We decided to stay in a downtown Chicago hotel so we could avail ourselves of public transportation and avoid renting a car, so the first order of business was a taxi ride from the airport to our hotel. This is where we got our initiation into the Chicago frenzy. Our cab driver careened in and out of traffic and cursed the other drivers proclaiming them all to be idiots. We did, however, arrive safely but white-knuckled at our destination.
After stowing our luggage, we decided to check out the neighborhood and find a nice restaurant. After walking several blocks and debating on several establishments, we decided on a small, interesting-looking place on a busy corner. We were led to a table where we perched on some very tall chairs. An urbane young waiter then proceeded to explain to us the "concept" of the restaurant. We should have left then. It turned out that this particular business specialized in very small bowls of pasta and $100 bottles of wine. We turned down the wine, ate our miniature meals, and went searching for ice cream.
After a week in the city, my theory on Chicago restaurants is this: Prepare some mediocre food, vastly overprice it, throw in a snooty, black-clad waiter, and the people will come. As our nephew who lives in downtown Chicago says, "You have to know where to eat in Chicago." We did manage to find some excellent food in Chicago including the best pizza we have ever had.
Chicago is a city that literally does not sleep. People are on the streets twenty-four hours a day. Sleeping amid mayhem is apparently a learned behavior. From our hotel room, we could hear ambulances screaming through the night at all hours, and one morning around 4:00, a group of people had a party in the street below our room.
Slow people like us have a bit of a problem getting around in downtown Chicago. People walk six or seven abreast, and to avoid being either trampled or swept away by the tide of pedestrians, we often had to stop and plaster ourselves against a building. We soon learned that the city buses and the subway were the way to go, but those were not without their problems. For instance, the entrance to the subway looked like a place my mother would have warned me not to go.
Chicago Transit Authority bus drivers do a wonderful job of maneuvering through traffic and managing large crowds of commuters. However, one of their basic tenets is "Dawdlers will not be tolerated." If you have not noticed, people in Oklahoma dawdle a lot. We walk slow, we talk slow, and we stop and consider. This lifestyle does not translate in downtown Chicago. The mantra there is hurry. As the voice on the subway warns, "The doors are closing now."
In spite of the breathtaking pace of the city, we had a wonderful time exploring Chicago. The museums, the shows, the tours, and the sheer pleasure of being in such a dynamic place gave these two country mice the thrill of a lifetime.
