Chicago …. the big city! From the beginning it was all about the food. John from Chicago met the Matriarch and I at the railway station, poured us into his little super duper car and roared us through the streets from market to market. I am sure he felt like he had a wind up toy come to visit. All he had to do was turn me and point me in the right direction and off I warbled, clattering about, thrilled to bits, tasting cheeses and cured meats, pastas and pastries, spices and divine fat fresh vegetables. People are so friendly up here in the city. We shopped Italian, we shopped Asian, we shopped Indian but we did not get time to visit the Greeks.
then we had Thai for lunch. 
The city is the city. Big and shiny.
Tall and reflective. I grew up on a beach in Napier, New Zealand, as you know. But I love cities. All of them. If you put me in a suburb I would probably wilt to death like an overwatered pot plant. But the big city, the sea and the wide open spaces of the plains are where I most love to be. Eclectic? Maybe just easy to please. 
Chicago is fascinating. 
Big city christmas lights are for every night of the year.
But country girls get tired, and it was way past my bedtime when we eventually called it a night. 
We stayed in a lovely little low tech boarding house in De Witt Place. Right by the lake.
The Matriarch and I stayed out way too late last night so words are few now. And look at that it is 7.30 am! City hours!
It is time to get back to farm life. But I will be back. John from Chicago and I are working on a plan to meet with others of our blog community up here, so watch this space. Life is a glorious place to be!
See you all tomorrow. Have a lovely, lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
49 responses to “The Big City goes all farmy like!”
How exciting! I felt quite swept away by the whirlwind of it all. I can’t wait to see what you get up to next.
Love it! Your city photos just VIBRATE with the beat of Urban Life….
(I’m good for a few days in the Big Cities, but not much more…not seeing the stars at night starts to wear on me…)
Safe journey home!
Hooray! The first thing I thought when I saw Chicago was, I hope she met Chicago John. Great photos. Oh the food shopping….
I love Chicago! We haven’t been there in a few years and would love to get back. A blog meetup? COOL!
Very jealous that you met up with the man in Chi-town. 🙂 One of these days Liz and I will get back out there as well…always love visiting the midwest.
I love the city too. Living here in Salem is the best of all worlds, 15 miles outside of the city, next to the woods and on the ocean. It’s kind of amazing. I’ve been to a lot of cities, but not Chicago… one of these days I’ll get there.
I’m a country girl but i still love the pics..and what a great time you had
Sounds exciting. I can imagine food shopping with John would be a very good experience.
Ha-ha! That one shot with Route 64? If you’d turned right and kept going to the first suburb you’d find me–wilting away for 40 years–one of the myriad mistakes of my life.
well i do look forward to meeting you in the windy city (but wasn’t it a fantastic day today!) very soon, or maybe we should just pop you on the train and drag you out to the country for a day instead. Get you put of the suburbs for the weekend!
I’m with everyone else on this one, very jealous that you met up with our Italian expert! The markets sound wonderful and I know our dear blogging companion showed you both a glorious time in the Windy City. I usually have a huge soft spot for this city because our dear friends reside very close by, but now I have an incredible desire to visit again.
Perhaps you can let me know so we could time a visit around it!
Wow! How great to be able to meet John and other friends from the blogosphere… The photographs are beautiful, I can see that your talent goes beyond the farm… 😉
good morning CELI bet you had a blast, glad your back home safe
SAINTS
“like a wind-up toy” what a perfect description. Sounds like a whirl wind trip. Glad the weather was good.
Excellent – I bet you had an amazing time 😉
Oh that Chicago were closer Celi. Have a wonderful week-end and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. V.