The Windy City

Dirty, dangerous, and unfriendly. All these adjectives I had once associated with Chicago. Oh, but was I wrong, so wrong. I'm not quite sure where these assumptions derived from, but they are farther from the truth than I would have thought. Somehow I must have switched these words describing Philly to Chicago. Silly mistake. However, parts of the city definitely had hints of Philly but in a slightly bigger and cleaner version.
I hardly saw any trash on the streets, graffitti sprayed everywhere, and dirty water. In fact, Chicago should boast about being one of the cleaner cities in America. Even the city's water was aquamarine green (Ok, ok...there are rumors that they actually dye the water that color but tell me this--how would that pass the city council of drinkabe water?) Chi-town is a large and vast city, expansive in sight and might. Lord knows my legs and feet felt the city sights as my eyes did! The city seems to be made for architects and food lovers. There seemed to be no consistent genre or era of the architecture, but more of a hodgepodge. Each building different, each building unique. From their famous deep dish pizzas (I once was a hater, but now am a lover to deep dish) to their polish hot dogs and sausages, Chicago seems to put careful care to even their fast food fare. Even the McD's I saw were grander than the ones I was used to.
Despite all the attractions and food I experienced, I must say that I enjoyed it with some friends I haven't seen in quite some time. Yes, I'm pulling out the big cheese here. BUT...I loved even the idle moments (i.e., subway ride, picnic and opera, singing in the car to corny songs, dancing at Uof C, late night talks, etc..). Thank you dears! I greatly appreciate EVERYTHING and thoroughly enjoyed myself!!! Man..miss you guys already!