In no particular order.

• Art studios are fine, but really, I need a door on the bathroom, not a curtain.

• That said, anybody who owns the original 12” of Ceremony can be given some leeway.

• Pie Flights are to be encouraged. I’d say look out for similar from Fallout Durham, but when you apply it to chocolates, you just end up with selection boxes, which we’re obviously intending on doing…

• If I had been sent to Chicago instead of Santa Monica a year ago, I would have spent many a Saturday morning in Fox and Obel. I also have a feeling I would have taken to Chicago a bit more readily than the less dense LA landscape.

• Chicago-style pizza defeated me after two slices, but the leftovers were great after a long night of walking.

• It’s true: the best view from the John Hancock Tower in Chicago is from the women’s toilets. (This was, of course, verified by Stacie, not me)

• I should have brought warmer clothes.

• You really have an art exhibition which involves video of people stacking themselves in odd ways.

• Take Patrick anywhere and the odds of him knowing somebody in the most unlikely of places are even.

• You might, if you squint, notice the word ‘Britain’ about three times in the German U-boat exhibit in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Jingoism aside though, the museum is pretty fantastic. Wind chambers! Fab labs! Arcade machines set on free play! A random Spitfire!

• Threadless has a shop. I was very good. Besides, my drawers are having difficulty opening at the moment anyhow.

• Chicago takes its hot dogs very seriously.

• The Secret Agent Store is a pale shadow of Brooklyn’s Super Hero Store.

• Soooo many hipsters.

• Even the kebab shop had artisan light bulbs. And it was opposite a custom hat shop.

• I liked the ‘L’, but was a bit concerned about how the wooden platforms would shake as the trains pulled in. Especially since we were almost inevitably above a very busy road.

• Alinea is a very different story and requires a separate post. Do look out for it sometime…