Time to leave

Now it's time to go home after 2 weeks here. Our flight wasn't until 3.50 pm and it only takes about an hour to the airport so we didn't have to get up really early. This is always the worst part of the holiday, I hate travelling back more than going. It was particularly bad this time as they seem to make the trains to the airport with no room for anything and that includes people, so everybody is crammed on with cases, even the elevators in the airport were small with everybody packed in but on we fought. 

Half the battle is getting rid of the bags so after that was done we went and had a beer and used the free 30 minutes of WiFi that the tight buggers give you before you have to pay, all other airports I've been to its free but this time we didn't have to hang about as long because we had only just over the 3 hour check-in time to wait and with 3 different devices you can get 30 minutes on each.

17:00cdt

Now we were sat on the plane somewhere over Canada I think in an economy plus seat by the window, it's better to squash in with somebody you know and there is only 2 seats on each side of the plane and 3 in the middle so we seem to have lucked in on this flight. On the way here we were in the normal cattle class which when some bastard in front puts the seat back in front there isn't enough room to get passed the armrest. No wonder they give you a free beer on these flights still is better than flying with Virgin Atlantic but only just.

18:00cdt 

They brought food around if that's what you can call it, always something that involves rice so you wouldn't think that they couldn't screw it up but this a plane after all. Hopefully, they will turn the lights off soon so all the annoying bastards go to sleep.

9 am GMT

The plane landed on time and we got through customs in 15 minutes, the bags were first off the plane as well which helps, we had to wait for ages last time. The taxi we had ordered was waiting for us so it's about an hour or so to home.

It was bloody freezing here compared to Chicago but it's supposed to warm up in the next few days.

My thoughts on vacation.

Chicago is one of the more dangerous cities to visit in the USA, gun crime is particularly bad here with a staggering 31 people shot to death in the just the time we spent there. The vast majority of this is down to gang violence and retaliation attacks but more often than not innocence people get caught up in it and die. Also, street robbery is fairly high so you need to be careful where you go and at what time of day, even early morning in a good neighbourhood can land you in trouble it would seem.

On a positive note, it is a very clean city that spends a lot of money on plants and flowers along the sidewalks and has some fantastic museums, beaches and parks. Most places are well served by public transport that is affordable although like any city you still get traffic delays that create large gaps in bus services.

We both really enjoyed Chicago but we have seen everything we planned there now so don't see ourselves going back soon, yes it was a good time but I think we both left out hearts in San Francisco.

Thanks for reading, until next time, adios.

Con Burnes

Oak Street Beach

Today's photos

Today is our last day of sightseeing and the temperature has gone down like the humidity so it was time to hit Oak Street beach. It's only a short walk from the hotel to here and it's a fantastic beach that even had a bar on it although it was a bit early for that though. I must say it was nice just sit around for a while and do nothing. We're not really the type to sit on a beach all day and even though the lake is warm at this time of year I had absolutely no desire to go for a swim. I think they rake the sand here every morning, with this being a lake there is no tide to wash all the trash away that people leave behind but it looked so clean.

Now it was time to head onto the very top end of Michigan Avenue for a coffee. There's a couple of large shopping malls along here so had a look in them, one even had an all year round Christmas shop. 

Tucked away in amongst all this modern architecture it the Fourth Presbyterian Church, looking at it from across the street it doesn't seem very big when surrounded by tall buildings that are 50 floors high or more but it's vast inside. The detail in the stonework and wood carving are incredible.

As it is Labor Day weekend tomorrow it's starting to get a bit manic in most places so got the bus down the road a Mile or so to Michigan Avenue Bridge and the shop "Bye Bye Chicago". This is my favourite Nicknack shop, I'm not sure what the deal is in this city but all the souvenirs are the same price wherever you go, I'm sure it's something to do with the city and their tax grabbing ways. Just up the road, they had a pop-up market going on so got a free tote bag that they printed up while you waited. I know it's tacky but it's free and unique, I like that.

