Traveler Talk! Ross, Grey & AJ

Ross, Grey, and AJ were enjoying a bit of Friday afternoon pool when I caught up to them in the HI-Chicago lobby.  Grey is a Chicago native, AJ lives in Holland, and Ross is from Scotland, but currently living in Amsterdam.  After talking to them for a bit, I noticed that their different backgrounds led to some interesting differences in their opinions of the city.  Since Grey has had a while to notice the finer details about Chicago, he’s decided that the architecture here is what he really loves.  “Even if you’re walking down a single block, there is always something new and interesting to look at,” he said when describing how our architecture really contributes to the feel of the city.  For AJ, the Shedd Aquarium stood out as a great place to spend the afternoon.  He was able to see the dolphin show there and really enjoyed his time.  Ross, on the other hand, said that the Wiener’s Circle was definitely his favorite place in Chicago.  Well, that and the shop that he went to in order to get his most recent tattoo.  Apparently he’s not bothered by physical OR emotional discomfort.  

Late night partying isn’t the scene for any of these three gentlemen, but Ross did go to the Hard Rock Café here since he works at the one in Amsterdam.  He had a great experience, and said that a worker there was able to guess his exact age (27), and that is pretty ridiculously impressive.  One of the biggest differences that stuck out to Ross between Amsterdam and Chicago was the size.  “Chicago is at least ten times the size of Amsterdam,” he replied, and AJ agreed.  He elaborated by joking that the state of Illinois is most likely bigger than all of Holland.  They also think that there is way more variety in things like food, art and music here in Chicago than there is in Amsterdam.  Grey shares this belief, and if he were to describe the city in one word, it would be “Diverse.”  He really enjoys how you can walk down the streets and go from Chinatown to Greek Town to the Ukrainian Village all within the same city.  When Ross chose a word to describe Chicago, he decided on “Crazy.”  He swears that he’s seen multiple people on the street talking to themselves.  I suggested that maybe they were just using a Bluetooth, but he’s sure that we’re all just a little bit crazy.

By: Intern Sarah Consoer