The Windy City

 Chicago...

What can I say, really. Chicago is a magical place...if you don't get murdered or robbed or accidentally end up walking for a very, very long time to find the number one pizza place in the city.

There are several landmarks mentioned in Chapter 5 that may be hard to identify. The bean, otherwise known as Cloud Gate, is a fascinating art instalment by Sir Anish Kapoor. It reflect the city perfectly and is a gorgeous, yet completely impractical, giant shiny bean. (See above photo.)

There is also Maggie Daley Park, with a walkway that is decorated with inverted trees. I personally have not seen these trees, but they seem very interesting.

Another landmark mentioned was the Crown Fountain. Designed by Jaume Plensa, the Crown Fountain is two identical 50-foot towers that stand opposite each other and project video images of a broad spectrum of 1000 of Chicago's citizens. And yes, they periodically "spit" water and create this very odd fountain.

I have this foggy memory of arriving in Chicago and driving to the hotel where we were charged an exorbitant amount of money for parking, around $60/night! The previous few nights were spent at rainy campgrounds so we were dirty, tired, and incredibly hungry. Our vehicle was packed to the top with stinky camping gear and we were ready for a break from tenting. Even though we arrived late into the evening, we still walked over an hour to get to "the best pizza place in Chicago," according to someone who used to live there. It was definitely amazing pizza, although at that point I would have eaten a slice of pepperoni on its own and considered it amazingly awesome. 

As the valet helped carry the bags to the car at the end of our stay, he offered to put them in the back for us. (That's the kind of place we stayed at.) However, when we popped open the hatch, I thought his eyes were going to fall out of his head. "Very full," he said, looking at our camping gear. I agreed, and we put the bags in their designated spots on our own.