After more strolling around we jumped on the bus and got something to eat then went back to the hotel as I was done in. After a nap we had one last wander around the neighbourhood and dropped into Walgreen's and found something we had been looking for, little American flags so bought 2 of them for 99 cents each.

The 606

Today's photos

It's time to start winding down now as we only have a couple of full days left so the only thing we were going to do today take a walk along the 606 which is an old elevated rail track that runs for 3 miles just north of the city and has been turned into a linear park. It's a bit of a pain to get to on two buses and don't think it's the nicest of neighbourhoods where you change buses but it was something we had planned on doing.

We didn't set off until about 12.30 because I'm starting to feel it now going out every day, as soon as we got out of the hotel the heat met you, so it was time to get a big bottle of water to take with us. It was a relief to get on the bus as the air-conditioning seems to work on all the buses here the downside was when we got off as the temperature was now around 34c with a real feel of about 36 or 37c. We started off walking but after about 20 minutes or so realized this was not going to be the best idea I've I have had lately even though there are plenty of water fountains to get a drink from the heat and humidity were just too much not to mention the blazing sunshine with very little shade as this trail has only just opened in the last few weeks the trees haven't grown yet. It was time to call it in on this one before we ended up getting heat stroke or something so walked back the way we came, at least it was a nice flat surface to roll on. The odd thing about this track is that it's an elevated railway but there is also the Blue Line that crosses above this one so that is about 40 or 50 feet in the air and runs for about 15 miles like that.

It's also the train we got on to and from the airport but I wouldn't want to live in the apartments that are right next to it because it's incredibly noisy.

By now we were starting to wilt in the heat but as luck would have it there was an Aldi shop on the road near the bus stop so went in there to get out of the sun and cool off. I would have killed for a pork pie or scotch egg but they don't have them in this country so we got a big bottle lemonade and a giant pack of sliced ham and eaten that in the car park all for 6 bucks.

Now it was time to head across the road and catch the first of two buses back, that was a long wait for the first one, I think there were people waiting for it even before we went up onto the 606, at least the next one turned up quicker thankfully but after a couple of stops somebody got on who literally smelled like he had been dead for a while, it was really that bad. We only had to suffer that for about 10 minutes or so and this bus dropped us off outside the hotel so we were back in the cool air of our room by 4.30 and a cold beer. 

After cooling off a couple hours we went out to the Target superstore a short bus ride up the road to see if there were any bargains.

When you see how big the store is inside they should run a bus service from one side to the other. 

In here we found what I had been searching for, a baseball glove that didn't cost the earth. 

So with that complete it was a ride back on the bus 4 stops and into Plum Market which is a bit like Waitrose but cheaper and everything is perfectly lined up on every shelf all time even the fruit and veg is the same, there are lots of people buying stuff but they are constantly making it all look nice. It was across the road then to China Doll for a takeaway to eat back at the hotel after I had got some booze, it would be rude not to.

Baseball & Buckingham Fountain at night

Today's photos

We didn't head out until lunchtime this morning as we were going to watch the Cubs play at Wrigley Field so set off about 11.15 and went to Dunkin Donuts for some breakfast then got the northbound Red Line which starts off in a subway then ends up on the elevated track to Addison Station after about a 15 minute ride, I thought this train would be packed but it wasn't too bad. It was at when we got off the train that heat met you.

The gate we needed to go to was on the far side of the ground but a very kind member of staff came over to us and said we could go in the gate that we were at and not have to go round so after a quick bag check he got somebody with a wheelchair to push Jane round to the far side so we weren't in the heat and the sun too long. It was a bit of a struggle to get up the steps for her but she got there in the end plus the sun had moved around by now so we were sat in the shade for the game.

