Happy Halloween from Chicago

It is warmer here than it is in Raleigh today. This is a strange situation that is working in my favor. I have 5 and 1/2 hours until I have to be back to my hotel for a work event. I'm off to wander through Grant and Millenieum Parks, do some window shopping on The Magnificent Mile, and perhaps hop on the train and head north of downtown, where I've never been. Today is a good day to be me.

Fri

68°F | 45°F

By the way I'll have you know all this good cheer is additionally remarkable considering that I had to get up when it was pitch dark and frosty out to catch my plane.

PPG Place

PPG Place is by far the most impressive collection of buildings in Pittsburgh. However, when I took a picture (not the one shown here) a security guard informed me that "they don't like you taking pictures." I'm not sure who "they" are, but why would you build such a fairy-tale castle looking skyscraper if you didn't want people to be so impressed with it they wanted to get a picture.

Grand Concourse

One night we had dinner in Grand Concourse, a really beautiful converted train station. I had delicious oysters and halibut. As usual in my travels, I was jealous of all the train lines and old buildings.

Pittsburgh

Hm, I'm sort of conflicted on Pittsburgh. Pretty from a far, such as this picture of Mount Washington from a bridge that crosses the Monongahela River. Up close, certain parts were not so pretty. I did have an excellent sandwich at Primanti Bros at Dan's suggestion. Gotta love a sandwich where they put the french fries right in with everything else. That's good lazy people food right there.

When traveling in Europe

I would suggest possibly bringing your own hairdryer if you are particular about those sorts of things. If not, you may end up with something like this. It has no settings. Just pull the right section of tubing away from the machine and aim at your wet hair. It's less of a drying sensation and more of a gentle, warm breeze directed towards your head.

Also note the amusing purple tiles.

Gas Stations

In Cagliari, all the gas stations we saw were called Agip. Apparently the symbol for gas is a six-legged fire-breathing dragon (alternatively, a six-legged dog catching a red frisbee). Also, check out the cigarette vending machines that were all over the city like ATMs. I think the only place I've seen a cigarette vending machine over here in the last 10 years was in a bowling alley. Also, they sold in half-packs, which I've never seen.

There are little tiny cars in Italy

Look at the size of the maintenance trucks! But seriously, there were sooo many SmartCars. I kind of want one now. My Accord seemed enormous when we got back to RDU.

Psssst....

You guys... Tupac has been hiding out in Sardinia all these years.

*sigh*

I'm paying for my fabulous Italian work trip today. Working for several hours on a beautiful fall Sunday seems cruel. But a fitting tradeoff, I suppose.

Now I'm done though! Back to reading my book. Are any of you guys on Good Reads? You should be...

The discovery that made me laugh the most about Bastione San Remy is that on top of this old building was not only a cafe, but also a club! Tyra, this post is especially for you, since every time I looked at the club set up I laughed and thought about our clubbing days and heard 'Get Low' in my head.

Bastione San Remy

The building is at the top of a steep hill near the main shopping district. It offered gorgeous views out toward the gulf and back towards the mountains. We usually walked or took the bus down to this area of town, called Marina, after I got off work and would wander around and eat a late dinner.