Thomas explained that Cleveland is a city recovering its economy, and that Cleveland Clinic is the largest employer in the state. After having heard so much about the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western University, and since both Thomas and Sylvia worked in those hospital systems, I asked to go visit these campuses while in town.
Cleveland, like any other city, has beautiful and more seedy parts of town. This is a part of town that my friends drive through every day, complete with blown-out or boarded up windows (perfect for the occasional drug deal). Honestly, I felt it was okay during the summer day time, but make it a lonely snowy dark winter evening, and it was pretty comparable to the worst of Harlem I have seen during my NYC days.
The hospitals were absolutely gorgeous campuses, with tons of construction still in progress. In fact, the Cleveland Clinic was so huge that it has its own Intercontinental Hotel built in! In a city seemingly polar in its social-economic strata, the Clinic sure displays its abundant wealth in spades. The Cleveland Orchestra Hall is an ornate building, and new developed areas like the Eton Mall seem to imply the city has significant potential for growth.
Despite our short visit, it was wonderful seeing Sylvia and Thomas, and her brother Kirk. We had a chance to have brunch at The Original Pancake House. Afterwards, we were on our way to drive across the rest of Ohio and all of Indiana to reach Chicago. We took a quick break in the mid afternoon in the town of South Bend, home of Notre Dame and its football team.
The downtown was cute and offered a quick hot chocolate stop; the scariest moment was driving around afterwards, though, looking for a gas station (with the low-fuel light illuminated) and finding several gas stations
closed on Sunday. I'll refrain from making assumptions correlating small towns and the availability of gasoline on the weekend.
After a long sit in the Chicago traffic, we finally arrived at the hotel. A nice deep-dish Giordano's Chicago-style pizza was delivered to our room, half without tomato sauce. Mmmm. It's ALL about the pastry-like crust. Slightly salty. More quiche-like than crusty and crunchy. There is a lot of thick mozzarella. In fact, there isn't a lot of sauce and stuff, but it was just the right balance. I think when I go back to the normal world pizza (ie: CPK-style), it will feel a little nude.
Cleveland, like any other city, has beautiful and more seedy parts of town. This is a part of town that my friends drive through every day, complete with blown-out or boarded up windows (perfect for the occasional drug deal). Honestly, I felt it was okay during the summer day time, but make it a lonely snowy dark winter evening, and it was pretty comparable to the worst of Harlem I have seen during my NYC days.
The hospitals were absolutely gorgeous campuses, with tons of construction still in progress. In fact, the Cleveland Clinic was so huge that it has its own Intercontinental Hotel built in! In a city seemingly polar in its social-economic strata, the Clinic sure displays its abundant wealth in spades. The Cleveland Orchestra Hall is an ornate building, and new developed areas like the Eton Mall seem to imply the city has significant potential for growth.
Despite our short visit, it was wonderful seeing Sylvia and Thomas, and her brother Kirk. We had a chance to have brunch at The Original Pancake House. Afterwards, we were on our way to drive across the rest of Ohio and all of Indiana to reach Chicago. We took a quick break in the mid afternoon in the town of South Bend, home of Notre Dame and its football team. 
The downtown was cute and offered a quick hot chocolate stop; the scariest moment was driving around afterwards, though, looking for a gas station (with the low-fuel light illuminated) and finding several gas stations closed on Sunday. I'll refrain from making assumptions correlating small towns and the availability of gasoline on the weekend.
After a long sit in the Chicago traffic, we finally arrived at the hotel. A nice deep-dish Giordano's Chicago-style pizza was delivered to our room, half without tomato sauce. Mmmm. It's ALL about the pastry-like crust. Slightly salty. More quiche-like than crusty and crunchy. There is a lot of thick mozzarella. In fact, there isn't a lot of sauce and stuff, but it was just the right balance. I think when I go back to the normal world pizza (ie: CPK-style), it will feel a little nude.
1 comment:
Good for people to know.
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