First Stop: Minneapolis

Context is important in life. The context we create for ourselves in any given moment determines how we live that moment. For example, most people wouldn't be too thrilled with waking up at 4:00 A.M.

Unless they were going overseas for the first time.

And that's how this adventure began: first a 5:30 A.M. 'quick-hop' from Winnipeg to Minneapolis, then a 7-hr flight across the Atlantic to Amsterdam, and then finally another 7-hr flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro.

After landing in Minneapolis, I had seven hours to burn until my next flight, a perfect opportunity for a little adventure. However, my body was already weary from a lack of sleep, so I went and dozed off in the Delta lounge, being careful to wake up anytime someone walked by.

After having recovered, I decided to check out the city. Despite having been within the city's limits several times, I had never actually had anytime to check out the city. Fortunately, leaving the airport is easy: is directly connected to the city's light-rail system. So I left the airport and boarded the next train heading for downtown.

As a transport nerd, I found riding the Hiawatha Line interesting in its own right. It runs from Mall of America in Bloomington, through the airport to Downtown Minneapolis. Despite running through large industrial stretches, the line was fairly well used.

The best way to describe Downtown Minneapolis is a bigger, cleaner, Disney-fied Downtown Winnipeg. By far the most noticeable feature of Minneapolis' downtown is the ridiculous number of skywalks. Virtually every block is connected with them, some blocks are even connected with two. Several of them had a fair amount architectural effort put into them, mimicking the local bridges in their steel trusses. (I heard later that the city has a marathon on the skywalks!)

The skywalks clearly had an affect on the city's streetlife. I only saw a handful of pedestrians, even though I was there during the middle of a business day. As soon as I stepped inside I discovered where all the people had gone; I don't want to go into a big urban planning discussion about this, but for me moving all traffic indoors for climactic reasons doesn't work. The mall-feel of waxed tiled floors just seems sterile and fake; nothing can duplicate the feel and atmosphere of a lively outdoor street.

Through sidewalks and skywalks, I made my way to Target Field, the Minnesota Twins baseball park. It's amazing what you can do with enormous taxpayer subsidies. On the way back I saw an HB9, texting like crazy on her phone. I thought about about approaching, but I needed to get back to the airport.

Amsterdam was calling.