Boston's Big Dig

I'm going to Boston for the weekend and I know pretty much nothing about it. So far all I know is that the Celtics and Red Sox are Boston-based, and that the Boston Tea Party happened there. So, like any good traveller, I used the two best options available to me. Fox, who had lived there for a year, and the Lonely Planet guide book. All I got from both is that I needed to read up on the Big Dig. Ever heard of it? Neither had I.

The Big Dig is a $14.6 BILLION dollar project happening in Boston, which is the largest and most complex highway and tunnel project in US history. For a country where bigger is better, this is really saying something. This immense project has been going since 1982 and is now, finally, on the brink of completion. I’m sure the locals are pretty happy about this! Considering that the option was a stop-and-go traffic jam for up to 16 hours a day – every waking hour – by 2010, catering to the increase in traffic flow by building an 8-10 lane underground highway seems reasonable. The downside of all of this is that the project has incurred criminal arrests, escalating costs, death (the roof collapsed on a motorist), leaks, and charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials.

Having this valuable knowledge tucked away in my head now, I'm feel like I'm finally ready to see Boston, where traffic should be low and mobility high... or will it?

Things I love about Chicago...

After spending a decent amount of time in Chicago - both a month in 2008 and now 6 weeks in 09, there are some things I have come to love about Chicago. Here is what comes to mind.

• I love that a vast majority of the men here have wonderful manners. They open doors for ladies and allow us to go first.
• I love that even in a building of 30 floors, people in my apartment say "have a nice day" when you get out of a shared elevator.
• I love that pickles are served as a side dish to pretty much everything. I'll thank my Canadian mother for giving me a taste for those treats growing up!
• I love that as soon as the temperature rises above freezing, people celebrate by wearing thongs (flip flops) and t-shirts. It's still only a couple of degrees above zero but hey, who am I to judge? Hahaha.
• I love that I have seen women in floor length mink coats riding the public buses alongside girls wearing slippers and dressing gowns.
• I love that my gym has ipod devices on the treatmills, so that you can not only listen to music but watch movies or TV shows that you've brought, plus you can save your workout details to a USB stick to map your progress. Let's hope this technology comes to Australia soon!
• I love that anyone medical wears those blue cotton tops and pants made famous by shows like ER. Gives me confidence in them somehow.
• Finally, despite the struggle for some people to understand me, I love the fact that once someone realises I'm from Australia, they always have nice things to say about our country. It's great to be from a place that everyone loves.

Tweeting With The Stars

Well it was bound to happen, the internet nerd that I am. I joined Twitter. And worst than that. I like it. It took me a while to get the hang of things but once you know the basics, it's simple.

Use facebook? Basically Twitter is a giant list of status updates without the hassle of a profile. I have found that a lot of people use it to post links to great websites - either ones they are promoting or things they have stumbled across. Either way, it saves me looking for them and I get some interesting personal insights along the way.

One thing I have also discovered while on Twitter, is that there is a community of stars who have jumped on board this craze! Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore are the most famous Twitter couple from Hollywood, but there are many others to look out for.

Here is a list of people you may be tempted to 'follow' to gain a glimpse into their personal lives. These are all verified but be warned, if you go looking for more there are just as many fakes on Twitter as any other social media site.

Al Gore = algore
Ashton Kutcher = aplusk
Brea Grant from Heroes (Daphne) = breagrant
Britney Spears = britneyspears (this is just her PR team)
Coldplay = coldplay
Dave Matthews, musician = davejmatthews
Demi Moore = mrskutcher
Greg Grunberg from Heroes (Parkman) = greggrunberg
James Kyson Lee from Heroes (Ando) = JamesKysonLee
Jimmy Fallon, host of new Late Night = jimmyfallon
John Cleese = johncleese
Lance Armstrong = lancearmstrong
Lily Allen = lilyroseallen
MC Hammer = mchammer
President Obama = barakobama
Rainn Wilson from the Office = rainnwilson
Richard Branson = richardbranson
Shaquille O'Neil = the_real_shaq
Soleil Moon Frye aka Punky Brewster = moonfrye
Stephen Fry, British Comedian = stephenfry

Two Great Reasons To Be In Chicago In March

Restaurant Week is continuing until March 6th so today Fox and I are venturing out to Cafe Ba Ba Reeba to try a three course lunch for only $22. Events like Restaurant Week are brilliant, no matter the city, as it lures you into areas and cuisines you normally may not experience. It definitely worked for us as we would have had sandwiches otherwise ;-)

Besides Restaurant Week, March signals the start of St Patrick's Day in a city filled with Irishmen. Decorations are up in pubs everywhere already and today was the first of many St Patrick's Day parades.

What I can't wait for however, is when they dye the Chicago river green. A modern day miracle occurs each year as part of the St Patrick's Day parade celebration when the Chicago river turns an incredible shade of Irish green. This spectacular transformation ranks right up there with the parting of the sea by Moses and the Pyramids of Egypt.