Nik Wallenda takes on Chicago

A few weeks ago in the news, I came across a headline that said a tightrope walker would walk across two Chicago skyscrapers. I laughed, wondering how that could even be true, come to find out one of the skyscrapers was the building I work in. The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs had allowed Nik Wallenda, tightrope walker extraordinaire, to do this stunt on a Sunday evening at the start of Chicago's winter as he continues to challenge himself to do stunts crazier than the next. He has previously walked across the Grand Canyon & Niagara Falls- clearly no big deal, right?

A week later, news released that the walk would have a second leg...blindfolded. Dumbfounded by the whole stunt, I counted down the days until I could watch him do this from the Leo Burnett building. It made me sick to my stomach to think about, but was fascinating at the same time. My coworkers and I scouted out where the best places in the building to watch were (ready to hit up our 32nd floor), and contemplated how many people we could bring.

The building association beat us out, limiting the number of people that could enter. After some ups and downs of getting on the attendance list, I finally secured a spot for my parents, Irina and I to watch both walks on  the 29th floor. It was as cool as it seems!

Mom, Dad and I on the 29th floor

We arrived early to claim a spot and had a few hours before the walk actually began. We got a laptop to listen to the live coverage, and finally around 7:30 pm, watched Nik gracefully cross the Chicago River from Marina City in less than 7 minutes. It was his first walk on an incline and was nearly 15 degrees. 

The inclined walk to Leo Burnett

Blindfolded walk

Just a few minutes later, significantly faster, we saw him walk blindfolded from one Marina tower to the next. Claimed the scarier walk, if went incredibly quick and everyone rejoiced that we did not witness a death! It was an awesome experience and as a friend put it, comparable to a living stunt from The Hunger Games that a U.S. city let it happen. After Nik conquered Chicago, I'll surely be following him and the Flying Wallendas the rest of my lifetime. 

The crowd and light outside