That weekend when Chicago tried to seduce us

I imagined Chicago as being in your face, just like its mayor Rahm Emmanuel. I imagined it as notorious, just like the Chicago Bears, or like one of its most infamous citizens, Al Capone. I imagined it harsh, like its cold wind-swept winters. As the nation’s murder capital, I imagined it brutal and crime ridden.

On this fall trip, Chicago showed us a much different picture. It was as if the city got its nails done, put some red lipstick and had put on that special sexy lingerie, ready to seduce a family from California.

The weather was wonderful: full sun, barely a cloud in the sky and very little humidity to speak of. We are used to putting on a sweater at night in Northern California. Not here, the temperature at 11pm was balmy. What harsh Chicago weather are people talking about? The Windy City? Our biggest concern was not to forget to throw a light sweater into our backpack for when the air-conditioning was set too high.

We stayed at the Inter Continental Hotel on the Magnificent Mile. This hotel used to be a famous athletic club in the old days. The executive tower has great architectural details and a wonderful pool. The hotel is centrally located, and on the most beautiful and luxurious avenue of the city: Michigan Avenue. It was great to stroll down the street and ride the elevator of the John Hancock Center to the 94th floor to get an awesome 360 degree panoramic view of the city. The old Tribune building is next door to the hotel, and we are only a few blocks from the iconic river walk.

The city wanted us to see all its beauty: from the lake, the prohibition era buildings, the Millennium park, with the Buckingham fountain, the Bean, the face fountain and wonderful city skyline. We sat on the beaches of Lake Michigan, and rode city bikes along the shoreline to the Navy Pier. We even geeked out and went downstairs the Chase tower to the Chase auditorium in downtown Chicago. Fans of Peter Sagal and NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me know what I am talking about.

During our stay, we also ventured North to visit Loyola Chicago University, and NorthWestern University in the posh Evanston college town. Both are really great, yet pricey, institutions. The North of Chicago appears upscale, green and mostly caucasian. We didn’t dare to venture to the South Side. After all, Chicago is still the murder capital of the US.

If we weren’t impressed yet, it was time to sit down and eat. A Chicago-style pizza pie at Giordano’s is a must. Pause your calorie counter for a few days. This is a wonderfully tasting cheese-pie, topped with a yummy tomato sauce. Calling it a pizza is a stretch. Though I wouldn’t want to debate a Chicago native on the subject of their deep dish pizza. If Chicago calls it a pizza, it is a pizza. The Bay Area is hardly a pizza reference: we ruined it by putting Broccoli on pizza, remember?

We continued our food travels with a great brunch at Hot Chocolate in Wicker Park. (It is near the 606, a train track converted into a walk and bicycle route). Sunday evening, we sat down for a nice steak at Michael Jordan’s steakhouse adjacent to the hotel. Yes, his royal fly-ness Michael Jordan. The Purple Pig on the Magnificent Mile is a great and popular tapa place.

Coffeeshops are a plenty in Chicago, from the big chains like Starbucks and Peet’s to the mom and pop owned corner coffeeshops.

Before heading back to O’Hare airport, we had to stop by Portillo’s for a classic Chicago jumbo dog. We were surrounded by Bear fans, as they headed to the home game against the Seattle Seahawks.

During our visit Chicago surely put it’s best foot forward. There was no traffic. We felt safe. People were nice and friendly. The weather and food were great. The view of the lake is stunning. People everywhere were active, and running, swimming or bicycling. We loved it here.

Nashville

I was not ready for the wall of music which hits you when you stroll down Lower Broadway in Nashville. I was visiting to recruit brilliant computer science students at Vanderbilt University. Tuesday night, we were scheduled to attend an engineering SLAM, a mix of poetry SLAM and mingle event with engineering students. Wednesday was the big career fair.

After a long day traveling from the West Coast, and the evening SLAM session at the university, I was hungry for dinner. It was a Tuesday night, and we decided to walk a few blocks from our hotel to downtown area to find a place to eat. That's when it hit me: a half of mile of bars, many with multiple levels and multiple stages. 

On this Tuesday, on every stage the next country band is auditioning for the unknown scout in the audience. Here it is American Idol every day. What a party! The next evening, on Wednesday it was no different. Again, on every stage there is a great band of musicians holding court and entertaining the Nashville hot chicken or bbq eating patrons. 

We went to Ole Red's, to James Aldaen's place, to Luke Bryan's place and peaked into many more: Legends Corner, Tootsie's, Dixie Land, Honky Tonk Central. Climb a few floors and you get a great view of the city from the roof top patios and bars. The bridge, the Predators' ice hockey stadium, the Tennessee Titan's Nissan football stadium, the AT&T "batman" building, the hustle and bustle on Broadway. Nashville downtown is quite compact and lots is happening in a square mile.

I knew this was the country music capital of the world. Until you experience it, you don't realize how big the music scene is. Anybody who wants to be somebody in country music has to record in Nashville. You made it if you played on stage at the Grand Ole Opry. I didn't get to visit the Grand altar, even though on that night it promised to be a fun evening with Rascal Flatts and co performing.

Beyond the music, I was impressed how friendly and nice everybody is in Nashville. What a pleasant place! The Lyft and Uber drivers are super nice, and yes, they do pick you up in their pick-ups (unlike the hybrid Honda Civic in the Bay Area). And of course, there is the sweltering heat. It was hot (high nineties) and humid. And the temperature isn't really dropping at night. I was amazed to see the Vanderbilt running teams practice in the middle of the day.

I didn't know what to expect from Nashville. Surely the city surprised me pleasantly.

