I got a window seat which was very cool. I love aerial views. I’m always trying to remember what I learned in geography, like oxbow lakes (formed when a meandering river takes a shortcut).

I also got a good sense of how Chicago is laid out from above.

Lots of trees.

Couple super tall buildings. You can just see the top of the Hancock building, the black blob peeping out above a white building on the left, and the Sears’ Tower, the big black blob on the right. We’re looking towards the east in this photo.

Once we had taxied over the train and car highway (very bizarre) we were quickly off the plane and greeting Duncan by the baggage collection. Then we went to get on the “L“, (equivalent to the Underground), which mostly goes overground or above ground here – L standing for elevated.

The line which runs out to O’Hare airport runs up the centre of a 4 lane highway. It is a bit full-on standing in the middle all that.

And here is a detail of Duncan’s goofy wave in that last photo.

It is hot here in Chicago. Actually a bit hotter than usual for May, though June through August is always hot and humid. It’s been around 27 degrees celsius the last few days, reaching a staggering 30 this afternoon. Thankfully, our hosts, D&J, have air conditioning throughout their house. It’s like magic!

Here’s their house.

They just bought a new rocking bench for the porch there, which is lovely to sit in and watch the street or read a book. They live in the Albany Park neighbourhood. It is in the north of the City of Chicago, and is “one of the most ethnically diverse in the United States”.

Appropriately then, we went out to a Columbian place for dinner when we arrived, just round the corner from D&J’s house.

This was the grilled steak and chicken dish (meant for one? we shared between 2!), which was deeeelicious. That’s a yummy empanada (top left) which we had as a starter, next to the green garlicy sauce, cilantro [fresh coriander will be known thus, while I am here ok!] and/or parsley, we weren’t sure. There’s a fried plantain on the plate too.

The next couple days we all had work to do, so we got on with that. This is me working in the dining room which has a mirror at the end, reflecting the lounge and its windows which look out onto the street.

We did explore the local neighbourhood, taking a walk, checking out the local shops. I also went to the lovely Bloom Yoga studio in Rockwell for a class one evening. On the way home I made a little video of the “L” level crossing.

I was intending to take a photo of the station but my phone camera was on video so I got video instead. Out here the tracks run along street level or a bit higher, so there are lots of level crossings. I was in the middle trying to take my photo, when the bell started ringing, and I didn’t fancy being in the middle of the tracks when it went by. So the video starts with me dashing to a safe position behind the barrier! Hang on in there for the bit with the train rushing past.

There was more excitement to be had on my way home, as I saw a couple rabbits hopping around the wide grassy area between the pavement and the road. Chicago turns out to be ‘green’ down on the ground and not just from the air, which makes wandering about this neighbourhood very pleasant.

Okay I’ve run out of time – the new (gas) BBQ which North assembled in the garden today needs some food putting on it now. So I will have to save my impressions of downtown, which I explored yesterday, for next time. I’ll leave you with a little taster though – the view of downtown Chicago from Millenium Park.

The Longest Way 1.0 – one year walk/beard grow time lapse from Christoph Rehage on Vimeo.

This video is brilliant to watch because of the journey that you get to see a glimpse of as the background to this guy’s walk across China. But the reason I like this video so much -given that the self portrait timelapse video has been done many times before, the best one by Noah which was even parodied on The Simpsons- is that it uses video and not camera, and so each shot that makes up the timelapse has a little movement in it. Not always, but occasionally. From just a blink of the eye, through hair blowing in the gail force winds, to a brother or lover dancing around in the background.  It gives the whole concept a new texture which I haven’t seen before, and I love it.

I took the week off to it spend with my friend who lives in Plymouth, and also to celebrate my birthday which happens to coincide with this spectacular event (as well as the annual Perseids meteor shower, which unfortunately we were prevented from enjoying due to cloud cover).

Plymouth is a great location for the fireworks competition because the waterfront of Plymouth is large, meandering and on many levels which means there is no jostling for positions and you don’t have to worry about being stood behind the tallest-person-in-the-world. Having said that, there are definitely some prime spots for watching the fireworks display. The grassy embankment of the Royal Citadel is a prime spot.

