House of Blues

A very long day, and rather than let it pass I thought I should capture this moment in electronic aspic. My last 24 (or 29) hours has gone something like this.

6pm, Thursday. Join the queue for the bus to Chicago. It's a 12 hour journey from Toronto, and the only buses are at 6am (arriving 11pm, after the time change) or 6.30pm (arriving 5am). I opt for the overnighter.

Midnight. Arrive US immigration, Detroit. They ask me why I'm going to Chicago and not staying in Detroit. I think it's a joke.

5am. Arrive Chicago. Maybe two hours sleep, at most, between rest stops and fidgety neighbour. Chicago's West Side at 5am doesn't look much fun, so I opt for a coffee in the terminal building.

6am. It's now Early Morning rather than Late Night so I make a dash for the metro. Exact change only, and the closest I've got is $20. Decide to walk into town. Pick up a free paper and look for somewhere to get breakfast. The only places that never sleep in this city are Subway and Dunkin Donuts - opt for Dunkin, get a large coffee and two plastic donuts. The paper says that Joan Armatrading is playing tonight. Hmm.

7am. Head for the Hostel to drop off my bags. Check-in is 3pm, so I've got some time to kill. Bum around the hostel for an hour, and find directions for the nearest supermarket. A 20 minute walk, which will do me good...

8am. Wander aimlessly, semi-consciously, round the supermarket - putting things into my basket, taking them out again. In the end I buy 3 bananas, 8 oranges, 3 peaches, four yoghurts, a bag of mixed nuts, 10 sachets of oatmeal, 20 cereal bars and a new pen. Decide to get some ham too. But it's all in ounces. Er... "can I have 10 ounces please". "You want six slices?" "No, 10 ounces." "Six slices?" "Ok, six slices." [She cuts and weighs them.] "How much is that?" "Five ounces." "Ok.... can I have six more slices please..." and so it goes on.

9am. Tourist info should be open now, so head there. The lovely folk give me a map and cover it in complicated arrows and directions. They finish by saying that there's a free tour on the Loop (an Elevated Train that runs round central Chicago) starting at 10am. I can get tickets Over There. I get some tickets, and they tell me to come back in 10 minutes. In the meantime, I can watch the US Rubik's Cube Championship next door. I'm not joking - mostly young children and teenagers, whose hands move faster than I can see. I film one kid complete it in 14.9 seconds. Most of them have "Linux" or "Google" t-shirts.

10am. I spent too long watching the Rubik's Cubes and miss the tour party leave. Run to the Loop and meet them there. Spend the next hour going round the Loop (three times) being told about Chicago architecture. Very interesting.

11am. Back at Tourist Info for my next challenge. There's a Puerto Rican parade starting at midday up the road, if I hurry I can get a good view. I walk to the route and sit down. I've still got all my shopping. Eat one banana, one orange, a peach, a yoghurt and a cereal bar. The "parade" is depressing - mostly a recruiting advert for the military (first the army, then the marines, then the national guard, then navy) followed by cars telling you to buy things. Ronald McDonald comes past in a giant shoe with "me encanta" ("I love it") written on the side. I head back to the hostel.

1pm. They won't check me in, so I go to the library to use the internet and think about where next. My tentative plan is to take a train to Denver, hire a car for a few days and explore the US Rockies, then take either a train or plane to Seattle, then on to Vancouver to meet Caroline and Mark, then join a tour of the Canadian Rockies. Need to sleep on it.

2pm. Finally check in. Shower, brush my teeth, cook some food.

5pm. Decide to explore Chicago - starting at Berghoff bar, then Miller's Pub, then Billy Goat Tavern. Remember that Joan Armatrading is playing...

8pm. House of Blues, get tickets for Joan Armatrading. Absolutely brilliant (but not allowed to take photos - so this has been my thousand words to make up for the missing picture). Feels a bit weird that I'm watching an English blues singer in Chicago, at a bar part owned by Dan Ackroyd. Less than four weeks ago I was sitting beside John Belushi's grave.

1am. Back at the hostel, writing this. Time for bed.

My top tip: Coffee
What I'm listening to: Um...
Where next: Bed


By for now.