drive me around

i'm writing an article for which i needed to take a double-decker bus tour of Chicago (and review the experience.) while the 13 stops on the tour are all places i have visited multiple times, it was still very nice sitting on the second tier of the bus and listening to the guide narrate stories and facts about each building we passed.

usually when we drive through the city, we are headed somewhere and i rarely find myself looking up at the tops of the buildings anymore. every now and then, taher and i take a drive for the heck of it, but it's usually along lake shore drive. this tour was through the entire downtown area; we went as far north as water tower and as far south as museum campus. and everywhere in between.

i found myself re-inspired by the city. there is certainly a rich history to chicago; writing articles about the origins of various neighborhoods has given me a much broader knowledge of this history. but taking the tour i realized, again, what a unique set of circumstances have led to what chicago is today.

a huge part of this history is the Great Chicago Fire. the fire affected the city's politics, its economy, its culture and its architecture. it gave us this immense lakefront that belongs to everyone in the city and can never, ever be appropriated for just a few people's use.

anyway. tomorrow i take one more tour- the architectural cruise on the chicago river - and i am looking forward to it very much. this article has been fun to write.