We were in our seats by about 12.45 and their game started at 1.20 they typically last about 3 hours so it's best to get comfy and make sure you don't want a pee because it's a pain getting passed other people. They come round selling hot dogs and beer so there really isn't any reason to move. It's wasn't a full house with only 31,165 people in there today but it was a Wednesday lunchtime and most people don't travel too far to go to away games and as they playing Cincinnati I can only assume that most people there were local and couldn't be bothered going to work today 

in the end, the game lasted 4 and a half hours so by now it was 5 pm but as soon as we come out and took one look at the train station which is elevated next to the stadium you could see that there were hundreds of people waiting so we went into the sports shop that sells all things Cubs related. After buying myself a new hat, we fought our way through what was left off the crowds and up onto the station for the 20-minute ride back to the hotel to get out of the heat for a while and have a beer.

There was also another good reason to come back early as we had planned on going out tonight, by 8 o'clock it was time to set off again on the bus down to Grant Park to see Buckingham Fountain. 

This fountain is one of the largest fountains in the world and opened in 1927, the main central jet can shoot water 150 feet into the air and in the winter when the water is drained out the fountain is decorated in thousands of lights.

I already have photos of this place in the daytime but we had to come back at night to see it all lighted up, it also changes colour to music that plays while you are sat in the open air café and bar next it so it was time for a beer and watch the water show that starts on the hour and lasts 20 minutes.

Then at 9.30, they have a firework display over on Navy Pier that you can see from here if you head over to the far side, you're just far enough away to get a good view. 

It would also be rude not to have our photo taken whilst we were here so I used my tripod as a selfie stick, given that this is just a normal camera on it and I was only guessing what I would get in the dark it came out OK I think.

Even though you are in a very big park it still feels safer than some parts of the city as we found out.

After leaving there we had walk back into the loop and the plan was to catch the bus but this area feels so unsafe to be in, with hardly anyone around its almost like there are eyes watching you. There is around 600 murder's in Chicago each year and countless street robberies so you do need to be careful where you go. In the end, we dropped into a shop to get a drink so this would give me time to use my phone to find a better way back to the hotel. Ironically this would be on a subway train but felt so much safer than the street.

By now it was nearly 11 pm and we needed to get something to eat so opted to get a couple of cheeseburgers when we got off, your not short of places to eat around here as most places are open into the early hours of the morning and at $8 for two it was money well spent.

Agora & Union Station

Today's photos

We didn't go out this morning until midday and by now the temperature was 31c with 70% humidity. The first stop was to get some lunch at Popeye's Chicken in The Loop, Popeyes chicken is supposed to be really good but we could have easily not found something better to eat around here like one of the many food trucks that line the streets of this area.

We then caught a bus to the start of the most famous road in history, Route 66. Depending on which way you are travelling this could be the start or the end of the journey and a 2448 mile trip. Over the years the Chicago end of the route has moved due to the traffic flow being changed but it has always remained within a block or two of here. Who knows, one day we may even end driving this road eventually.

We then jumped on a bus to the very end of Grant Park to Agora Statues which one of the oddest things I've seen. It consists of 106 pairs of legs or more exactly headless and armless bodies but to me, it's more just like legs. Each pair stands 9 foot tall and were designed by a Polish artist in 2006 and are on a permanent display in the park, the iron that they are made from wasn't treated with anything so were allowed to rust which add to the rippled texture of them. 

You can't help thinking that they are going to start chasing you at any moment.

Just round the corner was a Trader Joe so got a drink from there while we were waiting for the bus, the heat now was starting to get silly now, there was no shade here and it was a newly laid pavement so the heat just reflected back up to you which made feel like it was over 40 centigrade.

Eventually, the first of two buses we would catch turned up to take us to Union Station to see where they filmed The Untouchables, shame that there was refurbishment work going on so you can't see the famous staircase from the movie unfortunately it was closed off due to construction work. It really is a grand old station, these buildings fascinate me as so much time and money went into them when they were built in the grand old days of steam. We came out the back part of the station the headed along Wacker Drive pasted the bottom of the Willis Tower to look at some of the old buildings around there like the Merchant Building.

The heat and humidity were starting to get to me now so it was time to get on a bus back to the hotel. At least the air-conditioning works on the buses here so that was a nice cool ride back.

Science & Industry Museum

Today's photos

Today turned out to be a long day even though we only went to the Museum of Science & Industry but it was well worth spending nearly an hour getting there on the subway and a bus.

