The Midwest

Eastern Missouri was pretty. Limestone and lots and lots of foliage. Truely, a lot greener than I though it would be. Southern St. Louis, on the other hand, looked like Sarajavo - the city center is probably much cleaner, but AMTRAK didn't get to close to it. The nearest money machine was three blocks away from the train station. Having narrowly survived an experience in Florence, Italy where an idle detour lead to being on the other side of town relative to the train station with 15 minute to departure, I decided that I wasn't going to solve my food problems there . The one saving grace of the view from Union Station was the wonderfully tacky Sheraton building. Crossing the mighty Mississippi was a great view of the steel rainbow that represents St. Louis in stamp collections. I guess it rains aluminium in Missouri.

After passing a billion ears of Illinois corn, and yawing wildly over heat stressed rails, we arrived at Chicago six hours late. Looming in the distance was a great Mail Order Tower, dark, flaring toward its base, with two great ivory fangs piercing the sky. I will leave it to the geeks in the audience to figure out what I was thinking of.

Posted from Sears Tower Starbucks