8th August 2024 at 12:53 - Sally
On Sunday we walked the 4.5km Bloomingdale (606) elevated walkway. Very nice!
It was very busy and very hot! Didn't stop the runners and bikers though.
Followed by a lovely early dinner at Lula's in Logan Square.
8th August 2024 at 12:50 - Damian
Today we hired bicycles and followed the lake front cycle path south of the city. 35km all up.
After that we did a boat tour focusing on the city's architecture.
We're really loving Chicago!
8th August 2024 at 00:25 - Damian
Yesterday we planned to hire bikes and cycle 30km of the lake trail south of the city but it was cold(!) and windy. We went for a 6km meandering walk instead.
We also went to the Chicago Flyover¹ virtual tour at Navy Pier. Incredibly well done. Recommended.
Today we've got a boat tour booked but will have another crack at cycling the lake front beforehand.
6th August 2024 at 11:30 - Damian
This skinny building doesn't look like much but it's the birthplace of house music¹.
The Warehouse. DJ Frankie Knuckles.
Much of the music I loved in the 90s sprouted from this building. Fat Boy Slim, Leftfield, Underworld, The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Faithless and many, many more. ❤️
6th August 2024 at 11:21 - Damian
It's been muggy as today. Only 30°C but with the humidity we really struggled.
Managed to walk 12km through Lincoln Park, the zoo (depressing as all zoos tend to be), the lakefront (where we had a swim) and around the city centre.
6th August 2024 at 11:16 - Damian
This afternoon we had our first genuine Chicago deep dish pizza at Pizzeria Uno. It's generous and flavourful but I'm not a fan of the crust.
Give me a Napoli-style pizza any day. Less is best in my book.
5th August 2024 at 07:12 - Damian
Counterpoint cost of living comparison:
Boozy craft IPAs 12 pack:
Tony's Fresh Logan Park Chicago Lagunitas NZ$33.50
New World Birkenhead Auckland Liberty Knife Party NZ$58.00
Again, not the best metric but a valuable data point all the same.
5th August 2024 at 06:14 - Damian
Cost of living comparison:
Magnum minis 3 pack.
Walgreens Logan Square Chicago NZ$4.60 /100ml
Countdown Northcote Auckland NZ$2.60 /100ml
Might have to stop whinging about NZ's cost of living crisis pending more data. Not that Magnum minis are necessarily the best to compare.
5th August 2024 at 00:40 - Damian
A rant about tipping:
The tipping culture in the States is such a massive pain in the arse. It moves the problem of HR from the business to the customer and seems incredibly inconsistent.
Many places are tap-to-pay where you're presented with a follow-up screen with options of 20/25/30% or the ability to customise your tip.
The price of a meal here is higher than NZ and I really don't think the service is any better. When you do get good service it feels forced.
Let's not have this in NZ.
5th August 2024 at 00:29 - Damian
We went on an excellent two-hour architectural and history walking tour¹.
We've found that a walking tour when you first get to a new city is a great way you get your bearings along with a bit of history and recommendations for things to do and places to eat.
We've settled on US$40 being about the right amount to tip for the both of us for a good quality walking tour.
5th August 2024 at 00:08 - Damian
Yesterday morning we walked from our Airbnb to Logan Square, bought a couple of paper day passes each and took the blue line into Washington Station.
8 lines converge of the centre of Chicago with 5 of them running a loop around the heart of the city above the street. Our blue line was deep underground.
The rail network is called the "L" for "elevated" (even though not all of it is aboveground).
4th August 2024 at 03:10 - Damian
We're staying in an Airbnb in the Logan Square neighbourhood in Chicago.
Last night we were knackered so we went to a nearby place called Monster Ramen for some comfort food and some shaved coconut ice on the way back.
The ramen was exquisite!
Today we're going to walk into Logan Square, buy some day passes and do an architectural walking tour in the city.
4th August 2024 at 03:03 - Damian
Before we left NZ we purchased a couple of T-Mobile SIM cards. Each with 10GB data and unlimited calls and texts. They're valid for 30 days each and we've offset their start and end dates to cover the 32 days we're here.
We got the cards online from Australia-based SimCorner. $106.50 all up. They were fast to deliver and have comprehensive instructions.
Which I didn't read.
My Nokia G21 isn't compatible with T-Mobile's 4G LTE bands so we're constantly hot-spotting from Sally's phone.
4th August 2024 at 02:54 - Damian
In Chicago they have the Ventra app which is geo-locked to US-based phones only. We hoped the app would become available once we were on US soil but no.
So if you want to get around you can each buy a physical card for US$5 and top them up or you can buy paper single ride tickets or day passes from vending machines at train stations.
We've opted for paper tickets because US$10 initial fee is a lot of NZ rupees and a waste of plastic.
4th August 2024 at 02:46 - Damian
In Denver you can download the RRD MyRide app to get around on public transport. It was easy to top up and use with multiple tickets.
We only ever bought $5.50 day passes and used them to go as far afield as Boulder.
We only used it on busses where you scan each ticket as you board. Day passes that include the airport are more expensive.
4th August 2024 at 02:39 - Damian
In San Francisco the main way to get around by public transport is with a Clipper card.
You can add it directly to an Android phone with Google Wallet and top it up from there directly. Then use your phone.
Except you can't. We found out when we went to use them. It just kept failing. Their readers aren't coping with RFID on phones yet.
So we each bought a physical card (costs US$3 initially) and you can top it up manually from machines or online.
4th August 2024 at 02:30 - Damian
On Thursday we left Denver at 1900 and arrived at 1430 the following day in Chicago. Once again, not a great sleep in coach class. Sally managed to sleep a bit but the seats are awkward and there are PEOPLE. America people. Sartre said it best.
The scenery through Iowa and Illinois was fields of corn that went on forever. Lush but what do you do when you're not combine harvesting?
We really enjoyed Denver. It felt cleaner and safer than SF.
1st August 2024 at 04:30 - Damian
Another early start today to get in line for a free tour of the Denver Mint. Unfortunately no phones allowed so no photos. Pretty interesting though.
Spools of metal are stamped into blanks, the blanks are heated and then run through dies to stamp the coins. They mint something like 7,000,000 pennies per day but can do much more. It costs 3c to make 1c and 11c to make 5c but that's made up for in the dimes and quarters.
The raised ridge on the edge of the coin is to reduce wear.
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