From the outside, this building doesn't look that big but instead of walking up to the front of it there is a small brick building that you enter then go down in an elevator, I think most of this place is buried underground.

You are first greeted with a Burlington Zephyr train, this is a real one that you can go in, then through the pay desk to the main part. 

There's far too much to go into detail here but the most impressive part is a real German U boat from the second world war, they do tours around the inside of it as well for an extra fee but I didn't bother with that.

On the way out of this hall there is a short time lapse video of how they got it in here by basically putting it in a barge and towing it through the Great Lakes then onto a massive trailer for a mile or so to where they dug the biggest hole you have ever seen, then it was lowered it into the hole and they put a roof over it.

Next, it was time to explore some of the other halls, the earth sciences hall is where they have created a real tornado in the middle of the floor.

There were all sorts of stuff in here to play with, you could even go inside something that looked a bit like a phone box where you can experience 80 miles an hour wind.

Moving on from there the next part was all about transportation from push bikes to planes they even had a massive model of Chicago City with the trains running around, the back part of the model shows how rail freight is moved from here to the west coast with working model trains.

There was plenty of other things to do in here and I think we spent about 5 hours in total in there before catching the bus back to The Loop to get the Red Line train. With hindsight it would have been better to get on the bus, I really didn't think you could cram so many people on a subway train but I was wrong. It was like something you see in Japan when they push people through the doors to get more on even though they are every 3 minutes. So it was a bit of a bun fight to get off the train when we got to our station but the surprising thing was it was still hotter on the street than it was on the subway.

By now the temperature was about 35 centigrade and we were both glad the hotel room had air-conditioning so flopped there for the rest of the evening.

Lake Michigan Waterfront walk

Today's photos

We decided to have a lazy day today so headed down into Grant Park to watch the end of the triathlon that was taking place there in the lakefront, although we had been down here the other day we hadn't walked the main part it. It was quite rough on Lake Michigan today and not that warm so we only followed it for about a mile then cut through into Millennium Park and then headed on over the BP bridge.

This is an odd looking bridge that spans a major road is made out of stainless steel that winds it's self around before you cross the road, as the sun had come out it was getting hot to touch it in some parts. Once off the other side, you are in Millennium Park where there is a large outdoor theatre. Just round the corner from here was an outdoor photographic display of local scenery by local people and interesting to look at. Although they are on display day and night and you can walk around at any time nobody had damaged or vandalized any of them.

From there we headed along Michigan Avenue until we can to the Chicago River. This area of the city was raised many years ago so it's a bit of a climb down some steps, I didn't realize that we could have used a slope if we had gone a bit further up. 

There are several lifting bridges that cross the river and one of them also carries trains and although there wasn't any bridge lifts planned for when was here there is the McCormick Bridge house museum at the base of one of them. It's free entry on a Sunday so that was interesting see how the gears and mechanism works that lift the bridges. Your free to wander around inside from the gear room then climb up the stairs of the tower which has information boards on the way up on why this part of the city was raised more than 20 feet and how they managed to reverse the flow of the river via a lock so Lake Michigan flowed through the city to bring in clean water. Eventually, you passed the level of the road until you get to the top about 20 feet above the road where you can look out the windows.

After spending some time strolling along the river bank we got something to eat enough headed back to the hotel for an hour or so before going out to get some food from China Doll Chinese takeaway around the corner. You get your chicken fried rice in what looks like a milk carton but there was far too much for both of us. I think it only came to about $6 with large fries as well, you certainly got value for money here.

Chicago History & Peggy Norbert Museums

Today's photos

Today the forecast was for rain most of the day but the temperature was still above 30c, we had some indoor places to visit the first being the Chicago History Museum which was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. It was only about 3 stops on the bus so we were there in no time. As the name suggests it charts the how the city evolved from the native Americans to present day spread over 3 floors, one of the most interesting things to see was how much the arrival of the railroad made and how it changed the city. 

