CHICAGO! (Nothing smart to add larhhh)

So, fall break was over the last weekend, from Thursday to Sunday and Shoko and I (WE ARE NOT DATING!) decided the take a short flight up to Chicago, which is an hour's flight and 5 hours' drive away from St Louis. But oh, what a world of difference! In a word, Chicago was alive. Buzzing with excitement, it was city that knew its status in the world (3rd largest city in the States) and the direction it was headed (up!). It has all the trappings of a great metropolis; a fantastically ginormous business district, a flourishing arts scene (Broadway on Chicago, museums all over the place), a well-developed and reliable public transportation system and most importantly, a sense of self; a keen belief in its identity that was shared by its people and on proud display everywhere one turned.

We flew up on thursday and day 1 was spent touring the University of Chicago, an old fabled school right out of the pages of Harry Potter. It's ivy covered brownstone walls evoked images of medieval scholars hurrying down its hallowed hallways carrying scrolls of parchment rich with the collective knowledge of eons and ages past. It was a huge campus, sprawled out across several blocks (Chicago is neatly organised according to a grid system. Even I found it a challenge getting lost there.) It's law school however, left much to be desired. Decrepit looking on the outside with a scarcely maintained pond/puddle/cesspit in its front yard and just a general feel of neglect and lack of maintenance.

On board flight AA2079 to Chicago



Entrance to the U Chicago Quadrangle. I felt scholarly just walking through those gates.



Typical mode of transportation in U Chicago



Cast iron clock in the main library, it reads on its face, Presented by the Class of Nineteen Hundred and Nine.





Main library. Tell me you can't see the sorting hat and the annual feast and floating candles.



Little Chapel in the middle of campus. (It's almost nicer than WashU's. Almost)




Not-so-little Chapel in the middle of campus. (OK FINE! IT'S TAMADE BLARDY HUGE!)This is Rockefeller Chapel and was donated by the founder of U Chicago. It is HUGE. I didn't feel like it was appropriate to take pictures inside so this is all I have of it.





Law School. OURS NICER! HAHAHA!!!




School bookshop. In the basement. Customers are given a map because it is a real possiblity that one might get lost in it. But so cool walking through narrow corridors framed fully by books on either side.






What I loved about the school was that it's students, past and present clearly had a very strong bond with the school. Notably, there was a palpable sense of camaraderie and brother/sisterhood. I also liked that its alumni had a very strong presence in the school and according to Jeremy, our tour guide, a pretty influential say in school policies as well.

I don't suppose I'm going to go into every minute detail about my trip in Chicago so I'm going to just bit more about the more memorable bits of the trip then let the pictures speak for themselves. Ok? Ok. Set.

on the second day Shoko and I made a trip to Sears Tower, the third tallest building in the world (I think) and it was there that I truly fell in love with chicago. From the 103rd floor with the city sprawled at my feet in well organised grids spreading out as far as the eye could see towards the north and east and Lake Michigan framing the west, I fell in love with Chicago for the first time. It was really inspiring, watching from up high, this marvel of man's construct. Gazing down upon the result of countless years and of toil and effort and the eventual growing fruit of ceaseless labour I was (again) seized by a stirring urge that the world truly is our oyster if only we tried.

One other thing I really loved about Chicago was how although it was such large city, I never once felt unsafe walking its streets or taking the subway and buses, even late at night. Something I've not felt since arriving in St Louis 2 months ago.

OK. Enough talking. How do i love Chicago, let me count the ways:


Sears Tower


Breathtaking.












Oh, the lengths to which we go just to bring you the best pictures, including but not limited to standing in the middle of a busy intersection.



Chicago Tribune Building






Street Art. (I refuse to call this graffiti)










Broadway on Chicago. We caught 2 musicals, Wicked and Altar Boyz, both of which were side splittingly good. We were very lucky because 2 hours before every show, a lottery is drawn to give out 20 tickets at 25 bucks each for front row seats. On Friday we decided to try our luck and entered our names. Amazingly, out of over a hundred names, Shoko stuck lottery and we managed to get 2 tickets at 25 bucks when the street price was something like 85 bucks.




Too much good food. Too much.






And that friends, was Chicago. Phew.

I wanna go back!!!