I arrived in Chicago on August 28th, and spent a bit of time driving about the city in an attempt to familiarize myself with its layout. I then checked into the HI hostel in downtown. It's located on the south end of the loop, which makes it a good spot for tourists, which I tried to be for a few days.

Mostly I tend to avoid the touristy stuff, but the Chicago hostel is quite similar to its Seattle counterpart, so I was in contact with quite a few international travelers, all of whom were keen on seeing the sights. Fun is fun, so by golly I joined in.