downtown excursion

this morning, i had to head up north - right into the loop around 8am - to pick up an anniversary gift for my wife (one year this saturday, for what it's worth).
anyway, i LOVE being in the loop around this time of day. i'm a graduate student. i live in hyde park - all of a dozen blocks from my university. 'rush hour' means that i actually have to wait to cross the street instead of just bolding charging across.
so, downtown when it's actually busy always seems really wild to me. i love seeing the business-people hustling around, the cabs whipping, and the buses lined up. it's just so *alien* to my day (which involves reading a lot, skulking through library stacks, and trying to figure out computer programs that organize census data). usually, when i see the loop it's either saturday nite and really quiet, or saturday nite and filled with people in t-shirts and shorts who are partying at some festival. the loop during business hours is great - it has its own visual pleasures i think. i like wandering about, leisurely, while the rest of the world is tearing right by me.
i love the loop when it looks official.

anyone else love to see how spaces change at different times of day? or who are enamored by visting 'foreign' spaces?