I'm so glad I got to spend two weeks here. It was longer than I've been away from home in quite a while - and still not over as I went right from Chicago to Miami - but it gave me a chance to dig in and see the city from all sides.

So this week I conquered an old fear and went to two of the three tallest buildings in Chicago - one of them the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

I'm going to start by saying, if you can only pick one giant building to ride to the top, pick the Hancock Tower. It's shorter than the (formerly Sears) Willis Tower by about 300 feet, but it has an amazing panoramic observation deck. It also boasts the fastest elevator in the world - however fast that is... I think it was something over 25 mph. And it has a bar and snack restaurant on the top floor. They're set up for tourists to have fun, and we did. The views... well, I got close-but-not-too-close to the windows to take some great pictures. I could see our (tiny) hotel from way up there, and it was fun to see the landmarks that I'd walked to earlier in my stay. "Look, there's Buckingham Fountain!" "Look, there's the Bean!" "Look, there's that beach where I saw that hot guy with the tattoos go by on roller blades!"

After the Hancock Tower, it was time for the Big Daddy of them All. You'd think this would be my zenith: Big Daddy meets Big Daddy. But it was rather a let-down after the Hancock. The "What You Talkin' 'Bout" Willis Tower is taller, yes, but so less tourist-friendly. You go up. You look around. You go down. No bar, no coffee, no seating areas. Nothing to play with or on (like the fake window-washer set at the Hancock). So we took the "L" and walked a bit until we got to the Sears Tower. Done. Ok, now what?

Well, right after that, it was time for deep dish Chicago pizza. This is cheese heaven in a dish. I won't go on and on about it, but if you're in Chicago, hit up Giordino's Pizza. You'll thank me.

The next day, it was time for the river architecture cruise. An hour on both forks of the Chicago River to see the variations of architecture that tell the history of Chicago. It was pretty cool. You got to see certain buildings in a new way because you hear a story about them, and you see them from the river down below. I ran out of room on the page, or I'd have posted more architecture shots, but I think you can figure out what my pics would have looked like. I'll hopefully have some made into prints for my new place in San Francisco.

My final day in Chicago we spent more slowly. Anthony and I went to Chinatown to get some dinner, but ended up going to a Brazilian place back in the heart of Chicago. I guess it's best, I'm not sure they'd have enjoyed my tribute to all things Chinese. I liked Chicago a lot. I'm counting it as training for San Francisco - a lot of walking, a lot of riding trains and buses, and a lot of great people and places to enjoy.