Blast from the Past

 
Whenever I am tempted to grumble about Scottish weather, like today, I remember my winter in Chicago as an exchange student to The School of the Art Institute .
 
By a fortuitous twist of fate I stayed on the Gold Coast, in The Three Arts Club, a club for women studying the arts in the city so this used to be my regular walk along the lakeside. When the temperature dropped to -20C the lake would freeze.
The wind coming down from the Canadian prairies was ferocious yet the streets were cleared of snow and ice and there was never any problem getting around. 
 I have very fond memories of my time there, though I remember the horror and dismay when my tutor at Glasgow School of Art suggested it. Like so many people, the image I had of the city was of gangsters and Al Capone. The reality was very different, apart from certain areas of the city, and I have very fond memories of my time there.
 
Sadly, three years after I left The Three Arts club closed in 2004.
 
See extra for some light relief.