Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Through the Couchsurfing website I had arranged to stay with Joe, a friendly guy who shares my appreciation for ska music. Joe was kind enough to come and pick me up at the station after my 24-hour train ride from Washington. He also gave me a key so that I could come and go as I pleased, and leant me his bike. This kind of hospitality and trust in total strangers is what makes the Couchsurfing way of travelling so great.

In the evening I watched a play (a rendition of Jack the Ripper with fake English accents) in a local theatre, then explored the downtown area on Joe’s bike.

Milwaukee is known for its fine beer and cheese. It also has a large population of German descent. Whether this has any link to it also being the ‘fat capital of the US’ I don’t know, but it does hold the Guiness record for largest number of bars per capita. Despite this, I found the city streets very empty, even though it was a Friday night. This sterile environment was depressing, but in a beautiful way. The only lively spot was some kind of huge Hells Angels-type gathering in a car park, but I made sure to stay well clear of that.

The next day Joe showed me round downtown along the Milwaukee river. We also ate a sourdough pancake at an Ethiopian restaurant and visited a Milwaukee version of the German Oktoberfest. In the evening we went to the birthday party of one of his friends, where I talked to lots of people and tasted some more local beers.

written by

niklasbergstrand on January 16, 2009 from Milwaukee, United States

from the travel blog: Niklas in America

Send a Compliment

comment on this...