NORMAL LIFE: Business & Pleasure In Chicago - 28 July - 4 August

And so the time came for me to depart for Chicago. I was, in fact, going on business, but I opted to go the weekend beforehand to see the city (and also to readjust to the time-zone) before a week-long series of meetings. I arrived already at lunchtime on Friday, 28th July, and jumped into a yellow cab (of course!) to the city! As the cab edged nearer, you could see the skyscrapers in the distance which would become a regular, defining feature over the next week.

After settling into the Hilton Chicago on Michigan Avenue, I set off for a walk, armed with a camera. The humidity was stifling and, before long, my shirt was sticking to me. As the afternoon hours faded, however, the temperature also slightly began to decline. During the walk, I passed the impressive Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park, passed (but didn’t visit) the Navy Pier, and then proceed along the Chicago River back into the city. By the time I reached the inner parts of the city (known as The Loop), rush hour had arrived.

People hurried to and fro, anxious to get home and start their weekends. I noticed Union Station and took a quick peek at it's impressive Main Hall, said to reached a height of 11 floors with a glass ceiling. As I came out of the station, I saw the Sears Tower, the highest building in the USA at 443 metres high; from 1974 until 1996, the Sears Tower was the world’s tallest building.

I worked my way back South through countless blocks, determined to find my hotel. Already, my feet were tired and I was weary from the day’s traveling. The heat of the day hadn’t helped matters, but after a short nap, I showered, shaved, put on my glad rags and took a cab to Chicago’s Boystown, an area catering for gay men. I went to two bars, Cocktail (no laughing at the back, please!) and Roscoe’s; the first bar was full of arrogant queens, ignoring me quite casually. However, at the second bar, which had pool tables, a dance floor and attracted a mix crowd, I was asked to dance three times! Shyly, I declined the invitation and was in bed by 2am; like children, the minute you give those guys on the dance-floor an inch (and not literally!), they want the mile.

The following morning, I headed out straight away. Determined now to waste my money on cabs, I decided to try out Chicago’s subway system. From nearby Harrison Subway, I made my way to Chicago Station and, on foot, found the recommended Water Tower Place. I passed the Water Tower, one of the few structures that survived the 1871 Chicago Fire which destroyed 17,000 building, rendered 98,000 homeless and took the lives on some 300 people. I entered the nearby mall inside the Water Tower Place building. As I ascended to the first floor by escalator, I was amazed by the simple, but effective water feature spitting water drops into the air at random before the water cascaded into a lower portion before being catapulted into the air again – you have to see it to know what I mean!

I spent some time shopping and bought some souvenir t-shirts and some shirts for Bree and I from Abercrombie & Fitch, a popular brand that is not available in the UK nor in Finland. A couple of hours later, I left the mall, heading south. The mix of architecture in the area was something, a mish-mash of the water tower, with a red-brick block of flats with the John Hancock Building (Chicago’s highest building from 1969 until 1973 and in the last photo of this posting) towering over everything at 344 metres high.

I passed the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art and marveled at the contraption that had been deposited on their doorstep, resembling a caravan that had fallen into a hole in the ground, as if though an earthquake had occurred on that very spot.

After stopping for a quick pizza, I headed once again to The Loop. Before long, I was actually in a lift, on my way up to the top of the Sears Tower and what a view! From the top, you can see for miles.

More impressive than the highways that run in literally every direction is being able to follow the meandering waterways of the Chicago River followed by taking in the mass of buildings occupying the city. As I exited the Tower, I bought another t-shirt for Bree, emblazoned with ‘Chicago’.

As I wondered back towards the hotel, I passed the Chicago Board of Trade and the impressive 24.5 acre Millenium Park with its many features including Cloud Gate (resembling a huge metallic silver jelly bean) measuring 19.8 metres long, 14.1 metres wide and 9.9 metres high, reflecting the nearly skyscrapers. Moving onto the nearby Crown Fountains which, at some 20-odd metres high reflect images of people from Chicago whilst cascading water onto giggling visitors nearby; a welcome family attraction in the heat. I took in the Great Lawn before visiting the Lurie Garden, where the man-made waterway was full of people cooling their hot feet. You can find out more about Millenium Park, which is free to access, here.

I got back to the hotel about 4pm and, after re-hydrating (god, it was so hot my feet were throbbing!), went for a swim in the hotel’s 20 metre pool. Full of kids splashing around, it wasn't long before a lane was reserved for me as I swam length after length. Refreshed, I settled onto my bed and turned on the TV; I watched the conflict in the Middle East unfold on CNN before a one-hour special came on.

Apparently, it was the 25th Anniversary of a kidnapping which had captured the nation’s attention. Adam Walsh, was kidnapped, abused and then decapitated. The one-hour special told of how his parents had devoted their lives to getting the law changed to protect children from what the father consistently referred to as ‘the lowlifes’; I admired his forthrightness in a day where political correctness seems to have gone mad and we mustn't criticise anyone, must we?

Over the hour, the parents discussed how their marriage had survived and introduced their three subsequent children, the youngest of which looks uncannily like Adam; mature for his age, he told of how proud he was of his parents when President G. W. Bush shook hands with his parents, signifying the finalization of the Adam Walsh Act, a law aimed at protecting the nation's children. You can read more about this harrowing story here.

After a couple of Bacardi and cokes, I headed to the subway and visited Roscoe’s, my favourite bar. I didn’t stay long, but enjoyed it anyhow; the music is much more modern than that which is played in Finland and, standing at the edge of the dancefloor with a drink in hand, my hips moved to the rhythm; it was at this time that I started sending text messages to a couple of friends, letting them know I was safe, missing them and wished they were in Chicago with me to party the night away!