In fact on the second day I was walking on the Hoe at about 4pm and I saw people taking up their positions at the top of this embankment already, 5 1/2 hours before the fireworks display begins! Not surprising then, that they were kitted out with deck chairs, tents, tripods and cool boxes.

I’m imagining that the person who made the following video was probably one of those getting into position early. This video is a recording of the winning display which was by a company called Phoenix Fireworks from Sevenoaks. Apparently members of the public could vote online, though we didn’t. If you have the broadband speed, I recommend you watch this full screen and in HD – it’s pretty impressive. Oh and listen to the background commentary too, its quite amusing.

In this photo of one of the lower levels of the Hoe I explored earlier in the day, you can see the jetty from which the fireworks are set off. All the water surrounding the jetty is full of boats during the displays, though overnight mooring isn’t allowed so they all go shooting off to their marinas as soon as the last firework has exploded.

Here you can see the little fishing spot where we sat on the 2nd night, with our feet dangling off the edge as we enjoyed our front row seat of the fireworks displays.

I know I said you don’t have to worry about people getting in the way of your view, but I took this next photo while I was still getting into position. I rather like the way the person’s head has a halo of firework though, don’t you? The big firework above reminds me of photos of jellyfish underwater.

You can see all my photos in this slideshow below. They’re a bit blurry but they do capture the scale and calibre of the displays. Check out the reflection of the light in the water. That was really fab.

Last week I received an email attachment from a friend in Vancouver of this stunning photo. (Click the image to get the full WOW! effect.) This is a view of downtown Vancouver skyscrapers shrouded in fog at sunrise, taken from Cypress mountain, one of the mountains (with ski slopes) which loom over the city.

There has been much debate about who took this photo because there were many photographers up on the Cypress Bowl road that morning (this one is good because it has labels identifying what can be seen above the fog) but I think people are missing the point of why this particular shot is so striking: seeing a city from above the fog or cloud is pretty cool, but something not completely unattainable in these days of jetting around the globe.

What makes this photo so remarkable is the tree in the bottom right hand corner, which indicates that the photo is taken on solid ground, not from a airplane. Realising this gives me a touch of vertigo, which isn’t so far from the feeling I get being in Vancouver and looking up at those enormous mountains (when they aren’t hidden by cloud, which is often.)

The photo I took (below) when I was visiting in December might help you get an idea of the geography – its taken from Queen Elizabeth Park which is south of downtown, so we are looking back in the towards the mountains on which the fog photographers stood. I think Cypress mountain is on the left of the dip in the mountains, where the two peaks are obscured by cloud.

If you are curious about who took the Vancouver under fog photo you can follow the trail I took starting here. Someone who’d been emailed the photo posted it on their own Flickr stream, which leads you here, where it gets credited to Scott Miller and the Vancouver Sun (a local paper that printed the image). A couple days later the same blogger corrected the credit to Blair Kent after someone recognised the photo and revealed the real author. (The Vancouver Sun have also since corrected their credit).

What really surprised me, is that a keen photographer with a brand new Canon EOS 5D Mark II didn’t already have an online photo-sharing account set up on which to post his photos. Perhaps if he had all this confusion wouldn’t have happened. Well, Blair Kent has finally caught up and has since set up his own Flickr stream. It goes to show you can never be sure when you are emailing a few friends some photos, that they won’t find their way into other people’s plagiarising hands.

There are many wonderful things about Montreal, that would require several posts here, but what I tend to focus on most is the food. Eating out in Montreal is cheap, easy and absolutely delicious. I think it is quite impressive that I only went up one clothes size in the 3 years I lived there, because the food is irresistable!

On “the Main” or St. Laurent, just south of Duluth is Schwartz’s Smoked Meat Deli. I’m afraid my friend’s vegetarian husband is going to have to close his eyes and nose while she indulges in this most delightful sandwich. Mounds of steaming tender smoked beef quivering between two slices of sour dough bread. STUNNING.

