Chicago, Illinois

Skyscrapers tall enough to cast a near-permanent shadow on downtown sidewalks. Cars and pedestrians who have no qualms about killing each other to get to their destinations. The largest train station we've seen in the states, and free WiFi with your soy chai latte at the first café you see. Welcome to Chicago. 

Despite being dwarfed on all sides by enormous buildings that should shield us, Chicago is indeed a windy city. Add to that the chill of the shadow cast by all the buildings and you get a really cold downtown area in the middle of October. At the same time, the architecture is impressive and you can find beauty and reprieve from the glass-and-concrete behemoths by just walking a few blocks from the center of downtown in any direction: to the river to watch the boats glide by; to Millennium Park to enjoy the shiny, creative architecture or race leaves down the steep surface of the metallic pedestrian walkway (Jay won); or you could just head to Union Station and take any one of the many trains in this massive station to another location for a day.

Of all the cities we've seen on this trip, Chicago is at once the most appealing (public transit, huge variety of restaurants and pubs and things to do) and the most intimidating (We got off our train and stepped into what looked like an international airport!)... It's the first city that Jay can envision living in (and he makes his case well). 

We're staying near Lincoln Park, just north of the main hub of downtown. The architecture in this area is lovely and we have enjoyed getting lost in the blocks near our hostel and admiring the ivy creeping up the sides of the brick homes. Plus, there's a deep-dish pizza restaurant around every corner.

After eating pizza on our first night here, we walked around the Lincoln Park area to get a feel for the restaurants and activities available. We paused in front of a sausage/hot-dog store that Jay was interested in and considered going there the next day for brunch. As we were looking at the hours and considering whether we should go there the next day, a man (probably in his late 20's) who had been standing by the bus stop interrupted our conversation: 

"No. Hey - -No. Fuck this place." 

We were confused and a bit amused by his strong reaction to a restaurant, so Jay responded, "Because of the service or the food?"

"Both."

"Huh." We didn't really know how to end the conversation at this point...

"Yeah, if you want good food, you have to go up there - see that light? Yeah, go one more block past that to Fullerton. There's a Mexican food restaurant called Allende's. Best fucking Mexican food in Chicago."

"Okay, well... we'll go check that out. Thanks for the tip!" We started walking that way, and then he began to follow us.

"You know, I think I'll join you. Now I'm hungry. You should try the beef tongue taco."

"The what?"

"Beef tongue taco. Lengua. It's amazing." He nodded a bit to emphasize his certainty in the matter and continued following us down the street, hanging back awkwardly by about 3 feet.

Eventually we reached the restaurant and he headed in and sat down at a booth. We popped our heads in, asked when they opened (9 AM), wished him a good evening, and continued on our way.

We did end up eating there the next day, and Jay tried the cow tongue taco. It was indeed delicious.