After another late night, I woke early on the Sunday morning, surprisingly awake and with one thing on my mind! IHOP! Yes, I jumped on the subway, exiting at Addison and downed breakfast at the International House of Pancakes. For just $6.99, I ate a breakfast with admittedly very little nutrition (come on, this IS America!) consisting of eggs, crispy bacon, diced hash browns with two pancakes. It was yummy, but afterwards I felt the strain as I continued to walk along North Halstead Street in the humidity. The sky suddenly turned grey and it rained softly.

After making a brief phone call to Bree and my family, I got back on the Subway at Belmont, exiting at Roosevelt, one stop south of my hotel. From there, I walked out to Adler Planetarium; my guide book had promised that this was the place to take in the Chicago Skyline and it wasn’t wrong! After admiring the view for a while, enjoying the merciful cool wind beneath the now-grey sky, I headed to the planetarium entrance from where I took the free trolley bus back to the hotel.

I went for a swim before heading to the on-site restaurant for a hamburger. By now, my trip was winding down for I had actually done everything in Chicago that I had set out to do – I’m not really a museum person and Chicago certainly has a lot of those! Later in the evening, one of my colleagues arrived from Finland. We met up and I ate a dessert while she started her dinner. Afterwards, we went for a walk in the nearby Grant and Millenium Parks. I was back in my hotel room before 9pm, totally knackered out! While CNN played in the background, I began to pack for business.

The next day, my colleague and I set off at 6am bound for Milwaukee to meet colleagues there. More than two hours later, we arrived and got productive. We left in the late afternoon, joined by two other colleagues from Helsinki. Together, we visited a shopping mall where I bought a new Samsonite suitcase, some shirts from Tommy Hilfiger, underpants from Calvin Klein and a cycling hat from Adidas. By the time we left, I was well and truly brand and it was starting to get dark.

Two hours later and just after 10pm, the four of us checked into our plush hotel right in the centre of Chicago’s metropolitan district. Costing $249 per night, our rooms were not as well decorated as the earlier hotels, but they were certainly bigger. The bed itself was huge!

Over the next three days, my colleagues and I attended a summit concerning our business area – as a new employee, it was educational, but also quite heavy. From time to time, I would switch off, although I feigned interest and enthusiasm as I stare blankly at the presentations beamed onto the walls. The meetings were long, ending at 6pm followed by group-wide entertainment.

On the first night, the Tuesday, we visited a steakhouse and ended up in The Whisky Club, listening to Jazz. On the second night, we boarded a bus which took us to nearby Navy Pier for a night onboard the Spirit of Chicago. Great food, endless drinks, tacky entertainment followed by all colleagues ending up on the dancefloor. We ended up on a coach which took us back to the hotel. On our arrival, some of us decided to continue and ended up in The Tavern on Michigan, a crowded sports bar.

The night continued when, upon returning to the hotel about 2am, we toyed with the idea of going for a swim in Lake Michigan. We all clambered into the lift, unsure what to do. For fun (sounds childish now), we went up to the oh-so-posh tenth floor and, as the doors opened, all let out a deathening series of shhhh’s! It was hilarious. Well, we were all pissed, you had to be there really! Anyway, we all returned to our rooms only to meet up in reception ten minutes later. We visited the deserted beach and as I quickly waded through the water, it felt like I had been thrown off the Titanic. I had never experienced a coldness like it! To cut a long story short, we ended up in a colleague’s room back at the hotel finishing off what remained of my litre of Bacardi. I got into bed about 3.30am.

It was a hard start to another long day, the only consolation being that it was the last day! When I received news at 6pm that I was to be promoted as Global Product Manager, I was overjoyed although it was hard to summon the energy to reflect that. As it was the last night, I ended up dining with four great ladies in a Greek restaurant, Athena, where I tucked into a succulent chicken kebab. When we returned to the hotel, we met in the bar and tried the novel Blueberry Margaritas being advertised. After three of those, everyone started making there way to bed, except me: I went back to North Halstead one last time, getting into bed after 3am.

I woke up the next morning, now Friday, at 9am and headed down the hotel breakfast room; I had an appointment with the big boss and my counterpart Global Product Manager. Together, we defined my role and briefly discussed the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. Feeling incredibly motivated, we parted which gave me an opportunity to gather my thoughts and take in the news. As I walked around the city one last time, I popped into a huge bookstore and bought a Product Managers Guide, just for reassurance!

Later in the afternoon, one of my colleagues came back to the city and called me to ask if I wanted to join her for dinner. We met up for a quick dinner and a few glasses of wine before I collected my luggage from the hotel and headed to the airport. As the cab joined the highway, I glanced back at the city and it was only then that I realized just how much I had walked around Chicago.

When I arrived at O’Hare, I quickly checked in and waited at Gate 15 for my initial flight to Copenhagen. The flight went okay, although I was seated next to a smelly, overweight Indian guy who, during my sleep, had raised the barrier of the seat between us; when I woke, I noticed that his backside was rubbing up mine and I just wanted to vomit, but what can you do during those late-night flights, eh?!

Overall, I must have slept about 6 of the 9-hour flight so, when I arrived at Copenhagen, I felt surprisingly alert. When I boarded the flight to Helsinki, however, tiredness quickly overtook me and I dozed for the 90-minute flight. I took a cab home and, during the ride, I called Bree to let him know that I wouldn’t join him at the summer cottage for jetlag was bound to kick in. He understood and as I ended the call, I looked out of the window and up at the clear, blue sky. There were no skyscrapers, but I was home.