Stop 15: Chicago

With leaves raining down like confetti onto the roadway, the bus sped its way to the airport. I am leaving Hawaii, heading to the mainland and that shaky sense of home. There is something ineffable about Honolulu that makes it rather attractive. I mean, it IS beautiful (I've just been spoiled). The thing is, however nice it is, I couldn't imagine living here, though those that do seem to love congratulating themselves on it, almost giving themselves one huge pat on the back (much the same as I do about Montreal I guess). It all seems a little too tinsel town to me, like the city that never grew up, basking in its balmy breezes and palm trees without looking at the natural beauty it eviscerated. This is one of the greatest tragedies of many modern cities, I fear, that they so lack the history (especially architectural) that makes older ones so much more appealing.

Just as some people profess to feeling a sense of place or...humanity in a house, for example, I believe the same can be said for larger human constructs, and Honolulu, in my eyes, feels rather empty - a shell still looking for the thing that used to fill it. That it was sold long ago for negligible profit serves general amnesia well: furthermore, what could be done about it now, anyway? This dull thud at the door of despondency/inability to make a difference once history has swept through is...universal? I wish I could think of more answers instead of questions.

Chicago, by contrast, is such a beautiful city, not in a stuffy, traditional way but a far more fun one; like an adventure playground spilled its boundaries into the adult world. Wandering around, your eyes are truly open to all a modern city can be - and is. Granted, the winters here might suck more than in Montreal (the winds, or that the 'southerners' have less kaputz than their Canuck counterparts?) but wow, this place has a lot to offer! When you're sick of architecture there are parks, museums, and the water: Lake Michigan stretching out like a sea in disguise. From the minute I landed at the airport (just like entering Melbourne), I knew I would like it here. And I plan on coming back - this before this visit is even over!