Chicago, The windy City

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We arrived at the Park Hyatt hotel. What a lovely hotel! The staff were all smiling and welcoming, and so efficient. We were checked in quickly, and escorted to a wonderful room, overlooking Michigan Avenue and the lake. It was so large, beautifully furnished and very elegant with a huge marble bathroom with every conceivable convenience. Apparently this is one of Jennifer Aniston’s favourite hotels!

After unpacking and showering, Paul went to Walgreens pharmacy across the street from the hotel, for some drinks and snacks. He asked directions for a liquor store from a traffic Warden, who told him of another store called the White Hen nearby, the only problem was that the traffic Warden really had no idea, and Paul ended up at Navy Pier! Later we rested and watched some television before ordering some dinner from room service and having an early night…for us still on Berlin time it was around 4am, and we were tired.

Friday 6 April

Still on Berlin time we were up early and hit the streets, but our first stop was a little laundry, where we dropped off our washing. We then went to Starbucks, which are everywhere. Jeff had his usual Chai Latte and Paul had a Caffe Latte, but Paul thinks the coffee is very weak here. That’s why Americans can drink so much of it!

Later we took a cab to Sears Tower. It was a bit hair rasing, as we said before, the cab drivers are crazy! They completely ignore pedestrians who have right of way, and you have to watch out for the drivers in other cars, as they are just as bad and impatient. We headed to the Skydeck at Sears, on the 103rd floor of the 110 storey building. It used to be the highest building in the World, but now it’s the 3rd highest. We were told the viewing distance was 30 miles today. It was great to see for so far, and so high above everything.

This was Good Friday, but there was very little to show that it was Easter, and all the shops were open. Very few Easter Eggs on display, it just doesn’t seem to be a big thing here. Jeff knew of two outlet stores selling discount designer clothes, TJ Maxx and Filenes Basement. Pauls eyes lit up when he walked through the doors, he thought he was in heaven. Designer labels upon designer labels. Everything was at bargain prices, Ralph Lauren, Nautica Tommy Hilfiger, etc. We both bought a new pair of jeans for bargain prices.

It was time for a quick bite, and we went a favourite spot of Jeffs from previous visits, the Oak Tree, quite close to our hotel. It’s basically a deli restaurant, and because it’s in the Bloomigdales building, its always full of smart upmarket shoppers. We both ordered a Rueben Sandwich, a famous New York sandwich consisting of toasted Rye bread filled with slices of corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. Yummo! It was very busy, and after lunch we walked around the streets looking at the amazing architecture that Chicago is famous for. It’s very cold in Chicago today, about 3c, but ear muffs and gloves helped.

We went back to the hotel to relax and watch TV. We decided on a trendy restaurant near the hotel called Graze for dinner. It specialises in small plates in a type of Tapas style, hence the name. Our waiter was very helpful, if a little over the top, but always ready to please, as all Americans are. We tried an American Sauvignon Blanc from California, quite nice, and our waiter was surprised we did not want a New Zealand bottle. We told him we drink that all the time at home!

Later that evening we met up with Tom and Robert, who we have been chatting to online for some time. It’s always good to catch up with some locals. We met at a bar called the Cell Block in the Gay strip of Chicago, called Halstead Street. It was fairly quiet, so it gave us a chance to chat. Later we moved to a bar called Charlies, another old favourite of Jeffs. The music was great, it was crowded and fun. We got back to the hotel quite late, (err, 500am!) The downside was our clothes reeked of cigarette smoke. Yuck! Such is a night out in a bar or club.

Saturday 7 April

We left the hotel around 10am to pick up our laundry. Today the temperature is about 0 Celsuis, they are saying the coldest Easter in Chicago for 28 years. We had to purchase a new suitcase, as we have accumulated so much stuff along the way, and with airport security we have to pack more things in suitcases. Ironically, it was cheaper to buy a new bag than to post 10 kilos home to Australia, $120.00 versus $90.00.

We went to Marshalls, another outlet store, and found a great bag there. There was so much to choose from, a Ralph Lauren Roll-on for $76.00 USD, as well as other well known brand names.

Chicago is well known for its Deep Dish Pizza, its about 3 inches thick, a bit much we thought. We ended up at the Californian Pizza for a Chinese Chicken Salas a small Sausage Pizza, more than enough for lunch. Afterwards we went back to the room where we relaxed, watched TV and worked on the blog.

Later that night we went to a Thai/Chinese restaurant called The Big Bowl. It had very cool décor and was extremely popular. The servings were huge. Interestingly, Americans don’t seem to share their Asian food like we do, so very serving comes with its own rice.

We walked back to the hotel, it was very cold, so luckily we did not have far to walk, but it was nice to get some exercise.


