A Shore Thing

As the Minnesota heat makes me ponder if I've temporarily relocated to the South, I think back to fonder and cooler times in Chicago a few weeks ago. Lake Michigan was a hop, skip, and literal jump out Emma's window in Hyde Park. Being that Lake Michigan is one of the Great Lakes, it looks and feels more like an ocean than a freshwater body of water. The view is so vast that you can't locate the shoreline in the distance. However, you can see Indiana from Emma's apartment window, which is not a good thing according to Chicagoans. All I knew was that I was mesmerized every time I found myself staring out the window. As far as I'm concerned, the only other place I wanted to be that weekend was on one of those sailboats.

This first set of photos was taken from Emma's rooftop, proving that the view is spectacular anywhere in Chicago.[The Sears Tower shrouded in haze.]


[Why yes, Chicago has its own flag.]

Also in Emma's neighborhood and her whole reason for moving to Hyde Park, The University of Chicago.


The students I saw fit the crazy competitive reputation of the school that I had been promised. While taking the bus from the city center to Hyde Park, I eavesdropped some undergrads debating the new Woody Allen film, "Midnight in Paris." Although I found it to be one of the most delightful films I've seen all summer and a recent best for Allen, this feisty freshman claimed that its references to Hemingway's A Moveable Feast were "too superficial." Furthermore, when we met Emma's friends at the local dive bar, we found a man suddenly at our table saying he had to leave his friends' conversation because they wouldn't stop talking about evolution. Darwin over PBR? It was like I was another realm. However, as you can see, the campus is like something out of a Gothic fairytale. Just being around all of that ivy and stone made me want to rush to J. Crew to buy corduroy and play Frisbee on the quad, two activities I have never done, but seem idyllically collegiate. I may not want to attend University of Chicago, but I could gladly stare at its Harry Potter-esque campus all day long.
This will be my last post from Chicago. Thank you again to Emma for showing me around, introducing me to her friends, and just generally making me feel at home in a city that I've never felt close to before.

I Fell in Love Again All Things Go...

These flowers grow in my family's garden back home, but if you take a closer look at the background of this photo you will not see a red house in the St. Paul suburbs, but the Chicago skyline.
What, you don't believe that I escaped the harrowing (only harrowing in terms of staving off boredom) suburbs for a weekend? Here's your proof. Besides my Dad would never let our lawn get that out of control.

Despite how the Sufjan Steven's lyrics to "Chicago" go (referenced in the title of this post), I did not actually drive to the city, but flew down last weekend to visit one of my good friends, Emma, from GW. The story of how I met Emma is one of my favorites. She was my tourguide when I visited GW in the spring of my senior year of high school. Throughout the tour she diverted from the typical "here's the library" chatter to gush about how she was an English literature nerd and I knew right then and there that I wanted to be friends with her. Sadly, we failed to run into each other in my freshman year, but by happenstance we were both at the same Andrew Bird concert in my sophomore year and the rest is history. Even though Emma graduated and I went to Scotland, we've managed to keep in touch through the miracle that is Facebook chat. But as good as we are at online conversation, I knew I was overdue for a real conversation so a visit this summer was in order.

When I got off the plane at Midway airport last Friday, I hadn't seen Emma in over a year and I hadn't been to Chicago in over two. For Emma and me the conversation flowed as easily as all the coffee we used to drink together back in DC. And throughout the weekend I fell in love with Chicago again, as the song says. Emma lives in the historic Hyde Park neighborhood which meant that our many jaunts to downtown took some feats of public transportation. Even if the bus system isn't always reliable, the skyline is always impressive. We may been running off to see some hilarity at Second City (definitely worth a visit if you're ever in town) or check out the new modern wing at the Institute of Art, but I couldn't help but stare at the skyscrapers for a minute or two. You can tell Chicago is a newer (albeit the third largest city in the U.S.) city because of much metal blocks your every view. It is a view in its own right though. Skylines have their own beauty, just as much as mountains.

[Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album cover]
The most surreal moment for me was when we evaded the sticky Saturday weather by going to the beach right in front of the Sears Tower. Surf and skyscraper, an odd yet awe-inspiring combination. Things are also interesting at street level, just check out the Quinceanera in front of the AIC below.

