Day two on the train(s)

When I woke up we had magically changed from half an hour late to half an hour early and we were in Kansas City. I’ve been in Kansas City before and like it. I’d like to go back. There are lots of places I’d like to go back to.

It was cold there, so I was forewarned for what Chicago might be like. We arrived a few minutes early, so I had a couple of hours to walk around, which pleased me greatly. I love Chicago. If you like architecture it’s a place where every place you turn is a new bit of eye candy. It is also unspeakably cold in the winter. I bundled up properly but forgot one thing, well, ten things, actually- my toes. I stupidly wore my sneakers instead of my more protective hiking shoes. I learned a couple of years ago at a baseball game that sneakers and extended exposure to cold do not mix.

It was 14 degrees with a slight but noticeable breeze, which made for a lively walk, punctuated with frequent ducking into lobbies and stores to ward off frostbite. The city is just glorious. I saw a building I’d never seen before- the public library, which although partially obscured by the El, was spectacular. 

Every building had some interesting design element. You think of Chicago was just blue collar and to an extent I guess it is, but the Fire left the city barren at a very rich time for architecture and building technology (skyscrapers, for instance, require such things as elevators), and a tradition of design ranging from thoughtful to spectacular was begun.

By the time I was done walking, I was fully refrigerated and ready to stay inside. Chicago’s Union Station is a maze and at rush hour a very busy one. There’s a decent food court that is hard to get to because during the evening rush all the escalators are running down and some portals have no stairs. I eventually found my way up there via a secret-looking escalator that I guess is there solely to run the opposite direction from what every other escalator is doing.

The train got to the station late and we were boarded quickly. The train began to pull out and suddenly over the PA system we hear “Judith’s not on the train! Judith’s not on the train!” Apparently, the dining car manager had gotten off to pick up some cash and the train started to leave without her. She still sounded out of breath when she called us for dinner 15 minutes later.

My dinner companions this evening are a couple from Baltimore. She doesn’t like to fly and he puts up with it. They’re slightly odd. They have salad dressing in packets and after she finished her salad she kept squeezing bits of dressing onto her finger and licking it off.

Nobody to talk to in the lounge car this time. Most of the people in there are Brazilian and barely speak English. I went to bed on the early side.