Easter Sunday April 8

We could tell by looking out of our window it must be Easter Sunday, as the streets were deserted. Obviously they do celebrate Easter after all. We went to McDonalds for a cup of tea, its very hard to find a tea to drink, it is not popular. When we got our tea it was minus the tea bag, so we had to go back and ask. While we were there we noticed Police cars arrive outside and 6 uniformed Police and 2 detectives came in. They confronted an elderly homeless black man who had been sitting quietly at a table with a McDonalds cup in front of him.

He stood up without a struggle and went outside with them, then more Police cars turned up and a Wagon. We do not know the full story but it seemed to be an excessive use of force and resources. When we left McDonalds we saw 10 police. Paul took photos of the cars and the Police were not happy. We quickly walked away.

We took a long walk along Michigan Avenue towards Millenium Park. The walk was about 2km and very pleasant as Michigan Ave was fairly deserted. We stopped at the Wrigley Building, another great piece of Chicago architecture. We crossed the Chicago River and down to the Park, which had previously been a railway goods yard until Chicago City Council put a roof over the top and built the Park. There is a concert area called the Great Lawn and the Pritzker Pavilion designed by Frank Gehry. Further on we came to the Cloud Gate Statue, a huge mirrored metal sculpture in the shape of a kidney bean which was quite amazing. We walked over to the Buckingham Fountain but it was closed for the winter.

Whilst walking around the park we saw a group of tourists on battery operated two wheeled people movers it was very a funny sight to see, they all looked like ducklings following their mother.

Chicago is famous for its railway line the L, an elevated train line built in the 1890’s. The structure is very old has a conservation order on it. We caught the L to Halsted St, the Gay area of Chicago, and then walked to Wrigley Field. It’s the home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Jumping back on the L we headed back to the hotel as it was extremely cold.

Later in the evening we caught a cab back to Halsted St to the ‘Sidetracks’ Bar. This is a very upmarket bar that has been enlarged and renovated since Jeff was last in Chicago. It’s very modern with different bar areas with different décor and music. We went to the Non-smoking area, which has glass panels and very high ceilings. Most of the patrons were very well dressed and it was a relief to know that our clothes would not reek of tobacco later.

There were video screens all over Sidetrack, and were playing showtunes. It was fantastic. We both agreed that Jeffrey Kessler and Georgina would be having fun here. It was very camp, a drag queen came in wearing a southern Belles gown covered in candy Pink flowers with a huge matching hat. Lots of the patrons were wearing rabbit ears on their heads, Americans really love getting into themes for these occasions!

We met John and his partner Whitney, whom we had been chatting to online, and had organised to meet them there. John had lived in Melbourne and New Zealand and was very familiar with Australia. John and Whit are computer consultants and travel for work on a regular basis. It was so good to chat to somebody that you can put a name too. We had lots in common, so the conversation flowed freely.

Around 8pm we decided to go to dinner. John suggested we go to a restaurant area near our hotel, so they could drive us back. Valet parking is a integral part of Chicago life. So we waited outside for Whit’s BMW to come to the front of the bar as he had Valet parked. We ended up at an Italian Restaurant that is frequented by some of Chicago’s colourful racing Identities (mafia types).

Jeff and I made the same mistake again, ordering an entrée as well as a main meal, which were both huge. John and Whit were smart, they ordered salads to start with. We hit it off so well with them, it was such a shame we had not met them on Friday, as they said they would of shown us around Chicago. We hope that they might come to Australia sometime soon.

Back to the Hyatt and Whit told us that when the Hyatt was built, there was an opening party. The Owner of the building excused himself, and jumped out off a balcony in the penthouse. Very sad. Luckily we had packed most of our bags in the afternoon so there was little to do tonight and we went to bed for a good nights sleep.

Both of us have really enjoyed Chicago, it’s so different from my (Paul) view of America in recent years (Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Las Vegas). There is a lot to do here and we can only imagine how crowded Chicago would be in the summer months.

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Photos

The Wrigley Building
outside the Wrigley Building on a cold Easter Sunday

Old Chicago Home
One of the many older buildings around downtown Chicago

View form Sears Tower
View from 110 flors up

What's this
Chicago City Jail

Outside the US Post Building
One of mant art forms in Chicago

The old grey mare
which is the horse

Chicago Police
This is how many police cars were needed to evict a elderly homeless man from McDonalds who did have a McDonalds Coffee, overkill there were 10 police and 2 detectives

Cloud Gate Scupture
Wow what can you say a shiny kidney bean

The Pritzker Pavillion and the Great Lawn
Built over railway goods yard

Wedding Cake
All this for $816

Under the Cloud Gate
The Cloud Gate Sculpture

Indian on a horse
Bronze Sculpture