Tuesday, October 16, 2007

commuting

I've got one more day of work - tomorrow. Whoopee! So today I thought I'd show you some of the steps I've taken over the last 8 weeks.

Awhile back I brought my camera to work with me. It was pretty silly - me snapping pictures in the middle of a morning commute. My camera is nothing fancy, so I couldn't pass myself off as an amateur photographer or anything remotely like it. And since I was in my work clothes I didn't look like a tourist, either. I just looked like a strange working girl taking pictures. But if anyone asked, I was all ready with a made up excuse about how this was really for my kindergartner son. Of course, no one asked. The whole crowd was much too sleepy to be inquisitive. But it was fun anyway.

Ok, so here we go. Hope you enjoy this!

Here's my view of sleepy passengers taking the metra train in from the suburbs to the city. Actually, they don't look too sleepy here.

A view from my window seat, still at the station. Park & ride to the city.

After 32 express minutes, we have rolled into Chi-town. A mad rush for exits and escalators at Union Station.
Emptying out of Union into the street. The start of my walk to work. It takes me about 25 minutes from here to get to the office building where I was stationed.

There's the Chicago "L" going by. It gets a lot of bad press and always seems to have significant operating issues going on, but when I used to live down here I never minded taking it. Nice people watching view from above, don'tcha think?


If you prefer Caribou over Starbucks, as I do, you gotta look extra hard for one down here in the Loop. Worth finding it, though.

A random look up a city street.

That one was so exciting I decided to repeat it.

Still walking. I really did look like a fool with my camera. But for the blog, there's no such thing as vanity, wouldn't you say?

Something important looking going on at Daley plaza. Maybe a job fair. My mission was too important for me to stop and find out.

Ah, yes. The corner of heartbreak and despair. Macy's in the old Marshall Field's State Street location. You can hear the sobs of Chicagoans walking by as you approach the building.

More randomness here. Look, it's the L again.

By now I've worked up a bit of a sweat. I'm all the way over by Millennium Park, which is several blocks east of the train station and right next to Lake Michigan. You can see that the sky is starting to clear up a bit. Looks like we're going to have sunshine after all.

Another view of the park.


Walking next to the old Chicago public library. This looks like a shot from Paris...or am I exaggerating here?

There's another shot of the park.

Now I leave the street and I'm up on the 39th floor of the office building where I worked. This is the view out my window. Looking due east, and a little south.

Now looking north. You can see a tiny bit of Navy Pier.
And here's a view from the conference room down the hall. Straight south. Birdseye view of Millennium Park.

Now looking a little more southeast. You can see how pretty the day turned out to be.


A couple more shots.

Too bad the view was the best part of the project!

Of course I meant to take more pictures...I should have even snapped some shots looking north on this day. But wouldn't you know, they started asking me to be productive. Nice people I worked with. Miserable project, but really great team.
The next time I go downtown, I'll try to remember to take some pictures. It's fun for me to see things like this, too. You always think you'll remember these shots forever in your mind, but then you don't.
Happy Tuesday, everyone!

26 comments:

Michelle said...

Love the tour! Thanks...though, being the southerner that I am (and ya know we love our cars) I can't imagine actally having to do your commute...train and all! (((hugs)))

tulipmom said...

I enjoyed these photos, makes me miss Chicago. I lived in Evanston and Chicago for about 10 years.

I also prefer Caribou to Starbucks.

Nunnie's Attic said...

Well good luck tomorrow on your last day! Thanks for giving us a little tour. I've never been to Chicago although my sister just got back and said it was beautiful.

We don't have Caribou coffee stands around here like we do Starbucks. BUT, we can get the granola bars in the grocery store. I absolutely LOVE the vanilla latte bars. They are so good!!

Love,
Julie

Liz Harrell said...

These are fascinating pictures! What a commute though, that 25 minute walk would be awful in cold weather... glad you are done before winter! I sometimes long for a train to work, but I do love my car.

Kim -today's creative blog said...

What a great idea! Loved the tour. THanks

Libby said...

Oh my gosh the views from your office are incredible!

Susie Q said...

I adore Chicago! I loved seeing your pictures and know you will be so glad you have them!

Good luck today!

Hugs,
Sue

Tara said...

Love the photos! I lived in Chicago - Old Town - for 5 years after college and it's one of my favorite cities in the world - I think it's really livable. You might enjoy it here in the Twin Cities - it's where Caribou originated - they're everywhere!

TCP said...

Hey, an awful lot of that looks very familiar! Swap the el for the train and it's pretty close to my commute.

(Don't even get me started on how bad the el has gotten in the past few years!)

Rosemary said...

How very interesting and gray.
Everything looks kind of gray.
It doesn't really sound like too much fun. I like the ell, looks like ER.
I have never had Caribou's coffee.
I guess I'm not much of a city girl.
Thanks for showing us what it is like.
Rosemary

Suburban prep said...

I agree with you that Caribou is better than Starbucks. I know pretty much where they are on the North Shore.
Thank you for the photos. Even though I live in the Chicagoland area, it still is a beautiful city.

hqm said...

That was fun! Thanks for sharing!
I should show pictures of my commute and veiws from my office...naa to boring and a bit depressing!

Bristol said...

Wow what a commute. I will never complain about my 15 minute commute ever again. Good Luck with your last day.

Bristol

Carol Dunton said...

Wow! Love the tour!! It only takes me 2 minutes to drive to work, which may sound wonderful, but when you live, work and shop within a one square mile area, it all equates to 'boring'. Thank you for taking us along for a ride! I love Chicago..my brother lives in Aurora...and being from Ohio, I miss that mid-west feel. Great photos... you da best! : )

k e r r y said...

I loved this post - it was like our own personal tour of your day! thank you!

Alice said...

Thanks for the tour. I wouldn't mind trading those views for mine for a day but you can keep that long commute. It must add so much extra tiredness to your day.

Tres Poshe Preppy said...

Love it! Even tough I live here, I still think Chicago is great! Great photos.

I like Caribou, I feel like I'm in the great northwest when I'm in there, a little escape. :)

tommie said...

Love Caribou.....I even buy the granola bars in bulk now!!

Annie-Savor This Moment said...

Love the pictures! Reminds me of San Francisco, though we would take the ferry from Sausalito and walk downtown from Pier 1.

Simply Stork said...

Hi I'm new here...Loved this post...great shots! I thought I was the only one who looked like a photo snapping machine :o)
~simply stork~

Bethany said...

What great pictures!! This took me back to my old college days when I went up to Chicago to visit my friends who were interning...I have one old photo which is just like yours!! My long lost highschool sweetheart is in that town now... I found myself looking to see if he was in a photo! ugh. But I do love Chicago!!

SLC said...

Thanks for sharing the pictures. I've only been to Chicago a couple times on business trips, but think it's a fabulous city. (Except I wouldn't want to be there in the winter.)

Elizabeth said...

That is so cool. I love that you took all those just for the blog. How fab.

Deb said...

What a great tour of Chicago - you live in a beautiful city! The views from your office building are spectacular! Now when I see people taking pics of "unusual" things, I often wonder if they have a blog :-}So glad you took your camera with you!

Kimba said...

I have never missed Chicago as much as i do now! Great tour!!! It will always be Marshall Field's to me.

pedalpower said...

Love Chicago...going with my 17 year old to see Wicked this weekend. Your view from the office was stunning!