1 week and 1 day in Chicago. And I’ve been busy busy busy. And it’s been HOT. HOT HOT HOT. Thank God for air conditioning.
Everyone keeps asking me if it feels weird to be back. The answer is not really. But then something happens–like when I went to the ATM (i.e., cashpoint) yesterday and saw how you don’t need to use envelopes for your deposit anymore and can just stick your cash and checks directly into the machine–and I’m like, “Wow. Technology has really moved on since I’ve been gone! This place is CRAZY.”
And then I look at my ever-increasing bag of plastic bags and think, “Oh I’m definitely not in the U.K. anymore.” (Seriously, everything seems to come in a bag. Multiple bags. At the grocery store the other night, they bagged up my groceries in paper and then put them in plastic.) And then last night, I learned that Chicago has more or less stopped recycling and, well, I don’t even know what to say to that.
In between all this, I have of course been eating (amongst other things). Here’s what I’ve been up to…
- Having bratwurst on rye with a side of house-made potato chips (i.e., crisps) at The Berghoff, a Chicago institution.
- Devouring the chopped chicken salad at Pompei on Taylor Street, Chicago’s Little Italy. I’ve missed this salad.
- Enjoying prettily presented but pricey pork fried rice with a side of gyoza at Noodles by Takashi at 7th on State (James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Midwest 2003)
- Cutting into the Kansas City Sirloin at David Burke’s Primehouse at The James Hotel and snagging my first Foursquare freebie. (Checking in at David Burke got us a free appetizer. A disappointing appetizer, but free nonetheless.)
- Having the rest of my sirloin for breakfast the next day.
- Buying a condo in Wicker Park (i.e., flat)
- Trekking over to Epic Burger in the South Loop to decide for myself how epic it is. (It was pretty good and I liked how everything was organic and hormone-free, but it fell apart in my hands. Tasty. But not as epic as I was expecting.)
This is of course but a small summary. Much more to come as I settle in. And yes, I still need to annouce the winner of my contest! More to come on that on Monday!
1 comment
Welcome to the neighborhood! I’ve been living in Wicker Park for four years now and it’s good fun.
Re: the recycling, if you are in the 1st ward (which covers most of the neighborhood) and in a smaller building (4 units or less) you will definitely get a city sponsored recycling wheelie bin. Of course I wouldn’t put it past the City of Chicago to just make us think they are recycling that stuff and actually tossing it in with the rest of the trash!
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