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Whenever I fly, I try to get a window seat. I love to see the cities and towns that we pass by, especially when we're landing.
I also love it when I'm flying back home, and we're landing in chicago, especially at night time. There's always a little jump in my heart when I'm coming in after a long trip and I see the lights of Chicago. I'm not talking about the lights of downtown Chicago (when you're in a plane, the lights are pretty far away), I'm talking about 'the grid'. That's what I call it in my head, anyway.
Chicago, like many other cities, has its streets in a grid, making it really easy to get around. When you see it lit from above, you can see how exact the grid is, with a couple diagonal streets like Elston or Milwaukee. Unlike most other cities I've flown into, when you get to Chicago this grid is HUGE, the city lights stretch all the way into the horizon, making it into this futuristic land of amber lights, with the side street lights twinkling inbetween the trees.
No matter how tough the trip is, this sight always calms me down, brings me back to reality and gives me a sense of peace. There's no better feeling than landing back in your hometown after you've been away!
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Of course, then I came to the harsh reality that I totally forgot where I had parked my car. I've been to O'Hare about 8 times in the last 3 months, and no, I don't write down where I park my car. The O'Hare parking lot has this pretty cool 'Sport Song' reminder system, where the parking floors are divided in the Chicago Sports teams, as well as a song related to those teams. For the last 4 times I've been there I've ended up on the Chicago Blackhawks floor, with some obscure "Here Comes the Hawks" song playing in the lobby. I swear I thought that's where I parked this time. But no, the car wasn't there. So then I went to the White Sox floor. Nope. Then the first floor, the Chicago Cubs, and after seeing all the Benz's, Cadillacs and BMW's parked down there, realized that I had ended up in the valet area. Finally, it was down to the Chicago Wolves and da Bears. I chose the Bears since it was a lower floor, and lo and behold, there was my car, parked right across from the lobby.
Remember that feeling of peace and happiness that I talked about above? After half an hour of searching for my car (at midnight, mind you), that feeling of euphoria had passed to make way for grumpiness, humid stickiness, and annoyance.
It's good to be home!
Posted by Yano at June 26, 2005 10:23 AMThat's awesome. The one time I flew into Chicago at night time, I was struck by what an exact grid it was. Amazing!! You have east coast cities that are grids, but not that precise. It was Christmastime too, so as we descended, you could see all the Christmas lights and even the trees in people's homes. That was very cool. I was in awe of how coming over Lake Michigan you go from the deepest black of the lake and then there is a distinct edge where the shore is and immediately the city lights begin. Chicago is definitely one of the most impressive places to land, at least if you're coming from the east!
The only more impressive place was the old Kai Tak airport which was literally in downtown Hong Kong... the plane descends and you're literally flying through a canyon of skyscrapers and touch down in the center of the city! Pretty jawdropping experience.
Posted by: noelle on June 26, 2005 06:39 PMWhenever I see landscapes that flat, I always get a little depressed. Don't know why, just do.
Posted by: soo on June 27, 2005 11:34 AM
