Surprisingly, our two days here have been mostly time off. We had one quick friendship visit after a short 30-mile ride into the city (we stopped by Dunkin Donuts to fill our water bottles with Coffee and Smoothies). The roads in were pretty rough, but the city was beautiful. We rode in around rush hour past Wrigley field (mom & dad – that’s baseball) right before the Cubs/Astros game so the streets were packed!
We are staying at the Palmer House Hilton, the nicest hotel in the city. After weeks out in the country, we all gaped in awe at the grand lobby as we rolled in with our bikes and bags. The manager greeted us and showed us around, and we all thanked him for graciously lodging us for free. The first night we went out to a few pubs in the hip part of town. The girls of Chicago are gorgeous.
A lot of us woke up late today and after a sponsored lunch at Chipolte, we roamed Chicago. The city is truly down to earth. It’s modern but not arrogant. We went to Millennium park where we saw the famous bean, but also countless other beautiful sculptures and pieces, like the bizarre animated Crown fountain. Our attempt to visit the Willis tower did not succeed due to the huge line and time constraints, but we got to see a lot of the city on the way nonetheless. That night, Adam Southard and his friend Chris, a Pi Alpha from ’04, showed me around the museum of Modern Art. I’ve really had a great time so far in this city and I am seriously considering moving here after school to work for a few years.
These past few days have been quite a surreal experience. After a month of small towns and cities where we bonded as a team, today was one of the first days we were on our own. Most of us met friends from back home (I got a beer with Alok, a PiKapp alumni from Cornell), and spent the day visiting. Returning to civilization is quite a shock after living in your bubble for months.
No comments:
Post a Comment