a Roma, di nuovo

We went to Austin for Thanksgiving (and Zachary's birthday) and enjoyed seeing our families. I even got a few photos of my kids and granddaughter for Flickr; take a look if you get a chance.

Now it's time to fly away. American Airlines offered some bonus miles and Terri found a decent fare, so tomorrow, Tuesday, we're going to Rome for nine days. We'll be staying at our favorite little hotel on Via Cavour and eating lots of pizza and pasta and gelato. Beyond that, who knows? This will be our eighth trip to Italy and our third to Rome, but we're just as excited as ever. Viva Italia!

I'll post trip reports here and on Facebook, and snaps will be on Flickr.

Sunday in Chicago

I am not going to tell you what we did on Sunday, because that would be tweeting, and I am not a tweeting kind of guy.

I will tell you we went to see America: All Better! at the Second City comedy club. I tell you this because it was hilarious and because I want you to see it, too. Don't come to Chicago unless you go see a Second City show.

Snaps are on Flickr.

Simple Pleasures

Our flight to Chicago was on a 777, an unusually large plane for this route because AA needed to move it to O'Hare. Because the plane was so big, we got to sit in the business class section even though we had economy/coach tickets.

The business class seats have all sorts of controls, up and down and back and forth for the back, seat, and leg sections. Think of the possibilities! Right after take-off I started playing with different settings and was able to entertain myself for most of the two hour flight. I tried the barcalounger, the sleeper, the sitting-upright-at-a-desk, the relaxed-but-alert, and everything in between. Terri told me that although I looked like a 60 year old man, I was acting like our 11 year old nephew, Alec, and she did not appreciate it when I reached over and started playing with the controls of her seat, too.

Once we got to our hotel and checked in, we walked around downtown. At Michigan and Randolph we ran across street performers, five young guys drumming. (I posted a short video sample on Flickr if you'd like to watch them.) Each had a pair of drumsticks, a large plastic bucket, and a plastic milk crate to sit on. They drummed and drummed and drummed some more, first one, then two, then all five together, then a solo, then three, back and forth and in unison. I mean these guys were good and the ever increasing crowd loved them.

After enjoying the music, I walked away marveling at what can result from a little ingenuity and a lot of talent and practice, and how so many of life's pleasures result from these little serendipitous moments.

We ended the evening by getting a pizza and several beers at Pizzeria Due, which along with Pizzeria Uno is the home of Chicago-style deep dish pizza. It was good but over-rated. (The best deep dish pizza I've ever had was at the old Conan's on Guadalupe in Austin, about 25 years ago.) Afterwards we felt like exploding as we waddled back across the river to our hotel.

DFW -> ORD

Your personality is fueled by the fascination you feel for life. --fortune cookie from Thai Tina's, downtown Fort Worth, November 6, 2009

I love cities! We travel to cities and go to museums and concerts and parks, but I am happy just being out in the crowds, amid the noise and bustle and energy of thousands of people in motion. There is so much of interest everywhere I look, countless little dramas unfolding all around me: a man hurrying back to work, a young couple very much in love, a family rushing to get on the bus, a group of teenagers laughing as they emerge from an underground subway station, a toddler chasing a pigeon in a park, a delivery man greeting a shop owner as he unloads boxes from a truck.

Each of the cities we visit — Paris, London, Buenos Aires, Rome, New York, Chicago — has a distinctive atmosphere, a unique sensibility, but they share this attraction of concentrated energy. I'd never confuse Paris with, say, London, or Chicago with Buenos Aires, but the feeling of excitement, for me, is very much the same in all of them. I recently read David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries, which ends with this paragraph:

Observing and engaging in a city’s life — even for a reticent and often shy person like me — is one of life’s great joys. Being a social creature — it is part of what it means to be human.

So, it's not surprising that when Terri recently found cheap airfares and asked me, "Do you want to go to Chicago?" I answered, "Why not?" She also found a good deal on a room at the new Hampton Inn inside the Loop, so we're all set. We're leaving Fort Worth in a few hours and will return on Tuesday.

Here's some snaps from our trips to Chicago in August 2005 and September 2006.

I'll blog a time or two and post some snaps on Flickr while we're there. Until then, feel free to contemplate this picture of Paradise.