The Finally Odyssey, Post

So on Sunday we headed outta town. But we didn't start straight up North back to Wisconsin. No, we took a detour to a sacred place. If there was a god, this would be his statue.


When we got to Wisconsin we spent a fair amount of time and money at an outlet mall in Kenosha. Some finds were made, eg. 8 T-shirts for $60 plus taxes. It was a great day. Then we headed back to Appleton, went here and there and laid low for the rest of the night.

There's not much to remember from the rest of the week. My suitcases grew fuller, thanks to my ever expanding DVD-collection and my wallet grew thinner. I spent most of the week watching TV, speed shopping at the Fox River Mall and agonizing about school that started the day after I got home from Chicago and six days before I was due to return to Finland.

So some agony was building up. To relieve the stress me and Mommy took a drive to Lake Michigan on Saturday, the day of my departure. When we got back from said drive we logged on to the local airports webpage to check what was my exact departure time. To our surprise the last plane leaving to my first destination, Chicago was leaving in 40 minutes and not 3 hours as we had assumed. The traveling Gods really had it in for me.

So off to the airport we went. We were too late for my plane.

It was Labor Day weekend (Labor Day was on the following Monday, two days from now) and they were on 'holiday schedule'. What a crock of shit! Fortunately the polite man at the counter was able to book me on a fligt from Green Bay to Chicago that would actually get me in Chicago earlier than was originally planned.

So we headed back to Mom's house one last time and I showered before we were off again. This time further up North to an airport a shade bigger than the one in Appleton. After Thankyous and Goodbyes I was off again, on my way back home, a new home eventually.

Flight to Chicago. Shuttle to another Terminal.


Through security. Wandering around. Back to the other side for my first meal of MickeyD's on American soil in over 7 years. Waiting for my meal for 40 minutes. Getting two apple pies for my time. Through security, again. Waiting for my plane with annoying Scandinavians, listening to my prized iPod. Sitting next to a military man on the plane. Sleeping next to a military man on the plane. Waking up at Copenhagen. Feeling homesick and tired for 6 hours (that felt like 6 months) at a very crowded, infamous and way too familiar airport.

Then I heard the first Finnish words uttered by someone else than me or my mom in almost three weeks. I felt really bummed out. I had a great vacation and now it was time to get back home and back to work.

Thank You, America. You are a relaxing place. I wouldn't wanna live there, but I'm glad that I got to visit You again.

Chicago Revisited, Part II

Why it's a Hummer limousine. Only in America. *fake laugh*


Here's Johnny! Again.

After a little sip of Coke me and my mom (and fifty strangers) took a boat ride on The Chicago River. You know what's coming. Just enjoy.


Please, remember to breath.


That building, while not as tall as others, is actually the 5th largest building in the world and second only to the Pentagon in the U.S..


Sears mate!


What's that building you say? Well, our very informative cruise director told us that up on the penthouse of that building one Al Capone held several parties. Other fun fact from the tour: The Chicago River is the only river in the world in which the direction of the flowing water has been succesfully reversed. A crazy bunch, those Romans Americans.

So, here's a story. On the boat we heard that the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight, was currently being filmed in the city. After the cruise we headed to the tallest building in America and on the way we saw 'a set' where the filming was occuring that day. I wasn't allowed to take a picture of the scene they were shooting in front of the Chicago Board of Trade Building but this is a movie car I saw a block before we passed the set.


The scene was comprised of the huge building in the background and a bunch of cops standing in formation listening to someone (supposedly Harvey Dent played by Aaron Eckhart) give a speach. Don't believe me? Fine I'll show you.

In the bottom left corner of this picture is the alleged police officers and Art Deco Building in front of them is the Trade Building I wrote about earlier. So there, jog on!


So, that's settled. Fortunately, there are some good pictures in here.


That's just beautiful, let's take another look at that.


So, that was our trip to Chicago basically. Another night and then on Sunday we headed out of town. I'll make Sunday's odyssey and the rest of my trip into the last megapost of this blog.

Here's an artsy-fartsy picture to send you off. Please notice the domey United Center near the center of this picture.

Chicago Revisited, Part I

Not as soon as I would've liked. Chicago was a great town. It's been pretty much downhill since. But first, here are some beautiful pictures.

These pictures will probably be monopolized by The John Hancock Building and the Sears Tower, but if I had to pick the thing I love about the America the most, it would be the scyscrapers. So if you feel dizzy, tell yourself, it's only a picture. Got a headache? Have some aspirin. Got an STD? Stay the fuck away from me! I didn't give them to you!

After three hours on the highway and an hour in the suburbs we finally saw more than just a glimpse of the Chicago Skyline. The most recognisable building is the John Hancock Center. I said Cock...


On our way there, it dawned upon me that our hotel was located on the same street as The Cock-building, Madison Avenue. Our own room didn't have a great view of the city, though it did give a glimpse of what I (correctly) thought was the Sears Tower. Fortunately our 26th floor corridor had a nice view of it's on, looking north on Madison Avenue.


So me and mom headed straight out to spend some time getting acquainted with the city. We headed South on Madison, saw Millennium Park, ate some steak and made a round trip back. The rest of the pictures weren't so great. I'll just show you Millennium Park, okay?


If you think these pictures are bad, you can take my (imaginary) friend Donnie's advice and go suck a fuck. Besides, these huge ass pics were taken with my Mom's piece of crap camera. Thanks for letting me use it Mom, I love you! You probably shouldn't complain anyway as the second tallest building, The AON, is pictured in the background. Or half of it, at least.

So, that was Friday night in Chicago. The real tourism began on Saturday... With this:


Pretty impressive huh? Too bad we don't have anything that enormous in Finland. Not, if you don't count the bulge I get in my pants while watching gay porn. I mean big tits!

I could tell you all kinds of interesting stuff about The Building of Cock, but I'll let you enjoy the view without all the bullshit. You can find anything you need to know about currently Chicago's third tallest building on wikiPedia. Here's the reverse angle on my first Chicago picture.


The morning sky wasn't too clear, but anyway here's a view across the city. And a close-up to boot.


In the second pic the most notable things are The Trump tower, with all it's cranes about half the way completed, pretty much making it the second tallest building in this view (and the city) when it's completed, the round Marina City towers and, of course, the Sears tower in the background. Don't fret, we're getting to that chunk of iron and glass later. We'll get on top of it, if you know what I mean.

As you may know, Chicago is a prominent city in TV shows and movies. One of my favorite shows growing up was ER. And if I'm correct I was able to replicate a view they used pretty often on the show. Namely when they weren't standing on the roof of the hospital trying to sort things out. Maybe I got the place right.


Who's that man with a horrible fashion sense, you ask. Is he some kind of pirate? Well if downloading copyrighted material on the internet makes one a squashbuckling rogue pirate, then so be it. Yarr, ye be a pirate. While you, my friend...


You're fired.


Peek-a-boo! I love that picture. Oh, and what's that coming in to the picture on the right?

To be continued...