Back from Chicago

We’re back from Chicago. Let’s see… If I can remember right…

+ Swissotel Chicago is generally nice and our room had a great view.
– Swissotel Chicago could use more comfortable beds. Their computer service also went down so we had to wait a while to check in. Bathroom was clean and huge, but had a bit of mildew in the caulk and grout.

+ CTA seems to be pretty easy to navigate, if once can figure out the route needed. Hotel concierge is good for helping with this.

+ Downtown Chicago seems pretty nice and walkable. The bums trying to pull the hand-you-a-newspaper-then-demand-money scam would immediately stop asking if told “No, thanks.” Same with people fliering.

+ Amtrack seems nice, except for the waiting area in Chicago Union Station (crowded, not well designed), being 40 minutes late getting back to Birmingham, the REALLY rough tracks on the return trip, and the smell of burning tires coming from the train every time it stopped. Also, some of the passengers:

· The noisy two mother / grandma combo on the way to Chicago who let the kids eat lots of sugar, watch DVDs out loud, and generally run amok.
· The three beachball-shaped, oily, smelly people (mom and two sons), and another who didn’t genetically match them, but was consistently bossed around by the others.

Erm… That’s it for now. Photos coming later.