It was definitely worth $14 to go in and we spent about 3 hours or so in there then had some lunch in café next door and I even found a Chicago pocket watch of the same design as I got in San Francisco so had to buy that, even though it was $25.

Next on the list was the Peggy Norbert Nature Museum which was only about a 15-minute ride on the bus, this was another good place to visit and has a butterfly house with hundreds of them flying about. It was lovely to sit in there for a while and just watch them fluttering about, I think we timed it right getting in here as you could hear and see the rain battering on the glass walls and roof, even though they were only heavy showers you wouldn't want to be caught in one. 

The rest of the museum is dedicated to insect's and small invertebrates with breeding programs so they can be released back into the wild.

Out the back, there is a wetland area with raised pathways that is teeming with wildlife. The only downside to this place was the pavement out front so uneven it was hard to walk let alone push a wheelchair this continues through in the lobby area up to the payment desk then it's all flat and smooth which struck me as odd. 

Just as we were about to leave the rain started to come down really heavy again but because it was so warm it wasn't the sort of day you wanted to wear a coat so it was time to hang around in the café for a bit until it had stopped.

When the rain stopped we made a short dash from there to the Lincoln Park Conservatory just in time to miss the next heavy shower. This place is a large Victorian conservatory on the edge of the zoo but we didn't have time to come in here the other day, it's a fantastic building with an amazing verity of tropical plants, there's even a couple of ponds in here as well and all of this is free of charge. We spent about an hour in here then decided to call it a day but not long after we left the rain started again so had to go into the cafe in the zoo as we were passing to shelter from the rain.

It was only a short walk to the bus stop and by now it was around 4:30, it takes about 30 minutes or so to get back to the hotel from but the traffic goes manic around here at this time of day so it ended up taking us around 45 minutes.

Chicago Zoo

Today's photos

Today was going to be a lazy day, after a week on the go it starts to take it out of you as we're not as young as we use to be. I think we left the hotel about 10:30 and caught the bus northbound to Lincoln Park Zoo. Not only is this one of the oldest zoos in America it's probably one of the last free ones as well. Zoos are an excellent place to take photos so that's where we spent most of the day. 

We also found out what the noise was coming from the trees that sounds like a very loud buzz, is from Cicada bugs that come out in their millions at this time of year, another mystery solved.

After the zoo we took a short walk through some side streets to where the St. Valentines Day Massacre took place, there's not much to see there now apart from a piece of lawn that is now part of a residential care home but it's such a famous location you have to go and see it. It's hard to imagine what it was like here in 1929 when 7 members of the Northside gang were lined up against a wall in what was a garage on this spot and shot to death on what was probably the orders of Al Capone or maybe a revenge attack by the police. No one was ever caught and it was only around 2013 that the case was finally officially closed as all possible suspects would be dead by now. A fascinating but dark piece of local history.

We then had planned on going to get a pot pie pizza from a local restaurant near here but neither of us was that hungry so opted to just get the bus back to the towards the hotel and get something to eat from Jimmy John's which is our favourite sandwich shop.

Planetarium & Grant Park

Today's photos

We didn't have much planned for today as sometimes you just need to relax, walk around and sit on a bench doing nothing. We started off by getting the bus to the Alder Planetarium, it's not too pricey to go in bit if we had known what it was going to be like we probably could have lived without going in there, I think the most interesting part of it was the gift shop on the way out where I got a multicolour flashing pen and some space rock.

The planetarium is built on the edge of Lake Michigan so when you come out you can stroll along the banks with views to the city. It was nice to just walk along away from all the noise of the city for a while. The pathway brought us out at the Shedd Aquarium but we found out when we got there that it was $40 dollars to go in, I don't mind paying to go to places but refuse to be ripped off at attractions, I'm sure the website said it was less than that plus when you add the extra for special exhibitions this would have cost us the best part of $60 each, a price I'm not prepared to pay.

We headed on pasted it along Lake Michigan and into Grant Park to have a look

at the Buckingham Fountain, nothing really prepares you for how big and it is.

