Chicago
The beginning (of travelling on my own) of the end (of my journey) started in Chicago. I was looking forward to seven relaxing nights.
I found an incredibly nice room on Airbnb in a good neighborhood. There would have been two roommates but they were both almost always gone. Only one of them was there for two nights (and only the nights). Most of the time I had the gigantic apartment all for myself. When I booked the room I thought that I would meet my hosts, but for a little more than 30 bucks a night you can’t complain about that.
Snow Storm
After one day of enjoying Chicago by sunshine it began to snow for two days. Finally, the Christmas music in the stores had an equivalent match on the streets. I had a wonderful time exploring the streets and parks of Chicago while the snowflakes tumbled down from the sky. The weather was freezing during the whole week, but I knew what to do and bought gloves and a warm cap. The gloves are even made such that you can use your smartphone with them on your hands. Perfect for taking pictures while walking around.
Willis Tower
I did my “obligatory” view over the city on top of the Willis Tower (previously named Sears Tower). This tower was once the highest in the world and currently stands at number 10 with its 442 m. I was prepared to face the cold in those heights and was therefore surprised when the Skydeck was inside in the warmth. While the viewing platform itself wasn’t the best in America so far, the view it offered certainly was. The snow-covered Chicago is breathtakingly beautiful, even more so from above.
Science Museum
Wondering why a science museum has such good ratings I had to go and check it out for myself. I can’t remember when I last was in a similar museum but I think it must have been the “Technorama”. That time little me didn’t know much about physics and how the exhibits work – I was just fascinated of the things I witnessed. For example, how my hairs stood up when touching a charged orb or the arks a tesla coil produced.
Since then a lot has changed and I now know the basic science behind most of the exhibits. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun playing around with magnetized liquids, tornados, tsunamis, airplanes, and a lot of other things. It’s one thing to know how tornados are born and another to play around with one. As already mentioned I had a wonderful time – “Bubi spilä, Bubi gsund” =)
Evening Entertainment
Located at the Magnificent Mile (a shopping street in downtown Chicago) is a cinema. The perfect place for watching a movie after an extensive walk. The decision was hard as there are no must-see blockbusters left that I haven’t already seen. =) My choice fell on “Allied”. In hindsight, it was an excellent choice.
While in Chicago I had to watch the Bulls live. I did so on Tuesday from the front row, not the front row by the field but the front row on the mezzanine. The game was incredibly entertaining, the shows in between too. The only bad thing was that my streak of live-watched home team wins ended =)
Orchestra
A very spontaneous decision of mine was to go to the orchestra. I didn’t have any plans for my last evening in Chicago and remembered having read somewhere that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra had a good reputation. There wasn’t any research in what will be played exactly, I just thought that there must be some classical music and that can’t be too bad. And the ticket was really cheap, therefore I wouldn’t waste a lot of money even if it was bad.
After the first few minutes it became clear that it wasn’t anything like I imagined. I kind of felt like a guy that has heard some EDM (Electronic Dance Music) in the radio and thought that it doesn’t sound that bad. Then one day, when there is an EDM-festival near him he decided to go and check it out expecting the same thing he knows from the radio. Unfortunately for him the artists on stage only play Dubstep and Goa. Naturally, he is irritated and confused.
That’s exactly what happened to me. About a third of the music sounded like music in my ears, the rest was the acoustic equivalent of modern paintings. When you see (hear) it you think that you or a monkey could have done the same thing. The music sounded like fresh out of a random number generator. The best part of the whole concert was the snoring from at least two different sources around me. After numerous people, including my whole row, left in the middle of the concert, I too was on my way out. I’m sorry for the musicians, but I would rather sit sober in an “Oktoberfestzelt” than even drinking (heavy!) to the music they played =).
PS
(Out of fairness to the orchestra it is important to know that this concert wasn’t a normal one. They played with a reduced “crew” consisting almost exclusively out of brass instruments. I think a normal concert would have been way better and for sure pleasant to listen. Well, at least I can say this “experimental” music doesn’t suit my music taste)