Skyline to the sea

One of the iconic trails of the Bay Area is the Skyline to the Sea trail. It starts at the intersection of Highway 9 and Skyline Boulevard (Highway 35). Over the course of close to 30 miles, the trail winds through the gigantic redwood trees of Big Basin, along creeks and ends at the windy Waddell Beach. We camped at Waterman Gap and at Jay Camp (in Big Basin).

Waterman Gap

Santa Cruz mountains

Santa Cruz Mountains

Redwood trees

Giant trees! 

Berry Creek waterfall

Berry Creek waterfall

The Pacific Ocean at Waddell Beach

Skyline to the Sea completed

The Redwood Hikes blog provides a lot of detailed information about the trail and camping spots.

Belgium's world cup

Bronze. This is the best world cup soccer result ever for Belgium. It is pretty amazing for a country of ten or eleven million people to reach this far in the tournament. Except for Italy, most big soccer countries were present: Germany, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, France. Belgium played a great tournament and was loved by many spectators: the game against Japan was a thriller. Winning against Brazil was pure class. And beating English twice was icing on the cake.

This is Belgium's golden generation with Romelu Lukaku up front, Courtois in the goal, Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Dries Mertens, Vincent Kompany, Thomas Meunier, Marouane Fellaini, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, and several more.

And yet, it could have been so much more. Roberto Martinez, Belgium's coach, opted to build the team around Eden Hazard. Hazard is a talented player with great dribble technique and scoring ability. He is most effective from nearly standstill situations when he gets around his opponent with a quick dribble move or a fast acceleration. On the other hand, players like Lukaku, Mertens, Meunier and De Bruyne are most effective when the game is open and with a relentless pace. This mirrors how big club teams play: Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United.

And there lies the issue with Belgium's golden generation. By building the team around Hazard, rather than De Bruyne, you clip the team from its most lethal capabilities. You saw flashes of this fast play in the goal of Meunier against England. You saw also this at full display in one of the most incredible counter attack in the final minutes of the game against Japan.

Belgium goalie Thibaut Courtois caught the ball and rolled it to Kevin De Bruyne. He dribbled it about 10 yards past midfield and passed to Thomas Meunier, who had plenty of space on the right side. Meunier crossed the ball, and Romelu Lukaku pretended to play the ball, which allowed Nacer Chadli to come from behind and tap the ball into the back of the net on what turned out to be the final kick of the game.

We dare you to find a better counterattack!

Chadli finishes off a beautiful team play to give Belgium the win late in stoppage time. 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/lbUxZDzG0E

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2018

Will a team build around De Bruyne have done better? We will never know. By winning against Brazil with great tactics and some luck (the first goal was an own goal by Brazil), Martinez has been proven right.

The frustrating loss against France leaves us knowing it could have been more. It should have been Belgium in the final against Croatia. Imagine the fireworks between those two teams.

The country is looking ahead at the European Championships in 2020 and dreams of winning it. To have a chance, the Red Devils need to make some important changes in the team structure: retire Witsel and Kompany. Bring in young and quick defenders. Put De Bruyne in a similar role as he plays in Manchester City. There is plenty of work ahead for the team: the European Championships are often tougher than the World Cup.

Exploring Seattle

A few observations from our recent trip to the emerald city. 

• A visit to the Space Needle is overrated. You get a much better view of the Seattle skyline from Kerry Park, from the Gas Park or when going over the bridge to West Seattle. If you do want the memory, combine it with a visit to the Dale Chihuly glass sculptures.
• It is true: coffeeshops are literally everywhere, and not in Starbucks kind of way. Independent coffeeshops seem to be dominating the green mermaid from Seattle.
• Bicycles are everywhere, including the many dockless shared-bikes. This is especially surprising for a US city with this much rain every year. Are the cyclists of Seattle related to the true Flandriens?
• I was impressed by the campus of the University of Washington, home of the Huskies. Rent a bicycle to ride around the campus.
• Not surprisingly, this town is all about airplanes. A visit to the Boeing factory in Everett is unique. Spending half a day in the Museum of Flight, South of Seattle at Boeing Field, is a must for every avionics fanatic. Where else can you see the Saturn F1 engine, the moon rover, the Space Shuttle trainer, a Concord, the first Boeing 747, Airforce One, a Boeing 787, and the magnificent Lochkeed M21 Blackbird with D21 drone all under one roof. There are plenty more planes to admire. I could have spent multiple days in this museum.
• The gum wall is a tourist trap. Pike place is cute, though many cities have a similar market. Perhaps just with less fish. The waterfront and Pioneer square are a great photo opportunity, and only need a small amount of time to explore.
• Seattle and the neighboring cities, like Bellevue, strike me very livable. Drive around the various neighborhoods of Seattle.
• the upscale Queen Ann, where we stayed at the Maxwell Hotel. (Parking in the downtown hotels is very expensive.)
• Seattle Center with the Space Needle, various musea and venues and the monorail taking you to downtown's stores.
• the shopping district with the first Nordstrom
• Pike Place Market
• the Waterfront with Bell street pier, the ferris wheel and the ferries
• Belltown with trendy stores and nightclubs
• South Lake Union near Lake Union and the float plane airport
• Ballard
• Fremont with Gas Works park and the troll under the bridge
• the University district around the University of Washington
• Capitol Hill, although we learned there is no capitol building on Capitol Hill.
• Pioneer Square, the oldest part of the town.
• SoDo -South of the King Dome - with the NFL Seahawks and MLB Mariners stadiums. However the number 12, for the Seahawks' 12th man on the field, is everywhere: on buildings, on flags, in bars. Being a 49er fan, I didn't want to show my true red and gold colors.
• West Seattle with Alki beach provides a great view of the skyline; when it doesn't rain that is.
• We loved the food and drinks of Seattle. Many great places to eat. We thought it was overall expensive to eat in Seattle. Next time, we'll plan more trips the QFC supermarket. 

Here are a few photos from our trip.