag. I have also discovered that I don't have the fashion knowledge or appreciation to be wearing any such clothing. This stuff was hideous. And $3,000. We saw a sweater that looked like my grandmother could have knit it, and it had a picture of a face. $1,500 - no thank you. I'll stick to the three garnets for $20 at Forever 21. I think it would be safe to say that I would have consumer guilt after shopping at Sachs, enough so that it might drive me insane. So I think it is safe to say it's a blessing in disguise that I can't afford to shop there. I'm saving myself a visit to a therapist.
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| Yes, that says USD 3,120, for an orange biker jacket...not quite my style |
This adventure is too big for one blog, and it is too late to continue writing it, so you're going to have to wait for the rest!
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