A Real Walk in Chicago

[See in original format at The Real Estate Lounge Chicago]

When in Rome, goes the old saw, do as the Romans.

That was our experience when we traveled with the boys to Europe not last Christmas but the one prior. And like our Roman friends, we did likewise as we walked and walked and walked and walked.

Certainly some folks in the states and even our home town of Chicago like to lace up their sneakers and walk, but the tendency to hit the trail as a pedestrian is an art form in the historic district of Rome.

Of course part of the reason is that gas is so intolerably expensive in locales like Rome or Paris. And then, of course, consider that the narrowness of the lanes where anything larger than a Vespa will have difficulty passing.

But part of the reason, methinks, perhaps boils down to culture. Many Americans, whether in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles (definitely LA), don't like to ambulate for the sake of ambulation. Consider, conversely, our British counterpart who likes doing it so much that he has afforded the act a piece of his lexicon. And thus the Brit engages in what he calls a "constitutional."

Maybe we are a more driven group of people with our errands and tasks that don't allow, in our mind at least, an extra moment. And so we rush and dash and scurry.

Certainly I am as prone to the mad and harried pursuit as I sprint from point a to point b as I show my Chicago real estate listings whether a downtown Chicago highrise condo or a Wicker Park single family or a Logan Square top floor home or a Roscoe Village extra wide home. But every once in a while a blessed respite occurs and I catch a passing glimpse of peace amid the din of servicing my Chicago real estate clientele.

Such as when I walk.

Like yesterday when we started out the door in a typical enough manner but wound up behaving so very Euro as we headed through our Edgewater neighborhood on foot to our local Dominick's grocery store carrying our own reusable bags with which to head back home with our assorted organics upon which later we would dine.

Just like when we held residence for a week on Via Vecchio in Rome's city centre and walked the cobbled lane to the corner grocer with the white aproned employees who made us feel like we had turned back the pages of the calendar to an earlier day with an exquisite form of customer service.

We didn't have aproned employees at Dominick's, but the lady at the register did her best to placate Lucas as she offered him a neon orange sticker that took his mind off whatever was derailing his typically serene disposition.

In a way the walk is like the Mastercard priceless commercials...

Pound of organic apples - $3

Pound of organic plums - $3.50

Half pound or nitrate and hormone free turkey - $4

Gallon of organic milk - $6

Walk with the family in our Chicago neighborhood - priceless

And so it goes until my next day of back-to-back-to-back showings at my listings in Lakeview, River West, Wicker Park, Logan Square, and Roscoe Village.