In My Life

What a city!  Spectacular!  Today we’ve been on a riverboat and seen the architecture from every angle; and out into Lake Michigan.  Sitting up front meant we got splashed when a wave broke over the bow.  This is skyscraper city and the second city of America.  The streets are wide and there is space between the buildings – so lots of light.  We had four seasons in one day – wind, light showers, sunshine, and heat – I’m sunburnt.  I took 257 pictures – that will need culling. 

Before the boat sightseeing we picked up a be-your-own-guide guide which we used to see the city and find out history and features. So we’ve learnt a lot today. We’ll continue this tomorrow in the parks.  Also found the best café – the Corner Bakery Café just near the river.  There we accidentally discovered a way to get a decent coffee – buy an espresso in a paper cup and then fill it up with brewed coffee and add a dash of milk.  The café specialty is a cinnamon cream cake – moist and crumbly – huge slice for $2.69.  It was so good we went back to have their special combo lunch – soup and sandwich, with homemade corn chips, gherkin, and an apple for $8.99.  Make a donation to the poor and they add a cake.

Our hotel is just around the corner from the Magnificent Mile – a mile of ‘gourmet’ shops.  It ends with the beach of Lake Michigan which is so big it looks like an ocean complete with its sailing boats and ships.  Our bedroom is smaller than the big one we had in Havre at the Big Western Motel and no free wi-fi and no breakfast; but location-wise it’s great.   

News-wise the Romney bid for the presidency is faltering and it looks like he has made one too many gaffes in saying 47% of Americans are dependent on social security.  Obama is as much as 8% ahead now.  The people backing Obama include many wealth-making liberals.

Outside the Apple store people are queuing for the new iPhone (camping out) with blankets, folding chairs, and all the tech stuff you need these days.

What contrasts we’ve seen – small town Havre is the antithesis of Chicago – and the beggars on the streets here are of a different ilk to the ones in Portland and L.A.  Montana’s emptiness and barrenness is the opposite of the farms in N. Dakota and Wisconsin. 

We’re doing fine – wondering, “How did we ever get to be here seeing all this?”       

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