The Not So Windy City
We're back from our weekend in Chicago and it was fantastic. The weather was great, the city was beautiful and we enjoyed both a Jazz and a Blues bar with amazing music.
Just before we left we discovered that while we would be in town there was going to be protesting. I asked what they were going to be protesting and the answer was, everything! It seems there was both NATO and the G8 in town that same weekend and though they apparently decided to move the G8 to Camp David there was still an estimated 10,000 protesters in town that weekend. Who knows though, we might have been counted in that number too. We did end up in a few groups of moving people. There was police everywhere! This picture is the string of Homeland Security vehicles parked literally just outside our hotel the whole weekend. There was police in riot gear on every corner, on Sunday we spotted snipers perched on the rooftops and there was 3 helicopters constantly hovering over the city.
When we first arrived I thought how wonderful that it would be such a safe weekend to be in town. However, on Sunday when we were walking downtown, lumped into the traveling protesters I started to get a lot nervous. In situations like that if one little thing goes wrong the tables can turn quite quickly and we could go from being seen as Innocent tourists to angry protesters in a split second. You could tell the police we on edge and I know some of them would have just been itching for a fight so it wouldn't have taken much for them to turn on us.
I must confess we mostly avoided the places that would be the hot spots for demonstrations and protests. We did not go down to the parks where the approximately 10,000 people were gathered. I thought it best to stay out of potential problem places and wandering the city you really wouldn't know there was anything big happening if it wasn't for the occasional closed shop and the unbelievable police presence.
We were traveling with a friend of my husbands from work and he was incredibly excited about the protests. He picked up a V for Vendetta mask and a protest shirt and joined in with the crowd. He was very excited about taking back the streets and being chased by the police. He even has video of a woman being struck by an officer and her friend being hit with a police bike trying to help her. When you hear about things like this on the news though it's mostly the sensational. The very small portion of violent protesters that paint the entire group as an angry mob but this was not what I found in the minimal exposure I had. The people were unbelievably courteous, friendly and helpful. Not just the protesters, the police, and the general population. Usually you think of Canadians being a helpful and friendly lot but I know in Toronto there wouldn't have been the same sort of courtesy and assistance offered to us. Maybe I'll give our Cities a bit of the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the unusual circumstances of the weekend contributed to a better atmosphere of camaraderie but I was very impressed with all the people I met.
We walked a LOT while we were there. By a lot I mean at least 18 miles or around 30 KM. This is not an exaggeration in the least either. We didn't take any public transportation at all and we saw the entire city. I had forgotten to bring sun block and though there was a Walgreens on every corner it seemed, I didn't pick any up. I really hate the stuff and I thought we could manage to stay mostly in the shade of the big buildings. That turned out not to be the case and I expected to wake up the next morning with a crispy burn. I was slightly red and I did get some mild heat stroke that day but managed to escape mostly unscathed. It was beautiful but very hot weather on Sunday and we were surprised that there wasn't much of a breeze in the Windy City. In fact we found out little town to be windier than that weekend was.
We ate really unhealthy food the whole time like I intended. I had McDonald's breakfast on the way down, pasta and cheesecake at the Cheesecake factory, a Chicago dog, frozen custard, deep dish pizza, a few drinks, pesto flat bread and a chocolate peanut butter pancake breakfast. In short all the things I try not to eat when I'm at home. It was fantastic but I expected that even with all the walking I would put on weight. I think I might be up a pound or 2 but I am hoping that it's muscle. After all I did do the P90X ab ripper last night as well.
All in all it was an amazing weekend and if anyone is thinking of heading to Chicago I would recommend it. Just maybe check the protest schedules before you go. :)
When we first arrived I thought how wonderful that it would be such a safe weekend to be in town. However, on Sunday when we were walking downtown, lumped into the traveling protesters I started to get a lot nervous. In situations like that if one little thing goes wrong the tables can turn quite quickly and we could go from being seen as Innocent tourists to angry protesters in a split second. You could tell the police we on edge and I know some of them would have just been itching for a fight so it wouldn't have taken much for them to turn on us.
I must confess we mostly avoided the places that would be the hot spots for demonstrations and protests. We did not go down to the parks where the approximately 10,000 people were gathered. I thought it best to stay out of potential problem places and wandering the city you really wouldn't know there was anything big happening if it wasn't for the occasional closed shop and the unbelievable police presence.
We were traveling with a friend of my husbands from work and he was incredibly excited about the protests. He picked up a V for Vendetta mask and a protest shirt and joined in with the crowd. He was very excited about taking back the streets and being chased by the police. He even has video of a woman being struck by an officer and her friend being hit with a police bike trying to help her. When you hear about things like this on the news though it's mostly the sensational. The very small portion of violent protesters that paint the entire group as an angry mob but this was not what I found in the minimal exposure I had. The people were unbelievably courteous, friendly and helpful. Not just the protesters, the police, and the general population. Usually you think of Canadians being a helpful and friendly lot but I know in Toronto there wouldn't have been the same sort of courtesy and assistance offered to us. Maybe I'll give our Cities a bit of the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the unusual circumstances of the weekend contributed to a better atmosphere of camaraderie but I was very impressed with all the people I met.
We walked a LOT while we were there. By a lot I mean at least 18 miles or around 30 KM. This is not an exaggeration in the least either. We didn't take any public transportation at all and we saw the entire city. I had forgotten to bring sun block and though there was a Walgreens on every corner it seemed, I didn't pick any up. I really hate the stuff and I thought we could manage to stay mostly in the shade of the big buildings. That turned out not to be the case and I expected to wake up the next morning with a crispy burn. I was slightly red and I did get some mild heat stroke that day but managed to escape mostly unscathed. It was beautiful but very hot weather on Sunday and we were surprised that there wasn't much of a breeze in the Windy City. In fact we found out little town to be windier than that weekend was.
We ate really unhealthy food the whole time like I intended. I had McDonald's breakfast on the way down, pasta and cheesecake at the Cheesecake factory, a Chicago dog, frozen custard, deep dish pizza, a few drinks, pesto flat bread and a chocolate peanut butter pancake breakfast. In short all the things I try not to eat when I'm at home. It was fantastic but I expected that even with all the walking I would put on weight. I think I might be up a pound or 2 but I am hoping that it's muscle. After all I did do the P90X ab ripper last night as well.
All in all it was an amazing weekend and if anyone is thinking of heading to Chicago I would recommend it. Just maybe check the protest schedules before you go. :)
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