Just next door, at Mondo Fritz, is something for meat eaters and veggies alike. If you like chips and gravy, you will just adore this Quebec speciality, Poutine. Poutine is chips served with gravy and melted cheese curds, which are like lumps of cheese. You get this dish at all fast food joints in francophone Canada but Mondo Fritz has a gourmet version which I’d say is unbeatable. You might want to go for the Gardinier version which has some green vegetables like peas or brocolli in it. Their gravy is vegetarian, but they also do Poutine au Steak and other meaty delights. Or you can just go for their chips straight up with a choice of about 6 different mayos. All this washed down with a nice big pitcher of beer! YUM!

Still in the same area, you must try some lovely Empanadas from La Chilenita, there are 2 branches: one on the corner of Napoleon and de Bullion, the other further up the Plateau at 4348 Rue Clark. There are lots of veggie options here, I remember one that had olives and artichokes amongst other ingredients – it was always a tough decision choosing! This is great to eat on the go, or you can sit down at one of a couple small tables to eat it – but watch out, then you will be in danger of go back to the counter and eating up their whole stock!

Next up is some proper Jewish Montreal bagels. We’re not talking any of this American doughy bread in the shape of a fat doughnut business. No. These are genuine boiled and baked bagels, and at my particular favourite St Viateur Bagel shop and you see them sliding down a big runner as they come out of the oven en masse. Pick up a tub of smoked fish paté to spread on them and buy lots, you’ll eat ‘em! [Cripes! They even have a website and do deliveries - I wonder how much it cost to send to London UK?!]

I’ve just been doing some research online and have an awful feeling that Mondo Fritz has closed down, which seems impossible given my rave review, but perhaps my review has come too late! Anyway, just incase, or as well, you might visit Patati Patata Friterie. It is a tiny eatery right on the corner of Rachel and St Laurent. They do a lovely little burger and great french fries – maybe they do poutine too?

Ok, so you’ve been well fed on the Plateau, so now you just want to roll yourself downtown to try out an exquisite Laham Bagine from Al-Taib, a Lebanese Bakery on rue Guy (corner de Maisonneuve). This place gets a lot of business selling pizza slices to the Concordia University students, on the downtown campus, but those really in the know will go for their own Lebanese Laham Bagine*. Its like a pizza, very thin dough with a thin spread of a spinach or ground meat topping, but the best bit is that they serve it rolled up and filled with salad. What I love about this salad in particular (though you can choose your own selection) is the pickled turnip option. This is a bright pink (they dye it with beetroot juice) chunk of pickled goodness, which you can also get served with falafel all over town.
[*In my part of London, we can get something similar known as Lahmacun which I believe is the Turkish name for the same thing.]

Speaking of falafel, they’re also worth trying if you’re on the move. Montreal has the best served falafel I’ve had worldwide: well, you know how difficult they can be to keep together in the pita bread right? Here they use a thin, round pita bread, and roll the whole thing up wrapped in parchement paper. Easy!

I’m afraid I’m going on a little too long here, and you will be running out of stomachs by the time you’ve sampled all my recommendations, but I have one more to give you, back in the Plateau. (I have to say that downtown Montreal just isn’t that great for food options, REALLY. Theres so many better choices on the Plateau, don’t even bother). Au 917 is a proper French restaurant on Rachel, near Parc La Fontaine. They serve 5 courses, and the salad comes after the main, to clean your palate before your dessert. The menu isn’t huge, but it has good traditional French options, and it isn’t so expensive, although this is somewhere to go of an evening for a special occasion. As I remember they have 2 sittings, like at 6pm and 9pm – don’t quote me on that one, call them and find out (514) 524-0094.

Schwartz’s Montreal Hebrew Delicatessan, 3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard
Mondo Fritz, 3899 St-Laurent Blvd
Montreal Poutine – everything you need to know! (reviews are a bit out of date)
La Chilenita Bakery at both 4348 Rue Clark and 152 RUE NAPOLÉON
Hot Bagels and Polish Jokes blogpost on Hungry Mag
Article about eating out in Montreal by An Endless Banquet bloggers A.J. Kinik and Michelle Marek.

See all of my recommendations marked on Google maps, plus some others not mentioned here.

Best wishes to Lucy and her soon-to-be husband on their honeymoon!

I was appalled by the ornate appearance of this brand new strip of beach huts waiting to be snapped up. They just look so Disneyesque – all pastel colours and frills – yuck!

See my slideshow of some of the official photos of the Unfolding Landscape walk