Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. - Cyril Connolly
Sunday, May 06, 2007
The view from my window
With apologies to Andrew Sullivan, but the view from my hotel is a pretty spectacular view of Chicago.
That's the Navy Pier in the distance. It's Chicago's version of the Inner Harbor. Same stores, same attractions, except it has more of an amusement park atmosphere to it. We walked over from my hotel expecting to partake of the advertised Cinco De Mayo festivities. Boy - were we wrong!! Cinco De Mayo doesn't stand a chance in Shytown when it happens to fall on the same day as "Polish Pride Day", and the "American Beer Festival". And if anything is synonymous with Chicago, it's Polish people and beer. Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw. After yesterday, I think it actually has more Polish people than Poland. Oh. My. God. We were awash in a sea of red and white, Polish flags everywhere. No one spoke English, all the activities were in Polish, kids had their faces painted, lots of costumes, it was wonderful.
Because we had so much good food and beer at the festival, we really didn't "go out" to eat last night, we just walked and walked and enjoyed all the people and the activities. Had a wonderful sleep in this morning, and today is absolutely gorgeous. I'm off to Millennium Park , a short walk away, to hopefully catch a glimpse of the Dali Lama, who is addressing the masses this morning.
i love chicago too. that looks just like the view i had when i stayed at the swisshotel. you should look 'tru' up. the best restaurant ive been to. or if youre in the mood for kickass ribs- go visit twin anchors. http://www.twinanchorsribs.com/
a.g.: Ha! It is the swissotel. We have reservations at Tru tonight. Twin Anchors also came highly recommended. It's hard, because like most conferences, they overfeed you, and by dinner time - you're not hungry.
Wow. You're almost going step by step through my extended birthday weekend there last june. cept there was no conference for me. please please please post about your tru experience. that place is amazing. we dined at the kitchen table and toured the whole place. great art to boot.
So jealous - I love Chicago. Will you go on the ferris wheel for me, please?