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Published: August 20th 2007
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Yo!
Alex and I get ready to jump in the pool There's this great singer named Sufjan Stevens who sings about Chicago in a few of his songs. The song "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" is where I got the title for this journal entry. I've been to Chicago three times now in the past year and a half, and each time, I fall more in love with it. The past two times I went (back in March and this past weekend) was to see some friends who I made in Vienna.
I just got back yesterday from a great trip there. I took the wonderful cheap Megabus there and back, and stayed with Alex (my roommate in Vienna) at her uncle and aunt's beautiful house. They were out of town and let us house sit for them (they have lots of plants that need watering, and a cat and a fish tank) which was a lot of fun. We got to swim in their swimming pool and eat some of their garden tomatoes. They also had two small vineyards in their backyard; it was a nice little paradise. This past week has been tough, and so the timing of this Chicago trip was perfect.
On Thursday afternoon when I
awwwwwww
How precious -- it looks like we're holding hands. got to Waukegan, a suburb near Chicago where Alex lives, we stopped by her house and I got to meet her father (I met her mom back in March) and he was very, very sweet. Their house smelled like Romanian food, which, by the way, smells absolutely great. We stayed at her house for about twenty minutes and then left for her uncle and aunt's house in Lake Villa (about a half hour drive from Waukegan.) On the way there, we stopped at a grocery store to get canned pumpkin and tuna for her aunt and uncle's constipated cat (fyi any cat owners: it works!) Sorry if that last part was too much information. I just think it was a funny situation. We thought about getting the cat some Metamucil, but we felt all embarrassed to ask a cashier to open the locked glass cabinet that contained said product. Armed with our canned pumpkin, tuna, Nutella, and 20-cent European chocolate bars, we made our way to her uncle and aunt's house.
After swimming for a little bit, we had to decide whether to go see The Simpsons Movie or to go bowling. We decided to go bowling. That was
I love the self-timer feature on my camera
We wanted to get a jumping shot. And we did. great -- I got the amazing score of 38. I think that's definitely a record. The first round, I got a strike, but the rest of the rounds were not nearly as lucky for me. It was pretty pathetic. 😊
The next day, we took the train to downtown Chicago, and met up with our friends Katie (who lives in Evanston, near Chicago) and Alana (who came from Indiana at the same time as me, and stayed at Katie's house.) I was so excited to see all of them, and all be together in the same place. We walked to Millenium Park (I can't get enough of all the shiny stuff there) and then walked to the Chicago Institute of Art, where we met up with our friend Jenny (she goes to Alex's school; she came to Vienna for a few days while she was studying abroad in Italy -- she stayed in Alex's and my dorm room, and I liked her the minute I met her.) We went into the art museum and were told that we could get in for free after 5:00, so decided to go back when it was free.
However, we ended up
taking a trolley to the Field Museum/Aquarium - Alex and Jenny went to the aquarium, and Alana, Katie, and I went to the Field Museum. We got pretty enthralled and stayed for quite awhile. Then we went to the Navy Pier for about half an hour, and realized we needed to go to Julius Meinl (the Austrian cafe in Chicago) so that we would be able to eat there without rushing to catch the last train... so we decided to veto the art institute idea; it's not like I won't ever be in Chicago again.
So we had a great Austrian time at Julius Meinl, and hung out there for at least two hours. It was the main thing that we wanted to do, so it was nice to not have to be in a hurry (we were in a hurry when we went there in March, and we had to run to catch the last train.) Going to an Austrian cafe with all of them was a great time for remembering all the hilarious times we had in Vienna. Even Jenny had a ton of great stories from there, even though she had only spent a few days
there.
We carried on our tradition of ordering things and passing everyone's orders around so we could sample some of everything. It was really nice that Julius Meinl was not very expensive. I ordered an asparagus and mushroom crepe, and some lavender-flavored Italian soda (VERY good!) It wasn't exactly an "Austrian" meal, but that was what sounded best to me. Jenny ordered the most Austrian dish of all -- a plate of salami, cheese, bread, and pickles.
That night, we all went to Alex's uncle/aunt's house and had a slumber party. 😊 Katie, Jenny, and Alana borrowed some of Alex's cousins' T-shirts and shorts to sleep in. We spent half the night dancing around in the living room, singing karaoke using some bootlegged DVDs from China that were in the house. I had forgotten the joys of slumber parties. 😊
The next morning (yesterday morning), we got up relatively early so we could wash all our dishes, and vacuum, make our beds, and take out the trash. After we ate breakfast, we sat around watching a terrible, trashy movie on the Lifetime channel called "My Stepmother is an Alien" and then it was time for Alex to
drive us all to the train station. Jenny (who lives in Chicago) was going the same direction we were, so she took the train with us. Katie and Alana planned to spend their day at the art institute, and then go back to Katie's house to hang out for the evening.
When we took the train to downtown Chicago yesterday in time for me to catch my bus which left at 2, the train was delayed by 35 minutes, and we got to the train station at about 2:05. I was panicking, and we ran as fast as we could for the couple of blocks to where my bus was. Right when we got there, I saw a Megabus saying it was going to Minneapolis pulling away, so I had to run up to the bus and beg the bus driver through the glass of the door to let me on. Luckily, he did, with an annoyed expression on his face. That just added to the adventure. 😊
So... I really, really enjoyed this past weekend, and will never forget it. I'm really happy to have such easy access to a city that I love so much. 😊
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Andrea
non-member comment
It looks like you had a grreat time!!