...And Hello, Chicago

     …Continued from yesterday:
    After the 7-hour Megabus trip from Columbus,

…through western Ohio,

...and Indiana,

…including  my favorite leg of the trip, through the Indiana wind farms,

...that always remind me of graceful ballerinas or acrobats,

...we arrived at our terminus in downtown Chicago from where we rolled our luggage to the Clinton Street el (as Chicagoans call their elevated/underground  city train),

...and then took the el to the Damen stop in the Wicker Park neighborhood,

...from where we walked through the neighborhood,

...to the hostel where we stayed during our visit,  The Urban Holiday Lofts.

      Though in the past we've always stayed at the IHSP Hostel,  located about two blocks from this one,

...in truth,  the IHSP has been progressively more run-down and less well-kept on each of our last few visits, and the WIFI was always terrible, so we decided to try someplace new.  And we're glad we did.
         The Urban Holiday Lofts is located in Wicker Park on Wabansia Street next door to a beautiful little grocery store called Olivia's. 

     And even though we did really like the place, as soon as we stepped into the hostel it became  clear to us that this may not be an ideal refuge for the terribly out of shape,

...or those with a fear of heights.

     View from the top floor, where our room was.

     The office was a bright, pleasant space on the second floor,

...where we checked in and made the acquaintance of our friendly, helpful concierge, Ian.

     After checking in we schlepped up another two flights to our room, number 403.

     Our room had super-sized, super-comfy, super-clean bunk-beds (Tom gallantly took the top bunk, though the bottom was plenty wide enough for two),

....a brick wall, a desk, a nice view of the city,

...and a coat rack.

    The communal bathrooms out in the hall were also nice and clean,

    This one even had a fancy sink

     After we settled in we took a once around the hostel.

    The day room was on our floor.

     After our tour and a brief rest we put on our under armor - it was Chicago-in-December-freezing the whole time we were there - and  headed back outside and began walking towards Logan Square, a neighborhood about a mile from Wicker Park, where our daughter Claire lives.  The plan was that we'd start walking towards Logan Square and Claire would start walking towards Wicker Park and we'd meet somewhere around the middle.  Which we did.

     Along the way we walked the 606, an old, out-of-use   elevated train line that has been transformed into a wonderful walking path,

     While on the 606 we met up with Claire, who took us to a cute, funky, low-lit little local restaurant,

...called The Handle Bar,

...where Miguel met up with us.

     Though the service was good and our meals attractively plated, the food got mixed reviews.

     Claire ordered a vegetarian dish called The Green Meanie that she really liked, and she especially liked her side of creamy mac and cheese,

...and I was likewise very happy  my tasty tuna steak sandwich with hot, crispy fries.

     However Tom declared his fish tacos just okay,

...and Miguel found his pasta carbonara a little on the bland side.

     After dinner Miguel and Claire pointed Tom and I in the direction of our hostel,  then they walked their way and we walked ours, back to our room at the Urban Holiday Lofts where I discovered to my surprise and delight, 

…that the WIFI was great!

     To be continued...