There is a couple of cafés round there so we got a beer and just sat around for a while on what was now an incredibly hot day. We would have to return here when it goes dark because at night is all lighted up and so are the edges of the buildings behind in the city which make it an amazing site to see.

The rest of the day was spent having a stroll through the park then got the bus back.

The Loop

Today's photos  one new on the video page

Today got off to a really good start when Jane won $1000 bucks on the lottery so the first thing was to get a down into The Loop to collect the cheque. We hadn't planned on coming down here today buts it's no problem to swap things around so after a little bit of digging we found out you can collect the cheque from the Thomson Building which seems to have most of the federal government offices in, to get to the upper levels you need to go through metal detectors and have ID with you so that meant Jane taking her passport. I didn't fancy going through all the hassle of getting in so waited down in the lobby area which is more of a small shopping mall.

It turns out that you have to pay tax on your winnings but as the state of Illinois is skint they would tax you on breathing of they could find a way of metering it, so $1000 becomes $700 then you are charged $12 for cashing the cheque but we still had more money than we started with.

From there, we walked down towards the centre of The Loop, this area is mainly

the financial part of the city so there's lots of tall glass buildings and fancy plazas with fountains out the front that made for some good photo opportunities.

We stopped off at Wendy's for a coffee and cheese bacon fries, which were lovely, before heading over to have a look at Calder's Flamingo. I'm not really sure where the "Flamingo" comes into this but then again that's works of art for you, isn't it? It was constructed in 1973, stands 53 foot tall and is located in Federal Plaza, it's been used as a backdrop in lots of movies and TV shows over the years. There was a mention of it being moved but public opinion seems to think otherwise about that. These sort of things seem to be hated when constructed but become firm favourites after only a few years.

As luck would have it the post office is next to this place so it's was a good

opportunity to get some stamps. It turns out they are the 2013 stamps which were what we got in San Francisco the other year so they mustn't have been a big seller. Now we went on down to the Federal Reserve Money Museum for a look round, this is a bit of an odd place to go into as its as its inside a federal building but when you go in there are no signs to tell you where to go just lots of security and you have to go through metal detectors as well. Still, it was worth it and you get a free bag of money that has been shredded. I even got my photo taken next to a million dollars in 1 dollar bills. I thought it was interesting to see how money is made and what the lifecycle of it is, there was also a part where you had a spot which bills were fake.

Now it was lunchtime and as we hadn't planned on coming down this way today I hadn't had a chance to have a look at places to eat. By chance we came across dinner called Luke's Italian beef sandwich shop, it's a rough and ready sort place with good low-cost food, these places are hard to come by in the heart of the financial district.

Then it was time to move on to the Willis Tower which is the tallest observation

deck in the northern hemisphere at 1353 feet above the street or 103 floors up, it takes the elevator 60 seconds to the Skydeck Ledge.

At the top the view is amazing even though it wasn't a sunny day, the main attraction to coming up here is the Skyledge which are glass pods that stick out of the building so you can look down the quarter of a mile to the street below, there was more than a bit of trepidation before walking out onto it but you soon get used to it so took the ultimate selfie at 1353 foot up. 

I'll probably never be any further up than that unless I'm on a plane. After spending about an hour and a half up there we were back at the bottom then headed into the Red Line station and got the train to Wrigleyville near Wrigley Field again as I forgot that there was another sporting shop there but this turned out to be a waste of time in the, at least it was only a short walk from the station to it.

By now my back was killing me so it was time to call it a day and go get some tins of beer and snacks for the evening.

Wrigley Field & Navy Pier

Today's photos 

Today started with egg and bacon muffin in Dunkin with a coffee before we got on the 22 bus up to Wrigley Field.

We had started to get into baseball in the last year or two and had been looking

forward to seeing a game for ourselves so got a couple tickets for the afternoon game on Wednesday the 2nd of September then headed off into the Cubs shop on the other side of the road to buy some sporting goodies, I got myself a very nice Wrigley Field hoodie but probably spent more money than we intended to do but what the heck, its hard to resist buying things in this sort of shop you just want it all.

