Views from the Loop
I start my journey at 9:02 am getting off the Brown line at Clark/Lake, a prominent station in the loop from which almost every line is somehow connected to. I don't start with a route to follow but I choose to start my walk from the loop because I’d been around the area often and loved the views of the river, bridges, buildings, etc. and I’ll be sharing some of those pictures in this essay. The only tool I have to complete this walk is my phone which I would use to take photos, record videos, and check details such as weather and sound (there’s an app for that).
At 9:07 am, I start walking down a busy Lake street. It is sunny and warm out with a temperature of 72ºF. The ambient noise level is quite high at 79 dB. It smells like smoke probably from all the cars and buses on the street polluting the environment. I head down towards the rusty bridge over the shiny blue water as it reflects the bright blinding light of the sun. Cars whiz pass me as I walk down a slim platform connected to the bridge but I am relieved due to the presence of large metal structures separating pedestrians from the bustling traffic. People walk past me in a hurry to carry on with their tight schedules. I continue down the road.
It is now 9:18 am and I am on the other side of the river. I can see the structures down the river much clearer now that I am past the bridge. I see an enormous clock on a tower and a couple of tall buildings standing behind it with strong light reflecting off its glass windows since it is still quite sunny. It is much quieter here with a noise level of 70 dB. I can smell the river and the smell of smoke isnt as prominent anymore. I cant tell whether that’s because I’ve gotten used to it by now or there is less pollution here. A stream of people go the opposite way from me down the bridge towards Lake Street maybe to get to Clark/Lake or a nearby Metra station.
It is 9:39 AM and I pass by an old-fashion looking McDonalds that seems pretty busy for the time of day. I see a couple of families enjoying meals inside. The parents seem irritated because the kids keep running around but the kids seem to be really enjoying themselves. It’s still pretty hot out and I regret not bringing a water bottle. I can smell the fresh, hot fries from the sidewalk. I realize that I am starting to feel hungry but I keep going anyway looking forward to eating when I get back to DePaul.
The time is 9:54 AM and I come across a nice looking restaurant that seems to be a Brazilian steakhouse. It is called “Fogo De Chao”. I search up the meaning and it comes up to be “Fire of Ground”. Not exactly sure what that means but sounds exotic. A good amount of people are eating inside and I can smell the steaks when I get close to the restaurant. There is some noise primarily coming from the restaurant but the surroundings are pretty quiet. My sound app is glitching so I can't tell what the noise level is but I attempt to get it to work again by quitting out and it works like a charm. The noise level comes out to be 65 dB but I'm not entirely sure how accurate that is because it might've still been glitching. Oh and I'm still hungry by the way.
It is now 10:15 AM and I come across a nice cathedral but for some reason forgot to take a picture of it. Rookie mistake. It had nice, colorful windows and the building was quite tall. It was oddly quiet but considering the day and time it made sense. I can’t really smell anything because I’ve gotten used to the smell of the city but once in a while I can smell a bad smell coming from the gutter or a stranger with some nice smelling perfume. As I continued on, I noticed someone else who seemed to also be a college student walking next to me for a little bit so I engaged in some conversation and found out that she was on her way to the AT&T store down the street. She asked me where I was going and found it pretty weird that I was just walking around the city for an assignment but I would've thought the same before this class. She asked if I wanted to walk to the store with her so I decided to walk with her for a little bit because I didn’t really have any other place to go. Also walking alone got a little lonely. We talked about college and the stress of the first few weeks. She is also a freshmen but at UIC so it’s pretty cool to see someone from a different college and find out about their experience there. It wasn’t too different from mine except without all of the Vincentian values that we learned about in orientation and this class. I tell her she was really missing out and she replies “I bet I am. Sounds like a lot of fun.”. We continue to walk down to the store.
At 10:31 AM we finally arrive at the AT&T store. We got a little lost along the way which was pretty dumb of us cause it was just straight down the street after a turn but a couple turns later we got there. She goes into the AT&T store and I leave to carry on with my walk. Not knowing where to go next I decide to start heading back because I was still hungry. The street is not too loud at 71 dB and it is still pretty sunny and even hotter at 79ºF. There isn't a prominent smell on the street except I faintly smell fresh bread from a nearby cafe. There are a couple of nice shops like an Under Armor store that I will definitely return to. But for the time being I keep walking. P.S. I’m still hungry.
It’s 11:05 AM and I get on the Chicago riverwalk. One of my favorite things as a kid was to look at reflective surfaces and just stare into the reflection of things like the sky. It is a nice opportunity to notice things in a unique way. I look at the reflections on the glass of a building of other buildings, bridges, clouds, etc. through the glass. I also see the Trump tower which although may not be owned by a very good person, is still a beautiful sight to see especially when the sun is reflecting off it and it quite literally looks like a golden tower. I can smell the river and it’s very quiet out with only a 66 dB volume level. It feels very calm and serene and it is great moment to clear my head and admire all the beauty around me.
It is now 11:23 AM and I am back at State/Lake. It has cooled down a bit to 74ºF but I am very tired. I would walk back to Clark/Lake but did I mention I was hungry? I think I did a couple times. Anyway I decide that I’ll just take the red line back to Fullerton instead of walking to Clark. It is pretty loud in the station with overlapping conversation and the noise of both trains coming in at the same time. I don’t have time to check the volume level because I have a train to get on but it was pretty loud because of the echo from the tunnels too. Also it smells pretty bad and the train is crowded but I guess that’s just the red line. Also I can’t wait to get back and eat.
Overall I think this experience gave me a better idea of what the loop has to offer. It’s not just the tall buildings and nice views like I originally thought but it’s also the people going to the AT&T store and the Brazilian steakhouses that make the city what it is. Every time I go out on one of these exploration walks, I learn something new about the city and I think this time it was that the more you discover a city the more you realize you can’t understand everything that happens in it but you can admire what you know. Also that next time you come across a nice cathedral don’t get distracted and forget to take a picture.
