I've never seen the film or musical 'Chicago', unfortunately, but if anyone is a big fan and wants me to watch out for anything in particular then let me know.
I think the difference between the Americans and us is that they still believe in all their own myths - that just the name of a city in their own country can conjure up feelings of glamour and romance, hence the musical being entitled simply 'Chicago'. For us Brits it would at least have to be a foreign city, like 'Paris' or 'Vienna' or whatever. You can't imagine Andrew Llloyd Webber writing a musical called 'Sheffield'.
Anyway, I'm newly arrived in Chicago today and I have to say it's probably my fave US city so far if only because of the climate - it's sunny, but it's very fresh and only about a quarter as humid as NYC or DC. Plus it's on a more manageable scale and is generally nicer. So much so that I felt in a good mood as I wandered round even though I had just ended a 17 (seventeen) hour Amtrak journey from DC. Amtrak is to British trains what Stella is to Ace. Recommended. The total distance of the trip was about 760 miles, which, to put things into perspective, is roughly equivalent to the distance between London and Milan. And I'm not even a third of the way across this country yet.
I got off my train and dumped my bag at the hostel, but I had quite a few hours to kill before I could check in properly and have a shower. So I had to find something to do. Settled for going up the Sears Tower and checking out the view from the Skydeck (103rd floor) - it's the tallest building in America. The view isn't quite in the same league as that from various parts of NYC but in some ways it's a much more pleasant city to look at.
Just a short one today. Once I've had a chance to check out Chicago properly I'll update again.