Outside the shop on the wall is one of the Earthcam cameras that we watch

online so I had to take a picture of that. it's fascinating to see how early the crowds start to turn up but that's nothing to when the game finishes.

From there we had a quick coffee in Macdonalds then got on the 152 for a ten-minute ride down to Lake Shore Drive then hopped on the 146 down to East Street Beach. 

One thing that you don't realise about Chicago is that it at least two fantastic

beaches and both have bars on the sand as well but now was not the time for that. It was only a short walk along the lakefront until you come to Navy Pier.

By now the sun was starting to come out but it still had been really warm and humid so far today, it was nice to be on the pier with a breeze blowing. There are all sorts of things to do on here from a museum to a ballroom dance hall but the main attraction here is the Ferris wheel. 

This is one of those sort of wheels that continually turn so Jane wasn't able to go

it but at only $8 I thought I would give it a go. The gondolas are of the open type so when you get on they lock the gate behind you but there's not much to stop you falling out, all was going well until I got about 60 feet up then I thought this might not have been one of my best ideas as I'm not that keen on heights anymore but there was still another 90 to go. I'm glad I went on anyway as the view from the top is amazing and I got some fantastic photos from up there.

One thing I had missed while planning was the Crystal Gardens which is a

subtropical indoor garden with various water features, it must be a great place to come to on a cold winters day. We left out of the back way then down some stairs to the lower level where they were plenty of shops to have a look round, as we were starting to get a bit worn out we had a drink in MacDonalds before heading outside into the late afternoon heat to catch a bus back. It would seem that most of the buses in the city start here so there is plenty to choose from.

We hopped on the 65 bus then transferred to 36 and although there was a bit of a

wait doing it this way it would drop us outside Butch McGuire's for a swift ale, we opted to sit outside and watch the world go by, this was also the first time I tried a tall pint of Lagunitas but I can't have too many of these as they are a bit on the strong side, they also sold Snakebite in here as well. Now its now time to chill out and reflect on what was a good day, then go to the shop and get some beer and snacks for the evening with a couple of local newspapers.

Today had been another good day weather-wise although the mid-thirties can be a bit uncomfortable at times when your clothes start to stick to you. 

Mag Mile, River walk & Millennium Park

Today's photos

The way best to start the day is with a grilled cheese. We were up at 6 am this morning which is midday in the UK and out to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast by about 8 am just around the corner from the hotel, I do like my grilled cheese. From there we headed on across the road and caught the number 22 bus downtown then got on the 66 to take us across town towards the Mag Mile which is the main shopping area of the city with all the high-end shops on, the plan was to buy a cheap mobile because EE is crap, even though they keep texting me to buy a roaming data bundle I can't because it fails to connect every time I try to complete the purchase. Adios EE when my contract is up.

Something we did learn today is that nowhere opens until about 10 am so we hit the coffee shop as it was a bit chilly to be sat outside.

It turned out that Best Buy was exactly the opposite for buying a new phone as they where all on contract so gave up on the idea, the main reason for getting one was so we could use the transport app to save ourselves some time but there's plenty of places with free wi-fi in the city so it wasn't going to be too much of a problem.

From there we headed along the Mag Mile from the 360 Chicago building via Hershey's and Ghirardelli chocolate shops where they were giving away free samples on the way out, I don't know who thought it would be a good idea to put sea salt in chocolate but they were disgusting to eat after about 2 minutes of chewing, I think that's why you got them on the way out so you didn't spit them onto the floor near the shop. A good thing to see along here was life-size models of past police horses that had served with the CPD.

We carried on along Michigan Avenue until we got to the Michigan Bridge then dropped down onto the Chicago River Walk towards Lake Michigan, it was nice being down here away from the crowds. By now the sun was out and the temperature was around 30c, with no wind down here it felt a lot hotter than it was, as luck would have it there is a very nice Irish bar down here called Lizzie's so dived in there for a beer. At first, I thought I had been charged the wrong amount but $6 (£3.60) was the right price for a pint of Blue Moon ale and a coke, but who am to argue about the price even if the Blue Moon did come with a slice of orange in it.

