Within the vast labyrinth of my memories there exists a few places I like to linger. One is me visiting my Grandpa downtown where he managed Karoll’s Men’s Shop in the old Reliance Building. This was in the 1980s when Marshall Field’s (the grand building across the street) still anchored the Loop. Karoll’s was old school too with lots of service which meant a world of fascinating people.  Like the old tailor, who was the kind of old they don’t make anymore. He seemed to come with the building. Once he showed me a calculator magic trick. Looking back I got to say that calculator magic has to be the least impressive of all the magic genres. His assistant manager was a former prize fighter who preferred the Sox over the Cubs. So the deal was that whichever team played during the day would be the game played over the store speakers. This was the 1980s; my grandpa knew what he was doing. He had stories about the place too. One was that the Orthodox engineer programmed the lights to go off at sunset and that no one knew how to change it back. Not sure how true that story is but it is the kind of story worth telling every couple of decades.

On December 22, 2000 I proposed to Corey at the Burnham Hotel. I did not know it then but it was on her father’s birthday. And the day after my mom told me the Burnham Hotel was located in the Reliance Building. The Atwood Cafe sits where my Grandpa used to fuss over customers.

So now and then Corey and I come back. Once with Henna. She was a baby and we caught Poi Dog Pondering at the bandshell the next day. Henna danced her little booty off. A few times after that, on our 20th anniversary and then again last night. The hotel is now, gulp, the Stay Pineapple. But to me it’s always going to be the place where my Grandpa worked when I was a little kid, the base from which we saw the city Christmas lights and where Corey said yes and made me (still makes me) a better man.

Hopped a train to St. Paul and a mere eight hours later were snug at our favorite Twin Cities Airbnb. We hung out with Henna of course, but managed also to squeeze in a bit of sightseeing that led us to this really cool coffee house just a few blocks from St. Paul Cathedral.

We love St. Paul. We love the leafy streets, the Minnesota nice vibe and the repurposed buildings. In the latter category sits Nina’s which is situated in a grand old majestic building (sorry, I kind of tried to find out some info about the building but my heart just wasn’t into it; it might once have been a brothel but I’m not sure).

I had a cortado. Never heard of a cortado until starting these chronicles but they are delicious. Corey went with a cappuccino. They say that a man/woman’s drink says a lot about a person. Who says that? I say that.

Now we are back on the train headed south. Seated behind us is a family speaking in a deep Fargo-like accent. Their conversation drifts a bit toward the tragic side of life. For example there was this sixty year old man who suddenly died on his flight to Germany (“Poisoned I betcha”). Ten minutes in they are amusing. But it’s a long ride back to Chicago.

For our last few days in Iceland we mostly took it easy. I got a haircut at the Shave Cave (highly recommend), Henna showed us around the University of Iceland, we did some packing, ate at IKEA and visited the Rejkavik Zoo. The zoo is to the periphery of the downtown area and is one of the few city attractions devoid of tourists. The focus of the zoo was animals found throughout the island. Like us, most of the animals there are not native to Iceland. Mink, reindeer, sheep, cow and three tourists from Chicago all had to hitch a ride in order to be seen on the Ring Road. In a few hours we will be hitching a ride back to our native home. Will greatly though miss this temporary home.