I won't lie, I find downtown Chicago a little overwhelming. Whether its being jostled through the crowds in the Loop or attempting to see every painting in the modern wing of the AIC (I spent nearly 2 hours there), it can be a bit stressful. Thankfully I had a local to help me navigate the best booths at the Taste of Chicago and take the time to point out the landmarks just as she did the first time I met her.

[I hope you had a fun and safe 4th of July. For my part, I saw an adorable parade in Hyde Park where one of the floats got stuck under a bridge.][The AIC lions have the best view.]

But this is just one part of Chicago. In my next post on the city, I'll show you around Hyde Park.

Barcelona! (Not an exciting title, but this post is)

Right now I find myself hunched over a computer or a book for more hours than the sun the is up. I wish I could say I was composing the Great American Novel, but because I'm in Scotland composing my brain for the five week period of exam hell I'm in currently. It's a marathon, not a sprint so I thought I had time to update you on when things were much more exciting. Just a few weeks back I was in Barcelona, Spain for five days to visit my good friend Hilly!

[My lovely hostess, Hilly and I in the Labyrinth Gardens, Barcelona's best kept secret.]

Barcelona was my first big destination vacation since I've been abroad. As a study abroad student shouldn't I be on a cheap Ryan Air flight every weekend so I can tour Europe? Instead I've probably been at a different pub every weekend, but at least I've explored Edinburgh, right? Well, it was time to finally get my passport stamped again and because Hilly stopped by Edinburgh for a weekend, the least I could do was pay her a visit. Also, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that churros were an incentive to visit Spain.

[My churro-stache, can't you tell I'm mature enough to be turning 21 this June? haha They were delicious though and tasted like gourmet kitkat bars.]

After nearly a month of rain in Edinburgh, the constant sun in Spain was an invigorating change of scenery. Perhaps a bit too invigorating because the idea of packing sunscreen eluded me and therefore I got a bit burnt with a hardcore watch-tan to boot! When the sun wasn't illuminating just how pasty I've become since settling in Scotland, it was illuminating the crazy and colorful architecture of Barcelona.

The buildings have a life of their own and helped to promote the Catalan identity even when Franco tried to eradicate it turned his regime because it was too separatist. Even to this day, Catalan (a mixture of French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin meaning that despite the fact that I failed to speak Spanish, I could at least read the signs from my high school French knowledge. This was very important to order delicious "fromtiage" or cheese croissants) is the main language of Barcelona. Although Spanish is understood and spoken, it is disdained and some Catalans would prefer to speak to you in English rather than Spanish. The impressive Catalan pride was both exciting and a little overwhelming and who better to exhibit this than Antoni Gaudi.

Gaudi was Barcelona's most famous Catalan modernist architect. Although the city is currently on the contemporary grid system (even I, the directionally deranged, could navigate it!), his unique buildings punctuate the landscape and culture. Gaudi's designs are heavy in religious symbolism and Catalan culture. For example, the building above represents Spain's patron saint, St. George's victory over a dragon. What appears to be a carnival masque on the balcony actually represents human skulls discarded from the dragon that sits on the roof (note his scales). St. George's defeat of the beast is depicted down the walls of the building making it a truly stunning sight. Gaudi's style culminated in his famous Sagrada Familia church reminiscent of a drip sand castle and still under-construction. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of it because I had camera troubles throughout the trip, but its an awe-inspiring sight.

Above is Gaudi's "quarry" building. Although he remains one of Barcelona's favorite artists and is a major pull for today's tourists, Gaudi himself died in obscurity. While he was alive he was relatively reclusive so although many knew his designs they did not know him. He died after being hit by a tram and mistaken for a beggar whereas today it would be a mistake to miss his work. Similarly, Barcelona is an under-appreciated tourist destination but it has so much offer: the sea, architecture, delicious food, friendly people, and more. Its a vivacious city, so radically different from Edinburgh that it gave me just the jump start I needed before exams.

Just like the winding streets of Barcelona's Barrio Gottico (the original city) leave a lot to be discovered, this is only my first post of a few on the city. Expect more soon!

[Yes, that is the Spanish Arc de Triumf, but more on it later.]