Pittsburgh - Chicago
772 km
10 hours
$109
No pictures - it was dark!
After getting on the train along with all the Amish families in Pittsburgh, I managed to sleep for several hours as I had two seats for most of the night. Then another girl moved into the seat next to me but as the seats recline quite far back and have a footrest extension, I still managed to sleep quite well. When I woke up I had no idea where I was, but it turned out to be somewhere in Indiana. The conductor soon came on and apologised for the delay of 2 and a half hours behind schedule due to the number of freight trains on the line. I waited for a while before getting up because the girl sitting next to me seemed to be sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to disturb her! As soon as she stirred I made my way downstairs to the restroom and then a few cars forward for coffee and a Danish in the café car, which I shared with a rumpled Amish family in their traditional outfits, conversing half in "Pennsylvania Dutch" and half in English.
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| The corn isn't as high as an elephant's eye - yet! |
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| Somewhere in Indiana |
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| Coach class car |
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| The café car |
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| The lounge car |
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| Rolling into Chicago's Union Station |
It was noon by the time we actually got off the train, so I spent the afternoon at the Art Institute of Chicago, which was at the top of my list of things to see, close to the railway station, and had a coat check where I could leave my backpack. So today I only saw the bits of the city that I encountered on the way there and back, but I hadn't even been in Chicago for ten minutes when I came across a blues concert in a public park.
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| Lunch hour blues concert in a city park |
After listening for a while I crossed the bridge over the canal and walked a few blocks to the Art Institute, where I could put down my burden until it was time to go to my hosts' house and spend another afternoon looking at paintings. This is the last of the major art museums on my agenda: another one of those where you go into a room and say, oh, THAT's here! and THAT! ... and THAT!!!
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| The Art Institute of Chicago |
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| A roomful of Monets, with a Rodin thrown in here and there |
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| Oh, THAT's here! |
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| And so is THAT! |
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| The Chagall windows, made specifically for the Art Institute |
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| Mile Zero of Route 66! |
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| The obligatory metro picture. Might as well get it over with |
Leaving the Art Institute and reclaiming my backpack, I made my way to the metro station and took the Blue Line then followed my Servas hosts' precise instructions for how to find their home. As soon as I got inside, it started pouring down! Luckily I was just in time. I cooked my hosts some pasta for dinner and retired to my room, as they have a meeting with the other members of their housing co-op. And I have a very comfy futon on which to recover from my night on the train!
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