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I don't want to sound Europhilic here but as I arrived in Chicago two things happened that reminded me of the home of the brave. I got to Chicago at around 6:30 PM on Thursday and my train for Milwaukee at Union Station left at 8:25, easily enough time a traveler would assume. Quickly I moved through customs and got my bag immediately and walked to the L by 7:15 PM. 55 minutes later I was at the Jackson street stop which is around 6 blocks to Union Station. I missed the train. Luckily I have good friends in Chicago that put me up because this, alas, was the last Amtrak train to Milwaukee. Questions Why exactly is there not a train from O'Hare to Milwaukee? Why does it take 55 minutes to get from O'Hare to downtown maybe 2 miles away? Why is there not an L stop at the central TRAIN station in downtown Chicago. The anawers are obvious in the questions, no integrated train system-destroyed by the auto/petrolio/rubber/road building complexxx. Enough said!

The second incident was classic US big city. As I was waiting for my friend Ed to pick me up at Union Station the direction scammers (usually black dudes who give tourists directions for a fee and figure the worth of the take at an opportune time) eyed me up as a target. There happened to be cops around but as they left they regrouped and made the rounds checking whether or not to make a grab for my bags. Not once in the 5 weeks of my trip did I feel unsafe once in Europe and I walked with the same outfit and load in many different locals, urban and rural/rich and poor, alike. The alienation in this place is at the surface. Too bad I work with it everyday.

A subjective ranking of Euro Tour 2006.

Most suprising on time Metro performance: Athens
Most stunning view: Delfi
Most supermodels per square block: Riga
Best bike infrastructure: Copenhagen
Most pregnant supermodels on bikes: Copenhagen
Best nation wide train system: Germany
Most confusing train schedules: Germany
Least talkative people: Estonians
Most talkative people: US History Majors
Best meal: Johanneses trout on a grill
Most overwhelming moment: the Hermitage
Sillyist moment: Belly laughing with Jeff, Theis, Dirk and Cuba Libre's in Saaremaa at the gun turret at 3 AM. Of course realed in by the war department.
Best peleton: Andernach to Niederbachem
Best danceing: Danish funk band with the Germans and the Danish supermodels
Best match/party: Germany v. Argentina in Bonn with Jouly, Sylivia and such...


Great trip.