A visit to Pilsen, Chicago

I’ve just flown across the Atlantic! And, in spite of the headwinds, I managed it in just over eight hours! Admittedly, with the help of an Airbus A330-300.

Her Ladyship is visiting some people in the US and has decided to bring me with her instead of His Lordship. I’d like to think that this means I’m the favourite around here, but I suspect that I was just the easier option. She could stuff me into her rucksack and, apart from having some interesting explaining to do when going through airport security, she could relax and forget about me. Now, I’ve occasionally heard Herself tell His Lordship to get stuffed, but there’s no way she could stuff him into her rucksack, so he has been left behind to look after the nest at home. I almost feel sorry for him.

Almost.I got a little confused there for a while. As we started our approach into Chicago, I could have sworn that we were still over the Atlantic. Lake Michigan is so huge, you could be forgiven for thinking that you were still over the ocean. In fact, it makes Lake Balaton in Hungary, one of the largest lakes in Europe, look like a mere duck pond!

We are staying in an area of town called Pilsen. No wonder Her Ladyship feels at home here. Pilsen was one of her favourite ports of call in the Czech Republic. This Pilsen, however, is ‘Little Mexico’, so the local restaurants, bakeries and shops have a very southern flavour to them. We enjoyed browsing in the local supermarket and seeing exotic fruit, vegetables, fish… all kinds of interesting stuff. I certainly can’t recall ever having seen piñata in the shops back home! Unlike in the ‘other’ Pilsen, not a drop of beer, or any alcohol for that matter, is for sale in this Mexican supermarket. But before you start feeling sorry for Her Ladyship, don’t worry, she managed to sniff out some alcohol elsewhere. Prohibition is definitely a thing of the past in modern USA.

There are plenty of other signs that things here are a little different to Europe…

There are also some lovely old-fashioned shops in Pilsen. My favourite is this shoe-repair shop, complete with shoe shine seat. Great for polishing up the old webbed feet!

‘Sweet Home Chicago’ What a city! Definitely worth singing about, but nothing to have the blues about. On our first outing in downtown Chicago we made a bee-line for Sears Tower. It is nowadays officially known as Willis Tower, but apparently no self-respecting local would dream of calling it anything but Sears Tower. It took us about two hours of queuing to reach the viewing area on the 103^rd floor (tip: avoid bank holiday weekends), but it was worth the wait. Those views! Her Ladyship was gobsmacked by the cityscape. It is only when you see it from above that you realise just how many skyscrapers there are in this huge city. She was also gobsmacked by the height of the tower. For all her bravado, she was shaking like a leaf when she stepped out onto one of the four glass viewing balconies. Scaredy cat! I loved it. It certainly didn’t ruffle my feathers!

The skyscrapers are cool, but I only had eyes for the Lake Michigan. I still can’t believe it is a lake and not the sea! As yet another song goes, ‘Everything’s big in America!’ So true.

Once we are back on street level, we begin to suffer from an affliction that must surely affect all visitors to the city – a permanent crick in the neck from staring up at the skyscrapers. The sheer scale just has to be seen to be believed. Tourists must have their cameras permanently turned to ‘portrait’ format!

  

Even the local prison is a high-rise. A tall narrow skyscraper located right in the heart of the city, it is nevertheless almost impossible to escape from, as the windows are only 4 inches (10 cm) across. I say almost, because apparently two prisoners did manage to escape through these windows. I know nothing more about them, but one thing is sure: they weren’t overweight! The slippery pair didn’t get very far, however, and were picked up again just a few hours later. A tight squeeze and all for nothing!

One thing you have to say about this huge city. It is a huge, friendly city. Even the graffiti is friendly!