I haven’t looked up the
exact definitions but I’ll make a guess and say that our arrival to Chicago
signaled us returning to first world countries for the first time since New
Zealand in February- apologies South and Central America if that’s not true. It
definitely signaled our return to English speaking first world countries, how
about that? Funny how many times we were in Chicagoan cafes or restaurants and
without thinking said “gracias” to the wait staff! It becomes reflex and sure
who’s really to say that we’re not part Mexican or Colombian!?
Chicago is a really cool
city. It was our choice of stopover on the way back to Europe to visit friends,
Kyra and Peter, who’d emigrated there so they provided us with swanky
accommodation in a 46th floor city centre apartment. Sweet as. There’s
a lot to do within the city itself and we were kept fully occupied for the five
days.
Our introduction to
Americans came at the airport where at passport control we were talking to an
Officer Ramsey- I’m not going to say he was a stereotypical American but he
certainly managed to turn himself into some sort of clichéd version of what
foreigners think of Americans. Why would any American officer of the law have a
problem with two law-abiding citizens such as ourselves? Well, the problem
stemmed from the fact that we hadn’t lied on our entry form- we were asked to
list where we had been beforehand on this trip and included Cuba in our (longwinded)
answer. Officer Ramsey was none too impressed. The general gist of the
conversation went as follows:
Ramsey: You know it’s
illegal for American citizens to go to Cuba?
McCarthy: Yes, but we’re
not American citizens
Ramsey: There are 12
reasons for American citizens to be allowed to enter Cuba and you have to go
through a strict process in order to be allowed to visit that country
McCarthy: Yes, but we’re
not American citizens
(at this stage he began
looking over both shoulders for someone to assist him, presumably to confirm to
him that there are in fact people in the world who are not American citizens)
Ramsey: This is going to
be a problem
McCarthy: What’s going
to be a problem?
Ramsey: It’s illegal for
American citizens to go to Cuba
McCarthy: Yes, but we’re
not American citizens
(continues to look
around for help. At this stage he still can’t find anyone so flicks through all the passport stamps)
McCarthy: We’re
accountants
(He seemed disappointed,
not sure was this a trick question where he was hoping for “Communist
sympathizer” as the answer)
Ramsey: I suppose I can let you
through because you’re not American citizens but you’re going to get a lot of hassle from the Customs guys
McCarthy: Why?
Ramsey: Have you brought
stuff from Cuba with you? Cuban cigars, rum etc
McCarthy: Yes, but per
the US Customs website we’re allowed bring $100 worth of goods into the country
Ramsey: I KNOW THE LAW
(At this stage I looked
over my shoulders to confirm I wasn’t on a TV show and then relook at Officer
Ramsey to see if he’s auditioning for a scene in “A Few Good Men”!)
Ramsey: When did you
look up this website?
McCarthy: Yesterday
(Not sure if he thought
that non-American citizens spend significant time reviewing old US laws but
anyway….)
Ramsey: Well you’ll have
to prove how much they’re worth. Do you have receipts or credit card
statements?
McCarthy: No they’re
from Cuba. They don’t really do receipts or credit cards.
Ramsey: Well that will be
a problem for the Customs guy. The Customs guys will take everything out of
your bags and ask you loads of questions because you’ve a lot to explain.
They’re really going to grill you.
McCarthy: That’s fine,
they can have the cigars if they want them.
Ramsey: Right, go ahead
to Customs
(Stamps passport)
We then proceeded to
walk through customs without anyone looking anywhere near us! Happy days, the
Cubans cigars are in the country! Thankfully we didn’t meet any more Officer
Ramsey’s and had a lovely time with all the other Americans we met and even
more so with the Irish Americans we were visiting!
After the meet and greet was
done, we set about exploring the city, a city I didn’t know much about but you
get a sense of déjà vu when you walk around either because I lived here in a
past life or it features heavily as a backdrop of so many TV shows and movies.
Even if we didn’t get to meet Dr. Mark Green from ER or any other characters,
we did get to see the L train and the tracks which weave in and out of the
city, above ground, below ground, through buildings, over roads, over rivers,
over bridges. It’s really amazing to see it. So while the L is a main character weaving around Chicago, its what it weaves around is the real highlight- skyscraper after skyscraper. The best way we found to get to know these skyscrapers was by taking an architecture tour through the city. The tour is two hours and is a boat ride down the river to Lake Michigan while taking in all of the amazing buildings all round. Really different to any other tour we’ve done and well worth it.
Speaking of amazing, the picture shows "Cloud Gate" which is a sculpture erected in Millennium Park in Chicago in 2006- more affectionately known as "The Bean". On a sunny day like we had, you can spend ages walking around or under it, as the reflections of the city bounce off it. Very cool. Lots of time to be spent trying to get that perfect photo!
Another touristing
highlight of the city was a day spent cycling around it. They have the city
bikes which cost $7 for a day and once you switch bikes every half an hour
that’s all you get charged. Very flat city so easy to do and gave us a chance
to visit lots of other areas of the city around Lake Michigan including Lincoln
Park, Navy Pier and Soldier field football stadium. They have a really good zoo
inside in Lincoln Park too which was a nice bonus- loads of really cool animals
inside and things are always better when they’re free!
One thing that still
confuses us having left the country is how to navigate your way through eating
or drinking out in America- so fricking confusing:
- You add on tax to what was on the menu
- You must add on a tip
- What should we tip though?
- I’m positive 15% was a good tip last time I was in American, now it’s 20% minimum. Weird
- Is the same for all meals? How about drinks?
- So should the tip be calculated before or after tax?
- Does the standard of service even matter?
- What should we be getting for this 20%?
- How much do wait staff earn? They seem to get an awful lot of money for doing very little
- Does the restaurant, café or bar pay these people anything? What an amazing business model on their part- genius altogether!
All very confusing,
basically it means that until you hand over the cash you’ve no clue what you’ve
spent! How they could possibly think this is a good system is beyond me!?
We had good timing in
our arrival to Chicago with their ice hockey team, the Blackhawks, playing in
the Stanley Cup final. Great atmosphere around the place with posters up
everywhere, buildings lit up in red at night and obviously the bars full for
the games. Last night in Chicago, the four of us headed to Second City comedy
club- highly recommend it as a stopping point. Sketch after sketch for a few
hours, absolutely hilarious. It’s a famous club because a load of celebrities
started their careers here- Dan Ackroyd, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Steve
Carrell, Bob Odenkirk (Better call Saul), Mike Myers, Dan Castellaneta (Homer
Simpson himself) and load of others. Should be very high up on any to do list
for Chicago and was a great way for us to finish off our few days.
Great hosts certainly help to make a visit to any city worthwhile and with great accommodation so centrally located along with more food, drink and tour information then we knew what to do with, it all helped to make for a great few days.
And so with the Windy City visited,
clothes for the wedding in Spain purchased, it was time for one the penultimate flight. With heads down, we got through airport security without meeting Officer Ramsey one more
time. Better to be safe!
On we go, Vive Espana…….
Our route:
Fly to Chicago, fly to
Alicante, Spain
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