Just outside here is the Centennial Fountain and water arch which is a fantastic sight to see and watch the driver of the police boat give it a wash, this water arch switches off when the tour boats go by, you wouldn't want to be on the top deck if it came back on again. The water pressure must be really high to fire the jet out that far, the downside is that a lot spray blows back on to the pathway so it seems like it's raining but on a hot day like today it was a blessing.

What a glorious day this was now and this is only the first full day so it was time take a stroll back along the river and down to Grant Park which is a bit like Central Park in New York but with some really strange stuff dotted around.

Here are some of the odd sights that are there with a brief description of what is.

With two 50 foot tall towers Crown Fountain is an interactive artwork built in 2004 that plays videos or displays local residents faces on both towers from top to bottom. Every few minutes or so water cascades from the top down the faces and occasionally spurts water from the mouths of the people displayed on there down into a splash pool at the bottom.

The Bean otherwise known as Cloud Gate was opened in 2006 after many years of design and construction. It's amazing to stand under it and try to spot yourself in the contorted reflections.

So if you think that Crown Fountain would give you night terrors then you haven't seen anything yet.

Behold whatever this could be, its probably going to give me night terrors, it just makes me think it's going to open its eyes any second and take over the world.

So now it was getting late and time to go to Pippins Tavern for a beer a beer and something to eat. This place is another Irish sports bar that I found on the web and although it can be a bit of a locals sort of place the food is good with 30 different beers on tap at the time.

The total price for 2 turkeys burgers, 1 large fries,2 bags of chips (crisps) 2 large pint and a coke all for the grand price of $24 (£18). The only thing we didn't like here was the music was really loud and you couldn't really talk to each other, I'm not sure why it was like because there was hardly anyone in there.

By now it was time to call it a day and head back to the hotel.

Arrived

 Today's photos

Its a 9-hour flight from London to Chicago and it wasn't the best of flights, there seemed to be even less leg room on this one than the others plus if the seat in front was tilted back you couldn't see your TV screen anymore, it never ceases to amaze me with every flight we take they try to cram the seats closer together to pack more people on.

Although if you put the app on your phone or tablet you can stream straight to that instead, anyhow I had a couple of films and some podcasts to catch up on any way on my tablet so that killed a couple of hours or so.

It was a bit of a pain getting from the terminal to the train station as the signposts are few and far between, the strangest part about this was that there is no transport like an AirTrain or bus to take you there so we ended up walking from terminal 3 to terminal 2 which is about a mile through a variety of car parks, going up down in several elevators until you reach the CTA train station.

The best and cheapest way to travel around Chicago is by using a Ventra Card and adding 7 days unlimited travel for $24, even though you have to pay $5 dollars for the card to start with its still really good value for money.

After making our way down through what seemed like a construction zone down onto the platform,

this was due to a train not stopping when it reached the end of the line and smashing its way up the escalator to the mezzanine level the previous year, we caught the Blue Line train into the city then changed to the Red Line that would take us to the Gold Coast area just north of the city. It took us around an hour on the trains but it at least it was only a short walk to the hotel and arrived at about 6.30pm which would be 12.30am the following day in the UK.

The Hotel Indigo has some fairly funky colours in the lobby and rooms with the biggest bed I've seen

so far on any of our trips, we were on the 12th floor as well so your not going to get any traffic noise at that height although it would be a long to walk down the stairs if the fire alarm went off, I must say you get a good view from up here.

It was time now to dump the stuff out of the cases and head down to Walgreen's on the corner to buy some drink then cross the road to get some booze from CVS, I'm really not in the mood to go to one of several bars that are at the end of the road. I'm sure there will be plenty of time to visit these over the next two weeks.

By now it was about 9 pm or 3 am on Monday in the UK so had something to eat back at the hotel that we had bought from the shop, we could have done with a fridge in the room with the temperature being 30 centigrade but at least the air conditioning was quiet and you do get a safe as well.

With that it was time to call it a day, it really takes it out you travelling a long way.